The Alabama based Lyon Lumber Company built the Lyon Pine Mill in Odessa, FL, in 1909. In 1916, it bought two narrow gauge (36”) wood burning Prairie type (2-6-2) locomotives (#1 & #2). After the mill burned down in 1925, lumber processing ceased in Odessa and the company sold both locomotives to the reseller, Georgia Car & Locomotive who sold them to T. T. Scott in Kenansville, FL, in 1928. Scott then sold them to the Henderson-Waits Lumber Company in Warsaw, GA, where #1 was renumbered #7 and #2 renumbered #11. Eventually, both were sold to Saint Joe Lumber & Export in Port St Joe, FL.
#11 weighs 62,000 lbs, 45,000 lbs on its 36” drivers. With an 8’ driver wheelbase and 21’ 4” engine wheelbase, it has Stephenson valve gear and 12” x 18” cylinders. The grate is 13.3 sq ft, the firebox 60 sq ft with a total heating surface of 551 sq ft. Operating at a boiler pressure of 180 psi, it delivered 11,016 lbs tractive effort.
At some point, the engine was converted to a coal burner. The tender weighs 50,500 lbs light and has a 5 ton coal and 2,500 gallon water capacity. After retiring in 1955, #11 was donated to the City of Port Saint Joe, FL.
