This 0-4-0ST+T (Saddle Tank and Tender) locomotive was built for stock in 1918 at the Alco Cooke Locomotive Works in Paterson, NJ. That year, it was sold to the Imperial Irrigation District where, as #151, it worked at Andrade, CA, a small town close to the Colorado River near the border with Mexico.
The Imperial Irrigation District was formed in 1911 under the California Irrigation District Act to acquire the properties of the bankrupt California Development Company and its Mexican subsidiary. It was formed as a public agency, acquiring thirteen mutual water companies in the valley, which had developed and operated water distribution canals.
Now, it is the largest irrigation district in the US, with more than 3,000 miles of canals and drains delivering water to farmland and local municipalities. It is also the sixth largest public power utility in the state of California, providing generation, transmission and distribution services to more than 145,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers.
"Dippy Duck" has been IID’s official safety mascot for over fifty years.
An oil burner, #151 weighs 79,000 lbs. With 39” drivers and 14” x 22” cylinders, it operated at a boiler pressure of 190 psi delivering 17,400 lbs tractive effort.
It was donated to the California Mid-Winter Fairgrounds Pioneer Society in 1953.
