The Last of Southern Pacific's High Steppers
new 12-19-24
At the turn of the 20th Century, speedsters with tall drivers were more or less universally known as "high steppers". Wx4 Staff has a particular penchant for two varieties of these, SP's elderly 4-4-2's and 4-6-2's, but our love is further refined to mean 'with inside bearing trailing trucks as the railroad gods originally intended'. Although some may disagree, we judge that their enormous spoked trailing wheels gave them an element of gracefulness sorely lacking in the 'improved' subclasses. They were lovely.
SP's last example of these magnificent beasts was #2411. Here we see it in the company of fellow P-1 #2415, an unfortunate loco which had been egregiously modified with a booster-equipped cast trailing truck of coarse appearance a quarter century before this photo was recorded in a West Oakland winter storage line on January 8, 1950.
Even if Diebert and Strapac had not informed us that #2411 would soldier on for four more years (vacated 4-20-54), the photo surely tells us that this is not a scrap line. The most obvious indications of this are the pair's fresh paint and the Cosmoline slathered on #2411's rods to keep them bright and shiny. Likewise, the rust on her tires is orange, not purple-red, a sign that she had not been idle for very long.
At this moment #2415 only had about 18 months of life remaining. This surely tells us something about #2411, for she in her simplicity outlasted most of the more sophisticated P-1's, as well as those that metamorphosed into P-4's. She absolutely must have been a favored locomotive. She certainly is for us. - copy slide; unknown original photographer, Wx4 Collection.
