McCloud River Railroad
Equipment Roster
Oil/Fuel Service Tank Cars

Locomotive #23 with tank car #2000 in the woods, probably in the late 1930s. From the T.E. "Eddy" Glover collection.
Oil started replacing wood as the fuel consumed by the steam powered logging and railroad eqipment owned by the McCloud River companies in the first decade of the 1900s. The shift created demands for new storage and transportation equipment. In 1907, the railroad built a 5,000-barrel capacity oil storage tank on the hillside west of the yards and shops in McCloud and started purchasing tank cars to transport oil. The roster gradually expanded through the years, with cars added or modified to handle gasoline and diesel fuel as the McCloud companies adopted internal combustion.

The below roster includes those cars used to handle oil and other liquid fuels. Most of these cars did not stray from McCloud rails. The only exception would be the 2000-series American Car & Foundry tank cars, which regularly made round trips from McCloud to the oil fields around Bakersfield, CA, to get loads of oil for return to McCloud. The railroad never changed out the arch bar trucks underneath the cars, which eventually caught up to the company. In February 1936, the railroad interchanged cars #2002 and #2004 to the SP, who took them to the Bakersfield area. On the return trip, one of the trucks under car #2002 failed, leading to a derailment that injured the two SP crewman riding on the caboose. Whether this derailment ended the off-line use of these cars or not is unknown; however, Federal regulations banned all cars riding on arch bar trucks from being interchanged in 1941, which ended the off-line use of these cars anyway. Oil shipments thereafter arrived in McCloud in foriegn road tank cars.

429- Gasoline tank. Converted 9/1920 from log flat #429 by installing a 16-foot boiler shell for use as a gas tank. Cost $608.23. Retired 3/1940.

1707:2- Oil car. Converted 6/1920 from fire car #1707:1. Converted 7/1935 to water car #2057.

1785- Oil tank, built 1/31/1929 in the company shops. Cost $1162.39. Retired 3/1940.

1817:2- Gasoline car. Conv. 1/1927 from water car #1817:1. Ret. 3/1940.

1829:2-Gasoline car. Conv. 4/1928 from water car #1829. Total cost of car $954.21. Ret. 3/1940.


Cats nosed up to gas car #1829. Dennis Sullivan collection.

2000- 8,000 gallon, 33-foot steel tank car. Built 2/1907 by American Car & Foundry, Niles, Ohio. Purchased new for $1,550, plus $208.94 freight. Rebuilt 9/1926 with a new depreciation schedule. Replace original "K" brakes with AB brakes 1946/1947, cost $264.59. Originally an oil tank, then later converted to water service. Dismantled 1963 in Burney. Tank body leased 7/1963 to Morrison-Knudson for Pit 6 and 7 dam building projects.


#2000 next to the roundhouse. Pacific Northwest Virtual Logging Data Center.

2001: 8,000 gallon, 33-foot steel tank car. Built 2/1907 by American Car & Foundry, Niles, Ohio. Purchased new for $1,550, plus $208.94 freight. Rebuilt 9/1926 with a new depreciation schedule. Replace original "K" brakes with AB brakes 1946/1947, cost $264.59. Power brake installed 10/15/1958. Originally an oil tank, then later converted to water service. Sold 12/5/1966 to U.S. Plywood.


#2001 in the McCloud yards. Pacific Northwest Virtual Logging Data Center.

2002: 8,000 gallon, 33-foot steel tank car. Built 2/1907 by American Car & Foundry, Niles, Ohio. Purchased new for $1,550, plus $208.94 freight. Originally an oil tank. Rebuilt 9/1926 with a new depreciation schedule. Replace original "K" brakes with AB brakes 1946/1947, cost $264.59. Converted 1957 to sand car #503.

2003: 8,000 gallon, 33-foot steel tank car. Built 2/1907 by American Car & Foundry, Niles, Ohio. Purchased new for $1,550, plus $208.94 freight. Originally an oil tank. Rebuilt 9/1926 with a new depreciation schedule. Converted 3/1940 to a "Cat Car" by removing just shy of one half of the tank body and replacing it with a large storage box. Capacity of tank reduced to 5,200 gallons. Car carried diesel fuel and cat parts and was mated to one of the two "cat doctor" too cars (#2979 or ????) to support field repairs and servicing of logging tractors in the woods. Install power brake 3/13/1959. Dismantled and sold to Morrison-Knudson.

2004: 8,000 gallon, 33-foot steel tank car. Built 2/1907 by American Car & Foundry, Niles, Ohio. Purchased new for $1,550, plus $208.94 freight. Originally an oil tank. Rebuilt 9/1926 with a new depreciation schedule. Converted 3/1940 to a "Cat Car" by removing just shy of one half of the tank body and replacing it with a large storage box. Capacity of tank reduced to 5,200 gallons. Car carried diesel fuel and cat parts and was mated to one of the two "cat doctor" too cars (#2979 or ????) to support field repairs and servicing of logging tractors in the woods. Power brake installed 4/11/1957. Retired late 1969/early 1970.


#2004 in Kinyon about 1964. Pacific Northwest Virtual Logging Data Center.

2005: 8,000 gallon, 33-foot steel tank car. Built 2/1907 by American Car & Foundry, Niles, Ohio. Purchased new for $1,550, plus $208.94 freight. Rebuilt 9/1926 with a new depreciation schedule. Replace original "K" brakes with AB brakes 1946/1947, cost $264.59. Originally an oil tank, then later used as a fuel tank car and rigged for jammer service. Retired late 1969/early 1970.

2006: 8,000 gallon steel tank car. Purchased used 7/1926, cost $743.22. Converted 10/1936 to water car #2059.

2007: 8,000 gallon steel tank car. Built 12/1909 by AC&F, Berwick, IL. Cost $1,118, plus $218.14 freight. Converted 1951 to fire car #1713:3.


Builder's photograph of the #2007. Pacific Northwest Virtual Logging Data Center.

2008: 8,000 gallon steel tank car. Purchased used 11/1928; source not recorded, but likely former Gulf Refining Company car. Reported cost combined with #2010 of $1,447.78. Fuel tank car, rigged for jammer service. Power brake installed 3/12/1959. Retired circa 1968.


Partial view of the #2008 in Burney. Both it and the #2010 had thick full-length side sills that were unusual for tank cars of the period. Pacific Northwest Virtual Logging Data Center.

2009: 8,000 gallon steel tank car. Built 12/1909 by AC&F, Berwick, IL. Cost $1,118, plus $218.14 freight. Converted 1951 to fire car #1715:3.

2010: Purchased used 12/1928; originally a Gulf Refining Company car. Reported cost combined with #2008 of $1,447.78. Fuel tank car, rigged for jammer service. Power brake installed 4/12/1957. Used to store oil for #25 on shop tracks from circa 1962-1977, then converted 5/1977 to fire car #1716.

2011: 8,000 gallon steel tank car. Built 12/1909 by AC&F, Berwick, IL. Cost $1,118, plus $218.14 freight. Replace original "K" brakes with AB brakes 1946/1947, cost $264.59. Retired late 1969/early 1970.


#2011 in Kinyon. Pacific Northwest Virtual Logging Data Center.

2021, 2023: 6,000 gallon tank cars, oil/fuel service. Built 4/20 in McCloud carshop. Cost $2324.33 each. Retired 9/1940. Tank from one of these cars likely reused on fire car #1711. Tank from one of these cars likely re-used in fire car #1711:3.

Oil car #2023 spotted next to a McGiffert loader. Jeff Moore collection.

2331- Converted from tie flat #2331 prior to 1959.