McCloud River Railroad Company
Locomotive #20

Baldwin 2-6-2
Built- 1/1924
c/n- 57617
Drivers- 46"
Cylinders- 17x24
Weight- 132,000 lbs.
Boiler pressure- 185 lbs.
Tractive effort- 23,700 lbs.
An exceptionally strong pine lumber market through the early 1920s together with the acquisition of an 87,000 acre timber sale from The Red River Lumber Company gave the McCloud River Railroad the financial resources and long-term operational stability to go looking for new power to replace both the painfully slow Shays #16 and #17 and the increasingly ancient and small fleet of early Prairies. The railroad first turned to Baldwin for a pair of new 2-6-2s, specifically designed for logging service but yet big enough to haul mainline freights if needed. The #20 and its twin #21 were destined to spend most of their careers leased to the lumber company and assigned to their operations based out of Pondosa.
The #20 on the McCloud turntable. Ted Wurm photo.
A broadside view of the #20, also in McCloud. T.E. Glover collection.
The #20 in McCloud. Note the relocation of the headlight and the addition of a powered reverser.
The #20 leading the #14 and another Mikado on a freight west of McCloud.
One more shot of the #20, again in McCloud. Jerry Lamper collection.
The #20 in Southern Pacific's Bayshore Yard in January 1956 on its way to scrap. Harold K. Vollrath.