WP S-34 #164 is on display in Hewitt Park, Oroville, CA

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WP S-34 #164, Hewitt Park, Oroville, CA

Built by Alco in 1919 as #86 for United Verde Copper in Jerome, AZ, this 0-6-0 switcher was sold to the Western Pacific in 1927 for $15,951 and renumbered #164.

Redesignated an S-34 Class, #164 weighs 160,000 lbs, and has 21” x 26” cylinders and 51” drivers. An oil burner operating at a boiler pressure of 180 psi, it delivered 34,400 lbs tractive effort. It is believed to be the last Western Pacific steam locomotive to run over WP rails (excluding excursion trips) when it ran light from the United States Gypsum plant at Gerlach, NV, to Portola, CA. It was donated to the City of Oroville in 1959 and went on display at its current location in Hewitt Park.

The park is named after local miner John Boughton Hewitt who came to Butte County during the 1860. In the 1940s, a rooming house had been built on the site by the Western Pacific for its train crews. The land was progressively bought by the city from the WP during the 1950s, as well as from Corporan and Collinson, a Chrysler Dealership. You can see another locomotive on display in the park on the Feather River #1 page of this website.

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WP S-34 #164, OrovilleWP S-34 #164, OrovilleWP S-34 #164, OrovilleWP S-34 #164, OrovilleWP S-34 #164, OrovilleWP S-34 #164, Oroville
WP S-34 #164, OrovilleWP S-34 #164, Oroville

Four other WP steam engines have survived.

You can see 2-8-0 #26 on the Travel Town page of this website. #165 is being restored at the Western Pacific Railroad Museum in Portola, CA. #334 and #94 are in storage at the Western Railway Museum at Rio Vista Junction, CA.

WP S-34 #164, OrovilleWP S-34 #164, OrovilleWP S-34 #164, OrovilleWP S-34 #164, OrovilleWP S-34 #164, OrovilleWP S-34 #164, Oroville
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