Baldwin built this 0-6-0 switcher for the Southern Pacific in 1918. Retired in 1956, it was donated to the City of Salinas, CA, the following year and was placed on display immediately to the east of the Amtrak Depot. The narrow space and location (closed to the public when I visited) next to a series of car parking bays on one side and a line of historic freight cars on the other, made it somewhat difficult for me to get good photos.
The Monterey and Salinas Valley Railroad Club currently cares for #1237. When I visited, the club was seeking funds for a full cosmetic restoration. The sun had bleached the paint and there was some minor rust but, otherwise, the dry California weather appears to have kept the locomotive in quite good condition.
The SP bought or built four hundred and sixty-four 0-6-0 switchers between 1867 and 1926. The 0-6-0 dominated switching duties on US railroads from the late 1880s right up to WWI, although increasingly heavy freight loads had already brought more orders for 0-8-0 switchers. At the same time, older main and branch line engines were often relegated to yard duty, either as-built or after their leading and trailing trucks had been removed.
#1237 weighs 154,600 lbs. With 52" drivers, Walschaert valve gear and 19" x 26" cylinders, it operated at a boiler pressure of 190 psi
delivering 29,720 lbs tractive effort. The
Vanderbilt tender weighs 138,100 lbs light and
has a 7,000 gallon water and 2,940 gallon oil capacity.
#1237 is on display coupled to SP Caboose #726. The caboose was built in 1916 in SP's Brooklyn Yard in Portland, OR. It was retired in 1965 and donated to the City of Salinas by the Gheen Family in memory of Betty Gheen.
