The narrow gauge (36”) Death Valley Railroad was formed in 1914 to exploit borax deposits near Ryan, CA, with a twenty mile line connecting Ryan with the Tonopah & Tidewater Railroad at Death Valley Junction, NV. #1 was one of two oil burning Consolidation type (2-8-0) locomotives built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1914 to haul trainloads of water into the valley in the morning and borax out in the evening.
#1 weighs 110,000 lbs, 98,000 lbs on its 42” drivers with a 13’ 6” driver wheelbase and 20’ 10” engine wheelbase. With Walschaert vale gear, a 17.2 sq ft grate, 126 sq ft firebox and total heating surface of 1,391 sq ft, it operated at a boiler pressure of 170 psi delivering 22,294 lbs tractive effort. The tender weighs 80,000 lbs light and has a capacity of 4,000 gallons of water and 1,800 gallons of oil.
With the borax deposits played out, the DVR converted to a tourist line in 1925, bringing visitors to the converted miners' dormitories that now made up the Furnace Creek Inn. By 1929, US Borax had decided to close down all its Death Valley operations and the last two scheduled trains ran on 21st February 1930.
The pair's new owner along with ex-Morenci Southern #3, was the United States Potash Company of Loving, NM. All three operated for
that company until they were retired in January 1956.
#1 is on display at the Lake Carlsbad Beach Park
in Carlsbad, NM. #2 is now on display at the Furnace Creek Ranch Resort at Death Valley Junction, CA. You can see United States Potash
#3 on the California Chapter of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society page of this
website.
