Equipment: The 4-6-0s

The Copper River & Northwestern had two 4-6-0s, numbered 50 and 51. Loco 50 was an ex-Southern Pacific Rogers loco of 1881. According to Janson, it had been sold to the Valdez-Yukon Railroad, a paper enterprise, numbered 101, but never actually used there. Michael Heney acquired it for his Copper River Railway and had it moved to Cordova in September, 1906, where he used it in construction prior to the merger with the CR&NW. Loco 51 was a former Alaska Central loco, possibly acquired from the AC when it went bankrupt in 1908. The AC had four locos numbered 1-4, but 1-3 passed to the Alaska Northern and then the Alaska Engineering Commission, so I am assuming this was AC 4.

According to the Alaska Rails site, rolling stock records for the Alaska Central and Alaska Northern prior to acquisition by the AEC were poorly kept and eventually destroyed in a fire, so the identity of the AC loco that went to the CR&NW as number 51 is a mystery. Here is a photo from Alaska Rails of Alaska Central 3, which may have been a sister:

This bears some resemblance to a loco that I think is CR&NW 51, but this is pure speculation on my part. Corrections will be greatly appreciated.

Here are photos of loco 50 on construction trains:



Here is loco 50 at the completion ceremony in Kennicott:

It's worth pointing out that in the photo of Alaska-Yukon 101 in the Janson book, the loco has acetylene headlights, but in all CR&NW photos it has large box-type oil headlights. Loco 51, however, had acetylene headlights. Here's the clincher, a photo of both 50 and 51 on an early rotary outfit:

Loco 50 is closest to the camera; 51 is ahead of it. I believe this is a photo of 51:

Note that the bell is closer to the steam dome on 50, farther forward on 51. The injector pipes also leave 51's cab at a higher level than on 50. Otherwise, not much difference.

I don't have information on when 51 arrived in Cordova, although it may have corresponded with the AC's 1908 bankruptcy. On the other hand, Michael Heney appears to have sourced locos in Alaska and second-hand, while the Morgan-Guggenheim syndicate bought new, so 51's acquisition may have been earlier than 1908. By the same token, while 50 is noted in the Janson book as doing switching service after the CR&NW was abandoned, there is no information on when 51 stopped being used, nor what its disposition was.

As always, insights, corrections, and additional information are most welcome.