The Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, PA, built this Mikado type (2-8-2) locomotive as #90 in 1926 for the Polson Logging Co., in Hoquiam, WA. Weighing 181,000 lbs, 143,000 lbs on its 48” drivers, it has Walschaert valve gear, 20” x 28” cylinders, a 27’ 1” engine wheelbase and 13’ 1” driver wheelbase. The grate is 41.3 sq ft, the firebox 154 sq ft and total heating surface is 3,029 sq ft including 553 sq ft superheating. Operating at a boiler pressure of 180 psi, it delivered 35,700 lbs tractive effort.
In 1891, Nova Scotian immigrant Alex Polson joined with his brother Robert to start the Polson Brothers Logging Co. By 1900, they were well established, with a short stretch of railroad to the north of Hoquiam and a log dump on the Middle Fork of the Hoquiam River.
By 1910, the company had expanded and was widely recognised as the largest logging operation in the world. Its extensive railroad network linking twelve logging and construction camps with more than one hundred miles of track, allowing an annual dump of as much as 300 million board feet of logs into the Hoquiam River for transport to Harbor mills.
When Polson sold their entire operation in 1948 to Rayonier, Inc., #90 continued to operate out of Railroad Camp until 1962, when it was sold to the Oregon Memorial Railroad Society.
It is now on display just off American Ave in Garibaldi, OR.
