08/16/2026
Have you read any of the archived Stump Dodger newsletters on our website? While on vacation, our Media Team found the following interview with former Oregon Lumber Company employee Elvin Endicott in a 2003 issue. Elvin started working for OLC when he was 16 years old in 1936.
The following interview recorded by Casey Carlson in 2002 gives a glimpse into the daily happenings of a steam-powered logging railroad long ago. It’s a long interview and can be read in its entirety in the 2003, issue #2 of the Stump Dodger, so we may share a few more highlights later.
For context, OLC was one of several logging railroads that fed into the Sumpter Valley Railway. #101 and #102 were petite 24-ton Shay locomotives. #102’s boiler is currently on display in the McEwen yard. The #7 Shay is currently at the Hesston Steam Museum and was re-restored in 2006.
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“Well, the typical day started at about seven in the morning if we were the day crew. We’d get the engine back up to steam since the night crew had usually tied up a couple hours before. I’d get on and blow her water glass out and test her gauge c***s. Any damn fool can tell if there’s water or not, steam and water make a completely different sound. After we got up to steam we’d blow her down, opening the valve for about two seconds then waiting ‘till she settled, and do it again a couple times. The Oregon was real particular about taking care of them boilers. We washed ‘em out every two weeks, but we put a lot of water in from the creeks. We had boiler treatment, like put a cup of this stuff in or throw one of the little balls in after taking water. Anyway, then we’d start out, engine on the front of the train tender-first, hauling about 15 empties behind her. The #7 was almost always the engine since she was their road loco. It was 23 miles to the farthest reload point. We’d pull in and drop off our empties, and take the train of logs. We’d take wood and water at Big Boulder, and the 101 or 102 would usually couple onto the end of the train to help us into Bates…”
“An amazing thing is that with all those wood burners we had over there and all the trains we ran, we never set any fires. We put a screen on the stack before we left Bates and that seemed to do the trick. But you had to take them off every once in a while and beat ‘em with a rock or stick to clean them so you could keep the engine drafting well. One night I was on the 102 as a helper going through the gorge and my fireman looked at me and said he couldn’t make any steam no matter what. I told him to go up and beat the stack. Well the Forest Service superintendent was right along side up on the road and when we pulled into Bates he came up and said ‘I could have you fired for what you did tonight, did you see all those sparks come out of that stack when he beat it!’ Luckily he kinda laughed about it. The Forest Service cleared brush all summer and burned it in the fall, evidently whatever they did worked.”
“Those engines had personalities, I’m telling you. Take the 101 and 102 for example. The 101 ran like a top, steamed like a house afire, the 102 steamed hard and didn’t ride as nice. But the 102 had been wrecked a lot of times, her cab was replaced and all sorts of stuff. The two were sisters, but couldn’t be more different. Then the 100 was a real good Heisler, they bought her new and she was designed pretty good I think. She rode and steamed better than the 104. Of course the 104 was all right, considering she had been cut down from standard gauge. Then that little #105 was okay, her firebox was so small they had to cut special wood for her…The master mechanic’s name was Lou Smith and he came from La Grande where he worked for UP in the ‘20’s. He really knew his stuff and kept our engines in good shape. Like I say, we washed them boilers out every Sunday two weeks apart. Do the tubes first and work our way back and down. Then close her up and fill her with water, light the fire and go eat dinner. Come back and you’d have enough steam for her blower…”
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There’s so much more to this interview that our Media Team found interesting so we may share more later on. If you’d like to hear more of the first-hand stories of railroading, let us know in the comments. We’re sure to have a few more pretty soon as work progresses on the #19, and #3 gets tuned up.
Speaking of the current SVRR - We’ll be back to our regular scheduled operations on Aug. 29th and 30th. That’s only 2 weeks away so make your plans and get your tickets but watch out for bandits on the outskirts of Sumpter!
To purchase tickets, donate to our 501(c)3, or volunteer your time, visit our website https://www.sumptervalleyrailroad.org/
Photos from the SVRR Archives
