Today For Fun, Main Drivers On A Baldwin 2-6-2

After working the graveyard shift last night, I went to Orange Empire Rail Museum and was asked if I wanted a cab ride in the Ventura County Railway #2. A Baldwin Prairie 2-6-2. I said YES! and could mount a camera..... Being up all night, I accidentally moved the slide switch for the night shot feature...damn. That is the reason for a greenish image. Here is their history of the Locomotive that was in my home town. http://www.oerm.org/ PHOTOS on their website http://www.oerm.org/pages/VC2_at_San_Berdo_1_sm.JPG http://www.oerm.org/images/VC2_trestle.JPG The Ventura County No. 2 was built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1922 as No. 107 for the Cascade Timber Company of Reliance, Washington. The engine was designed to burn coal, but as a logger she probably burned wood as well. Operations on the Cascade Timber 30-mile line ended in 1942. The looming clouds of World War II increased the importance of the Naval Construction Battalion (Seabee) supply base at Port Hueneme, California, so the Ventura County Railway (which connected this base with the Southern Pacific at Oxnard) acquired additional locomotives. Renumbered as No. 2, the small 2-6-2 logger served impressively, helping to move war supplies needed for construction in the Pacific. She received some modifications, including a water-tank extension and reinforcement of the old arch-bar tender trucks. After WWII, in 1947, the locomotive was sent to Southern Pacific's Bayshore Shops near San Francisco and extensively rebuilt. Most noticeably, the worn-out wooden cab was replaced with a salvaged metal one. After additional war activity in the 1950's and the emergence of diesels, the VC Railway disposed of its other steamers but stored VC2 serviceable. She saw occasional service thereafter in the late 50's and early 60's. She was steamed at Port Hueneme for the last time in February 1972, and was shipped on two flatcars to the Orange Empire Railway Museum in November 1973. At the Museum, the locomotive was put back in service, pulling passenger trains for special events and excursions. In 1981, the tender was re-equipped with heavier arch-bar trucks, and its old wood underframe was rebuilt with steel beams. In 1995-96, the Museum's Steam Crew performed an extensive inspection of the boiler shell, repairs to staybolts and rivets, manufacture of a new boiler jacket, refurbishment of the cab and external appliances, and a complete repaint job on the engine.