Equipment: The 2-8-2s

The CR&NW's last locomotive purchase was five Alco 2-8-2s, delivered in two batches: 70-72 in 1915 and 73-74 in 1917. While these reflected modern standards of design, with a wide firebox, trailing truck, and superheaters, they had only 48 inch drivers. Usual driver size for 2-8-2s was either 56 or 63 inches. Here is an Alco builders photo of 72:

However, a generally comparable loco, even to its region of use, was Canadian Forest Products Ltd 113, a 1920 Alco oil burning 2-8-2, also with 48 inch drivers.

In other words, the CR&NW 2-8-2s were basically logging locos, not main line common-carrier locos. This goes to their eventual buyers after abandonment, the McCloud River Railroad, a logging line, which bought 72 and 73 in 1938 when the CR&NW was abandoned, and the Midland Terminal, a Colorado mountain ore carrier, which bought 70 and 74 in 1940. Below is the Alco specification card for these locos, courtesy of Stephen Low:

The earlier 2-6-0 and 2-8-0 locos from the Morgan-Guggenheim 1907 orders were basic main line locos of their period, with 56 inch drivers. The change is explained by the 1915 decision of the Alaska Engineering Commission and President Wilson to bypass the CR&NW on its rail route to Fairbanks. The big steel bridges on the CR&NW between miles 27 and 49 were appropriate if the CR&NW would be extended to the interior (preferably after sale to the US government). Without the extension, the CR&NW's only traffic would be the output of the Kennicott mines, which Morgan-Guggenheim knew would be depleted in a fairly short time.

Thus new locomotives to meet the demand for copper caused by World War I would be designed for a different set of circumstances. The "temporary" Copper River trestle at Chitina, with its 4% approaches, would never be replaced with a steel bridge. The sections of main line built below their eventual planned level would never be raised. Like similar logging and mining railroads elsewhere in North America, it was now understood that the rails were there temporarily while a resource was extracted.

Because the 2-8-2s arrived after the CR&NW's construction period, and after the decision to bypass the railroad for the route to Fairbanks, there aren't many photos of them to be found on the web. South-Central Alaska was not on the usual railfan itinerary. Here's a photo of loco 70:

Loco 71 in McCarthy:

74 in Kennicott:

Here is by far the best photo I've found, Loco 70 with main rods removed, in 1940 being shipped to the Midland Terminal, where it became number 62.

Courtesy of Stephen Low, here are the actual dispositions of the 2-8-2s:

70 Sold to the Midland Terminal Railway as #62 in 1940, then in 1948 to the Nor-Oeste de Mexicano (Mexican North Western) as #200, to Chihuahua Pacific No. 200 and scrapped 1964. Photographed by Otto Perry at Colorado City, Colo., May 28, 1941.

71 Permanently sidelined at Cordova roundhouse in 1936. Photographed there in 1941 and 1943 without a tender and with no visible signs of damage to the locomotive.

Bought by Alaska Rail Road (US Army) but never used, engine was scrapped c. 1947. Tender survives today after use by ARR rotary snow plough #3. The tender was sold for scrap with ARR #557 but both were purchased privately and the #557 is being restored. Below from Ron Simpson's blog:

In 1936 the boiler on no. 71 blew up while the engine was at the service bay in Chitina, killing the fireman and seriously burning the engineer. The engine was hauled back to Cordova and permanently sidelined there, leaving the other four to carry the load. The fifth Mikado was no longer essential due to the diminished requirements of mine production.

Email from John Coombs, Alaska Rails: “Some castings on the tender are dated 9/1915, which implies that this tender was delivered with the first batch of CR&NW mikes # 70, 71, 72. But in the early 1980's you could see the paint remnant of "73" on the rear of the tender; also a centered "3" on the side from its use with the ARR rotary snow plough.”

72 McCloud River #26 in 1938. Via Jeff Moore of McCloud Rails,the scrapping date for the CR&NW #72 (McCloud #26) was 11/55 72 McCloud River #26 in 12/1938, Cost $8,173.08 f.o.b. Mt. Shasta, plus $1,442.51 conditioning. Sold 11/1955 through Luria Brothers (dealer) for scrap.

73 McCloud River #27 in 1938. May have suffered a boiler explosion on CR&NW, but if so it was repaired and returned to service. However, this would need to have happened before 1930 when it was obvious that the rich copper ore was running out. Book records of the 73’s “boiler explosion” by non-railroad orientated authors are confusing. From Jeff Moore, 73 McCloud River #27 in 11/1938. Cost $8,151.31 f.o.b. Mt. Shasta City, plus $1,250.13 conditioning. Sold summer 1953 to Sixth Street Auto Wrecking Company for scrap.

74 Midland Terminal #63. Also sold to the Nor-Oeste de Mexicano (Mexican North Western) as #201, to Chihuahua Pacific No. 201, scrapped 1964.

A 2-8-2 is the second loco out on this rotary outfit, mixed with 2-8-0s and 2-6-0s.

Here is another 70 class loco on another rotary outfit:

Here is one of the 2-8-2s on what must be the usual late-period mixed train to Kennicott.

The photo is captioned "Approaching Kennicott from McCarthy", and since the turntable was in McCarthy, I'm assuming the whole train is running in reverse, with the mikado shoving.