The Guard of the Palmer Depot. Sitting on static display in Palmer next to the long dormant tracks of a once busy branchline sits a little Baldwin saddle tank engine that put its mark on Alaska's railroad history as well as local lore. 

The Palmer Train as it's known was one of three identical narrow gauge locomotives that came to Alaska to work on the construction of the Alaska Railroad with this being No.5. There were many different little "dinky" locomotives used in the construction of the railroad and most faded into history their story never being told and are now long forgotten, but this little locomotive survived. 

After the completion of the Alaska Railroad there was no need for much of of the smaller narrow gauge equipment and so they were sold off to various concerns. The Premier Coal Company between Palmer and Sutton was up the short Moose Creek Branch and had a small narrow gauge network. They purchased the 5 and some cars for hauling coal from the mine to the standard gauge trains and did so until the mine closed and everything was abandoned. Today one can find narrow gauge rail hanging in the air in places where the 5 once ran. 

The locomotive was recovered by Palmer locals in the late 1950s and was placed on display a little way north along the tracks, but was later moved to it's location of today. Over the years countless children including myself have visited and climbed all over the little engine and have enjoyed it so much. For many years the engine was under a roof. During the New Year's windstorm the roof was blown down due to rotten posts.

For a short time the locomotive once again sat out in the elements much like it did when it was first recovered making for some rare photo opportunities. On a nice April afternoon the little engine of Palmer basks in the warm Matanuska Valley sun, standing guard next to the old depot, a relic of a time long passed on to a page of history. 04/04/2022

Since the time of this photo a new roof was built over the locomotive.