- Pictured above is ARR 2-6-0 Mogul #242. Originally built as Isthmian Canal
Commission # 242 (the I.C.C. were the builders of the Panama Canal)
Alco/Cooke builders # 39153 in 1906. Built as 5 foot gauge. Transferred
to the ARR in 1923. Converted to standard gauge. Retired
in January 1930.
- An interesting footnote to #242s history is that it was involved in a major
derailment. On January 1, 1923, locomotives 242 and 221 were on a
run from Seward to Anchorage. At 5:00 a.m. they ran up on glacier
ice on the rail at mile post 91.7. Locomotive #242 left the track
and ran over the bank to the tidal flats. It was followed by a flat
car loaded with ties which shifted and the ties piled up on the engine
below. The conductor of locomotive #242, Charles Odd, was badly scalded
and died in the Railroad Hospital at Anchorage at 1:00 p.m. The engineer
and fireman were only slightly injured.
- In the photo above, number 242 is leaving anchorage for Matanuska and Chickaloon.
Alaska Railroad photo, Jack Klingbeil collection
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