Number 562

Here's an interesting bit of trivia -

From a post on the Railway Preservation News web site.

Regarding the U. S. Army 2-8-0's, there was only one place in the USA where all three types ran at together at the same time, and that was on the Claiborne and Polk military RR in Louisiana.

SPL 28 arrived at the C&P in December, 1942, while the RR was under construction, as Army Corps of Engineers #300, from Fort Peck, Montana. On the C&P, the engine was renumbered USA #20.

Early in 1942, a pair of the Lima class 180 2-8-0s arrived which became USA #10 and #11. #10 was assigned to Camp Claiborne and #11 although set up at Claiborne was sent around to Camp Polk to be used there.

In addition, 3 S-160s were eventually assigned to the C&P, #1600, #3409 and #3410.
#1600 was the first Alco built S-160, while the other two were Baldwins.

C&P #20 had an interesting career on the C&P, derailing the tender and then the loco on top of a high fill while running in reverse, and finally making the last run of the C&P, which was a light engine move from Camp Claiborne to Camp Polk on August 30, 1945.

According to the roster on your page, 1600 was Alaska Railroad #562. 

This post prompted a memory of a newsreel of Camp Claiborne which had a couple of fleeting shots of an S160.  See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kz54FcA4wqA. Looking at it in high def and pausing the video, I think the number on the locomotive at 0:50 looks more like 1600 than the other S160 that were assigned there. Around 2:50 is another shot of an S-160, this one with a rectangular number plate, so it must also be USATC 1600. Note that when the film was done at Camp Claiborne it had kerosene lighting.

Dick Morris

Added 5/28/15

Some ARR and S160 trivia.

Tourett contends that 3410/AAR 560 and 3409/ARR 561 served in Europe, returned to the U.S. in 1947, and came to Alaska after that service. This appears to be questionable.

They were built in December, 1944. Everett has researched the Polk and Claiborne military railroad in Louisiana and can document that the two locomotives were operating there in May through July 1945, with 3409/ARR 561 operating as late as August 3, 1945. The railroad ceased operation in August, 1945.

I have a copy of ARR correspondence in which the ARR sent a photo of "new" locomotive 560 to a Department of the Interior office on May 28, 1947.

1600/ARR562 and 3409/ARR561 were shipped from Holabird (apparently Camp Holabird, a supply depot in Baltimore) July 23, 1947.

I went through the entire S160 chapter in Tourett's book to see if I could find an appearance of 3409  or 3410 in Europe in the extensive rosters that he includes. No luck.

While it's possible that those two locomotives made it to Europe, I have my doubts. There is only a 20 month window during which 560 can't be proven to be in the U.S. and a 22 month window in which 561 can't be proven to be in the U.S. Given travel and other logistics needs to get them to Europe and put into operation, that only leave about a hot minute that they could have operated in there. That 3409 was in Baltimore might suggest that it had returned from Europe, but it could also mean it (along with 1600/ARR-562) had been stored for movement to Europe but never left the U.S. Not finding either 3409 or 3410 in

Tourett's detailed listings of USATC numbers serving in Europe also suggests that they never made it.
(Tourett also states that all 12 ARR S160s came to Alaska after the war. We can document that 551 through 557 came during the war, directly from Baldwin, in late 1944 and before. He also says that 1600 was at Ft. Eustis but doesn't say anything any of the three S160s that operated Polk and Claiborne.)

Dick Morris