| Last Update: June 11, 2007 |
| Refer to this map for the location of the areas mentioned in this article and where to find the locomotive, if you want to visit it yourself. |
| We've all heard the stories about the abandoned steam locomotives that were left in the woods, many decades ago, and that still may exist today just waiting to be found. More often than not, the rumors turn out to be bunk, but every once and a while, there truly is the remains of a locomotive, abandoned deep in the mountains for whatever reason and still remaining there today just waiting for visitors to explore it. This is one such locomotive. One of two in the Northwest that we've searched out and discovered so far. The first one was the "Ring of Fire" Movie wreck site in Washington State. Unfortunately, not much remains of the original locomotive discussed in this article, but even so, the site is worth exploring. Even if to visit the other interesting finds in the general area. Many of which I describe in detail in my Article about the trip in which this locomotive was discovered, titled Exploring Abandoned Railroads of Washington and Idaho. Check it out to read about the other finds in this area. The article on this page is dedicated exclusively to the abandoned Rutledge Climax number 103 that you'll see and read about below. |
| This locomotive was a Climax, 2 truck, 48 ton, Class B, standard gauge locomotive. It was constructed in February of 1909 by Climax Manufacturing Company of Corry, Pennsylvania as serial number # 916. The original owner was the Izett Lumber Company of Brinnon, Washington. They owned it until November, 1909, when it was sold to the Kneeland Lumber Company of Shelton, Washington. Sometime in 1910, it was again sold to the Oakland Bay Logging Company, also of Shelton, Washington. But in 1916, the locomotive would be sold to the Rutledge Lumber Company of Harrison, Idaho, numbered 103, and it's fate sealed. The Rutledge Lumber company owned a large track of forest land north of Clarkia, Idaho and had been logging that land for years, but in 1922, a large forest fire swept through the area and changed the logging operations forever. While most of the Rutledge logging camps that were in use, were spared by the fire, much of the trees were burned and Rutledge had to act quickly if they wanted to salvage the remaining logs before disease and decay took over. Rather than built a normal railroad that went around the mountains, Rutledge decided to build one straight over the mountains to the damaged area. Thus, the famous "Incline" was constructed. The incline was a steep section of track that went straight up one side of a mountain and down the other. Since the locomotives could not possibly power themselves, much less any load of logs over the incline, steam donkeys were used as winches to pull the trains up and over the other side. The loads were hauled up and over, one car and one locomotive at a time, using several steam donkey. The initial method was to use one donkey to pull the load half way up the incline, and then another was hooked on for the remainder of the pull. Once the loads were pulled over the mountain, they would continue the journey to Clarkia, Idaho pulled by a Climax Locomotive. The Climax would work both sides of the incline and was pulled up and over, just like the log cars were. The incline from base to base was over 1.5 miles long and there was not enough cable for one single pull. Loggers constantly worried about the load of logs or entire cars breaking loose. In fact, a number accidents did occur including a car load of rails, which broke loose and went rushing down the incline, before crashing and sending the rails like missiles off into the distance. By 1923, the Incline was abandoned for the first time as the method of hauling trains over the mountain proved to be unsuccessful. In 1928, the Incline was reopened. This time, two steam donkeys were employed at the summit and tied together. Using a single length of 1 5/8 inch cable for the entire route, loads were able to be pulled up and over the incline all at once. From this point on, the history is a bit sketchy. The Incline and this railroad did not last very long. In 1930, an accident occurred. What exactly happened is not known. I have to guess, based on the condition and location of the locomotive. It appears that Rutledge Climax number 103, which was facing north, away from Clarkia, was either being winched up the north slope of the incline, backwards, ultimately destined for Clarkia or being let down the north Slope to pull log cars from the reload back to the incline. Most likely, at some point, the cable broke or the steam donkeys failed and caused the Climax to rush back down the north slope of the incline. Because the north slope was not as steep, the Climax remained on the tracks, but began to gain uncontrollable speed. It's not known if anyone was on the locomotive, when it ran away, or if perhaps they jumped off just in time. When the Climax hit the bottom of the incline it was still on the tracks and travelled approximately another 1/4 mile before jumping the tracks, where it wrecked and came to next to the railroad tracks. What happened next is also unclear. The only thing we know for sure, is that Rutledge was not able to get the Climax back over the Incline and decided to abandoned her. Ted Curphey states in the Rumorweb that because the cables broke, Rutledge didn't want to go the expense to get new cable to pull the Climax out. This seems plausible. Especially, considering that the locomotive suffered heavy damage, and likely to the running gear and was more than 20 years old. Operations on the inclined were closed shortly there after and completely abandoned. Today, one can see that much of the locomotive has been cut up and salvaged. One mystery is when this occurred. Was it at the time of the accident or many years afterwards? Almost certainly, Rutledge would have salvaged some parts off of the Climax, but whether they are responsible for removing the running gear and torching off the smoke box, steam tubes and steam dome, is a mystery. Once it was abandoned, it was likely not visited for many years, including through the scrap drives of WW2, as access to the area was extremely limited. But in the years after WW2, forest roads were built near by and access to the Climax by salvagers would have been easier. Today, not much remains, except for the frame, firebox, boiler housing, and cab shell. It's possible that more remains are buried in the dirt under the boiler or are located nearby in the brush. It's obvious that the entire running gear below the frame had been removed. Despite not being a complete locomotive, it was still an extremely thrilling find. Regarding my search for this locomotive, the forest service knew of it's location and in fact advertised it in several old brochures of a nearby historical trail. But when I inquired to them about it, they were adamant that it did not exist. Perhaps I was just talking to an ignorant FS Ranger, but I also find it strange that a nearby forest service interpretive center, which discusses the history of the area and goes to great lengths to talk about several abandoned steam donkeys in the area and the Incline railroad, made no mention of this abandoned locomotive. I can completely understand why few people would know about it. I don't know that the FS is trying to hide it's location. I think instead, it's just an incredible piece of history that appears to have been mostly forgotten and ignored. |
| The railroad grade just north of the incline. Number 103, zipped past here before jumping the tracks. |
| At the base of the incline and down the grade are these pieces of cable that were certainly part of the Incline winching system. |
| Straight ahead is the north slope of the Incline. Hard to see today, as it's covered with vegetation. |
| There she is, sitting right next the grade, facing directly away from the Incline. We immediately notice one thing. The cab seems to have been pushed forward from an sudden impact and the loco is located right next to where the tracks used to be located. |
| The fire box. The only identification marks I could find on the entire locomotive was this number stamped into the firebox, just above the opening. |
| The fireman's station was pretty bare. Not much remains here. |
| Of the original controls, only the Johnson bar remains, clearly damaged from the impact. |
| The brick from the firebox remains, but has all fallen to the floor of the box. Did this happen upon impact or perhaps from the salvagers who wanted access to the boiler tubes? |
| The fireman's side of the locomotive. I believe these brackets once held the air compressors. |
| The first view of the steam dome that was cut off, most likely to allow easy access to the steam tubes during salvaging. |
| Looking out the Engineer's station, only small parts of the wood cab frame remains. |
| The engineer's side of the cab from the outside. |
| Looking at the Engineer's side of the rear boiler. These brackets held up a platform at one time. |
| A look into the steam dome reveals the main steam pipe cut in half. I believe the dome was cut off to allow the cutting torch to gain access to the rear of the boiler tubes. |
| Looking down into the cab through the opening in the roof. I originally thought the roof was metal and was torched off, but now I believe it was actually made of wood and rotted away. |
| These views from the front, show that the smoke box was cut off and the sand dome removed. |
| This view from the front, shows that the boiler tubes were completely removed. This also shows a good view of the stay bolts on the fire box and the main steam tube, all of which were left behind. |
| The front 3/4 view, showing that the smoke box and most of the running gear was all removed. You can also see that the front frame was broken, most likely on impact. Although some have suggested that the frame was actually cut later on and not damaged during the wreck. |
| These views are my pictures of Hillcrest Lumber's # 9 48 ton Class B Climax. SN # 1359. Although, 6 years newer than the Rutledge # 103, it was likely a very similar design. Hillcrest # 9 was located at the BC Forest Museum on Vancouver Island, BC, when I took these pictures of it in June, 2004. |
| This is Climax # 1493. Viewed here in 1949 just before being scrapped. It was owned by the Crown-Willamette Paper Co. It's cab and boiler are a very close match to the Rutlege Climax. Courtesy Marc Ruesser & Steam in the woods. |
| This photo provided by Ed Vasser is probably a closer match as it's serial number # 872 and was built just prior to the Rutledge number 103. Dirk Kinsey photo, Dennis Thompson Collection |
| This diagram shows how the Incline worked. It's not quite to scale, but the south slope was much steeper than the north slope. In the second operation, 1928-1930, steam donkeys located at the top of the lncline pulled locomotives and log cars up and over, one at a time. This locomotive was either being let down the south slope or pulled up the south slope when something went wrong. The cable or donkey failed and sent the locmotive careening down the slope at a high rate of speed. It jumped the tracks and came to a rest, broken, about 1/4 mile south of the south base of the Incline. |
| Additional Information and Emails |
| Hi Brian, What an amazing web site you have!!!. It is an absolute gold mine for everything that I love about railroads!!!. A fellow from Potlatch told me about this locomotive in 1962. The last news that I heard about the loco was that someone had come in there with a D-8 tractor and skidded parts or all of it out for salvage. The rumor that I heard was that it was trapped by a forest fire when the track was destroyed. It is wonderful to hear the real story. My brother just finished his career with the Forest Service so I forwarded the story to him. He heard about it at the same time. Happy rails, Richard Smart |
| I want to give credit and thanks to the following folks and websites for some information contained herein: James Hefner of http://www.survivingworldsteam.com/ For providing the serial number and lumber company of this locomotive. Ed Vasser of http://www.trainweb.org/climaxlocos/index.html For providing an excellent Climax website and resource in which additional information about this locomotive was obtained and for providing a picture of a similar model. Andrew Brandon, owner of RumorWeb & Ted Curphey Who submitted this information to RumorWeb, in which I based my initial search for this loco. If you have any information or pictures or information that you'd like to add to this article, please EMAIL ME anytime. I'm especially looking for any photos of this particular locomotive, including both when it was in use and after it was abandoned. |
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| Copyright © 2004, 2005 Brian McCamish, All Rights Reserved Note about the photos on this site: Most photos were taken by me, except for those that are otherwise indicated. I usually allow people to use my photos for personal use or websites. Simply Email me. I may not have authority to grant permission regarding some photos that were only loaned to me by others specifically for this website. Every effort has been made not to include other's photos without the proper permission and credits, however, if you see any photos which belong to you and that I don't have permission to use, I apologize. If you send me an Email, I will remove the photos immediately or give proper credit, which ever you wish |
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| Note: This locomotive was featured in an article about abandoned locomotives in the magazine Railfan & Railroad, March 2007...by Jeff Terry. Mr. Terry used a photo from this website with our permission for that article. |