Southern Pacific 1298
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| Southern Pacific 1298 | |||||||||||||
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 Southern Pacific 1298 at Harvey West Park in Santa Cruz, California | |||||||||||||
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Southern Pacific No. 1298 is a preserved 0-6-0 steam locomotive on display at Harvey West Park in Santa Cruz, California.
History[edit]
Revenue Service[edit]
Southern Pacific No. 1298 was built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for the Arizona Eastern Railroad in 1917 as their No. 39. It was built as the second to last 0-6-0 Switcher for the Arizona Eastern.[1] In total, up to 27 were built for the railroad between 1913 and 1917.[2] The S-10 also came equipped with a superheater in the boiler.[1][2]
It operated in Miami and Bowie, Arizona as a switcher and maybe in short-distance freight trains. By 1924, it was renumbered to No. 1298 after the Southern Pacific, which leased the Arizona Eastern since 1905, swallowed up the line. They renumbered all of their locomotives and No. 1298 was reassigned out of Arizona to San Diego, California. Just three years later, No. 1298 returned to Arizona for a rebuild to increase its running time. No. 1298 went to Yuma, Arizona, and the rebuild was completed on March 10, 1927, and went back to San Diego, working there until the early 1950s, after which No. 1298 was reassigned to Oakland, where No. 1298 operated for a few more years.[1]
Retirement[edit]
The engine was retired in September 1956, and was placed in storage in Oakland.[2] At the same time, Harvey E. West, a philanthropist, and a local lumber magnate donated several acres of his land to create a park on the westside of Santa Cruz tucked away in the redwoods. The park was created on May 30, 1959. Shortly after the park was opened, the Southern Pacific Railroad donated the locomotive to the City of Santa Cruz. In 1963, No. 1298 arrived at Harvey West Park and with some rails underneath her, was placed down via a crane and sat as a playground. Platforms were added to the locomotive and it became a play structure.[1]
In 1987, the City of Santa Cruz voted to sell all of No. 1298. The stipulations of that agreement would’ve been No. 1298 sold off into private ownership. However, public backlash to the arrangement led to the city only selling the tender of the locomotive. The tender would go to the newly formed, Eccles & Eastern Railroad. The Eccles and Eastern Railroad wanted to rebuild the Mountain Division that the Southern Pacific previously operated between Santa Cruz and San Francisco and Oakland that was used for the Suntan Special.[1] The railroad planned to have an excursion service on the line. The locomotive that the railroad acquired was Southern Pacific 2706 from Ramsey Park in Watsonville, California. The tender of 2706 needed a backup as a just in case since 2706 and 1298's tender were the same oil-based Vanderbilt styled.[1] The tender of No. 1298 was removed in mid-1989 and was taken to Swift Street siding in Santa Cruz along with 2706. But internal problems with the railroad led to excursion plans falling through before the locomotive was even restored.[1] The tender of 1298 was shipped to Colusa, California, along with 2706 to be restored.[1] Since then, 1298 has been sitting at Harvey West Park, without a tender.
Today, the locomotive is still on display at Harvey West Park in poor condition.