Martin Hansen posted this picture of the Skookum as delivered at Portland and here is the caption he wrote for it:
It was back in 1910 that Herb Arey took time away from his duties as a locomotive engineer for the Southern Pacific to go down to the yards in Portland, Oregon to see a very unique steam that had just arrived on the afternoon freight. This engine was on her way from the Baldwin Locomotive Works to her new owner the Whitney Company in Astoria, Oregon. Arey, along with the others that saw her, were amazed by what she represented.
Here was the first of it's kind built by Baldwin. She was a 2-4-4-2 mallet built for logging service. This was Baldwin's very first logging mallet. She would be followed into the woods in the next 29 years by nearly 40 more logging mallets of different wheel and tender arrangements. However, none after her would be a 2-4-4-2.
Soon after Arey took this photo of this one-of-a-king locomotive she departed on her way to her new owner to start what would become a 45 year logging career in both Oregon and Washington. No one present that day could know what fame lie ahead for this fascinating product from Baldwin.
Today, some 108 years after Arey took this fine portrait of her, she is about to be returned to service on the Oregon Coast near where she first started her logging career. Her factory paint and lettering has all been re-applied just as before. This month she will be back in service much to the delight for all who know just how unique and how historic a locomotive she is.
Back in 1910 she had no number on her spot plate. None was needed. She was quite unmistakable because of the name her owner had told Baldwin to paint across the sides of her cab; Skookum.
Martin
