For Dr. B's books, CLICK HERE.
Thanks Shane. I needed a reminder to get this done.
The links will be below his shots.
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Below is an application for the National Register, I do believe.
NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION:
Southern Pacific Steam Locomotive Number 745 (1921) is an oil-burning steam-powered freight locomotive constructed primarily of riveted and bolted steel. It is located on a spur line in a warehouse area of suburban Jefferson Parish. Virtually all of its historic features are intact although a few have been removed and stored on site. Additionally, the cab is rusted and may have to be replaced.
Engine Number 745 is a Southern Pacific Class MK5 Mikado locomotive fabricated at the Southern Pacific Railroad’s Algiers Shops (no longer extant) at Algiers Point directly across the Mississippi River from New Orleans. It has a 2-8-2 wheel configuration with an oil tender which also contains a more or less cylindrical aft compartment for water. Number 745 hauled passenger trains during World War II, but it was built as a freight engine (as evidenced by its relatively small driving wheels—five feet in diameter). These provide lower speeds than a passenger engine, but attained greater pulling power. Number 745 could reach a maximum speed of 50 to 60 miles per hour and should be regarded as a medium-sized freight engine.
The bottom of the fire box has rusted out but the water leg boiler is intact, as is the steam dome atop the locomotive. The system of tubes and flues that heated the steam to approximately 700 degrees Fahrenheit is intact. (The flues are in place but the tubes are stored on site.) On each side of the engine is a single piston cylinder with a control valve on top. The system of cross heads connects each piston directly with the third driving wheel on each side. The main drive rods (which connect the pistons to the driving wheels) have been detached and stored to make it possible to tow the locomotive about the property. (The purpose of periodic towing is to keep the wheels’ bearings and other working parts mobile.) The smoke box (at the front of the engine) is intact but the petticoat pipe (which discharged exhaust steam from the cylinders and used it to propel smoke from the fire box up the stack with great velocity) is in storage on site.
Other noteworthy features include the engine’s air brakes and the three associated air reservoir tanks. The air compressor pump is in storage. The cab has a segmentally arched wooden top and windows that permit a partial front view and full side views. This is probably not the original cab, as locomotive cabs were often changed out in routine maintenance. In any case, the present cab is badly rusted and will probably need to be rebuilt.
An interesting feature of the tender is the attached metal enclosed pavilion which housed the brakeman. Typically, the brakeman would ride in the caboose, but Texas law required trains operating in that state to have a brakeman stationed in the front. Inasmuch as there was no room for the brakeman in the locomotive cab, this special pavilion was added to the tender. This feature, popularly known as the “dog house,” is intact but currently in storage on site.
Assessment of Integrity:
Engine 745 has virtually all of the parts needed to operate. The current owner has long-range plans to undertake a complete restoration with the goal of returning the locomotive to operation in the New Orleans area. In any case, it is still easily recognizable as the locomotive that was fabricated at the Algiers works in 1921 and hence easily retains its National Register eligibility.
Significant Date: 1921
Architect/Builder: Unknown
Criterion: A
Area of Significance: Transportation
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE:
Southern Pacific Locomotive Number 745 is one of only twelve 2-8-2 locomotives constructed at the Southern Pacific Railroad’s Algiers Shops and is believed to be the only one of those twelve which survives. Number 745, constructed in 1921, is also believed to be the only remaining steam locomotive manufactured in Louisiana and is therefore eligible for the National Register due to its state-wide significance in representing the railroad industry. Moreover, there are only a limited number of resources which remain as testament to Louisiana’s overall associations with historic railroads. The period of significance spans from 1921 to 1948, the current fifty-year cutoff. (The locomotive continued in use until 1956.)
Although the Algiers Shops’ primary function was the repair and service of locomotives, the demands of World War I caused the Shops to begin limited construction of locomotives. Among these were the Southern Pacific Class MK5 Mikado-type locomotives numbered 739 to 750. As the largest facility of its kind in the American South (employing over 5000 people at its height and encompassing 22 city blocks), the Algiers Shops were also used as a passenger and freight train terminal.
Number 745 transported primarily freight (owing to its relatively slow speed capabilities) throughout Louisiana and Texas during its utilitarian tenure from 1921 until 1956. However, the locomotive was also used to transport soldiers during World War II. In 1956, the locomotive completed its final journey by its own steam when it retired to Audubon Park in Uptown New Orleans, where it remained until 1984. At that time, ownership of the train was transferred to the Louisiana Railway Heritage Trust. The engine is currently located on a small spur line in Jefferson, Louisiana surrounded by a number of other historic railway engines and cars owned by the Trust.
The New Orleans, Opelousas, and Great Western Railroad was established in 1853 at Algiers in order to begin the construction of a railroad connecting New Orleans to the Texas-Louisiana border at the Sabine River. The efforts of the New Orleans, Opelousas, and Great Western Railroad (purchased by the Morgan’s Texas and Louisiana Railroad and Steamship Company in 1869, and then in 1883 by Southern Pacific) came to complete fruition in 1881, when the railroad connected New Orleans to the Pacific Coast. It was at this time, during the years 1880 to 1910, that the railroad industry reached its pinnacle in Louisiana with more than 5000 miles of mainline track; fewer than 2000 miles of that track remain today.
The railroading industry allowed many small towns in rural Louisiana to become linked with more urban areas and thus also allowed many rural industries to flourish. Despite the industry’s importance to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the rapid changes of modern technology and the dawn of the public highway system quickly dissipated the strength of the railroad’s hold on modern existence. Thus, very few vestiges of this important industry remain, particularly resources such as locomotives, which as industrial tools became obsolete before their historic importance could be recognized. Including Southern Pacific Steam Locomotive #745, the SHPO is aware of eight historic locomotives located in Louisiana at the present time. Of these, only Engine Number 745 is known to have been manufactured in Louisiana. Hence, its significance to the history of the state’s railroad industry is clear.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Fricker, Jonathan. “The Coming of Mechanization.” In Louisiana Buildings 1720-1940: The Historic American Buildings Survey. Eds. Jessie Poesch and Barbara SoRelle Bacot. Baton Rouge: LSU Press, 1997.
“The Restoration of the Historic Southern Pacific Number 745 Steam Locomotive.” Enhancement Program Application submitted to the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development by the Louisiana Steam Train Association.
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Here's a good link to show you what is involved in a restoration. CLICK HERE
Here's LASTA's site. CLICK HERE
Here's the engineer's journal. CLICK HERE
This is a story of a great adventure. The engineer's journal
puts you in the cab and greasing the rods. You can ride
tourist steam trains, but you'll never guess the concerns
with what your engineer and crew are dealing. This is a look see.
Other sites:
A video: CLICK HERE
Pictures CLICK HERE
You Tube's CLICK HERE
Flicker's CLICK HERE
There are probably many more sites.
745 is an example of "Louisiana Proud".
The demise of 745's sister, the only other
ground up build in La., 743, is not so proud.