The museum received an early Christmas Gift from C. G. Heimerdinger, Jr. On December 13, 2010, at precisely 2:00 p.m., the last White Pine County steam locomotive left on the planet (outside of East Ely) arrived in front of the depot - Steptoe Valley Smelting and Mining #3.

In October 1906, the copper companies in White Pine County decide to form the Steptoe Valley Smelting and Mining Company to construct and operate the mill and smelter in McGill. In support of that operation four steam locomotives were purchased.

Number 3 was built by Porter Locomotive Company in January 1913 as a 0-4-0. It’s builder’s number was 5247. The cylinders were 10” x 14” powering 30” drivers. Total weight of the locomotive is 17 tons.

Its work life was spent at the smelter in McGill. In 1914, the locomotive was renumbered to Nevada Consolidated Copper Company No. 309. Eventually it was numbered as Kennecott No. 309.

It survived into the 21st century because it was purchased by C. G. Heimerdinger, Jr. in 1964. What follows is the story in his words...

“For several years, it was rumored that the Kennecott Copper Corporation had two steam locomotives hidden away at their McGill, Nevada facility. McGill is near Ely and was the location of a large copper smelter. In the spring of 1964, a friend of mine stopped at McGill and made a search for the two “mystery” locomotives. All he found was a little and very ugly 0-4-0T, numbered 309. From what he was told, there had also been an 0-6-0 in the same storage yard, but it had been scrapped a year or two prior to his visit.”

“May of that year, I had a chance to visit the McGill facility and have a good look at the 309. She was not a pretty sight. In fact, the locomotive had the appearance of having had a flat iron dropped on her. She had a low cab with a flat roof that was at the same level as the flat-topped saddle tank. The saddle tank ran all the way to the front of the smokebox. While the locomotive did not make a good appearance, she was complete, with the exception of one builder’s plate and the whistle.”

“We know that when built, the Number 3 did not look anything like what I found in the desert many years later. Originally the locomotive was built as an oil burner, had an air pump, and was equipped with two headlights. The locomotive I found, and later purchased, was a coal burner, had no headlights, no air pump (or a place for one) and used steam brakes.”

“Somewhere I was advised that in the late 1920’s, the locomotive and her three sisters were set aside and then sold for scrap. The scrapper managed to cut up three of them, but then the “Depression” arrived, and he went out of business before he could cut up the final locomotive. Because the locomotive had been sold and was “off the books,” everyone at Kennecott forgot about her, and she managed to survive. Whether or not the story is true is unknown, but it was obvious when we started to take a good look at the locomotive that it had either not seen much service or had recently been rebuilt before her last operation.”

“As I just stated, I went out on a limb and purchased the little 0-4-0T (she weighed 17 tons) along with the remains of an ore car. I wanted to also purchase a couple of little flatcars, but was advised that they were “not for sale”. In early 1965, the engine and ore car were loaded on a flatcar and sent to the Bay Area Electric Railroad Association’s facility at Rio Vista Junction. At that time, the Pacific Locomotive Association had arranged with Bay Area to develop its museum at Rio Vista Junction. But the distances proved to be too great for the few members we had at that time, so in 1966, our involvement with that site came to an end. The little 0-4-0T was the only sign of our presence at Rio Vista Junction.”

“In 1967, we established our museum effort at Castro Point (in Richmond, CA). In September and October of that year, the number 5 and 12 arrived, and early the following year, the Number 3 was trucked into Castro Point. It was George D. Childs that arranged for the move. Once at Castro Point, Karl Koenig and Dan Ranger started working on the locomotive. It was while they were working on the Number 3 that an older gentleman approached them. He wanted to know what they were doing, and if he could join them. The “older” gentleman was Pete Rogers who was a boiler man at Standard Oil. He was to be active at Castro Point for the next twelve years.”

“Pete kind of took over the work, and in the next few months, the old lagging and jacket were removed and everything on the locomotive was inspected. We were surprised at how good everything was. In 1969, both a hydro and a steam test were made. Shortly after those tests, the locomotive was operated at Castro Point for the first time. At this point, the locomotive consisted of a boiler on wheels. There was no lagging, jacket, cab, or saddle tank. A fifty-five-gallon barrel provided the water.”

“Shortly after that first trial run, Number 3 received new lagging and a jacket. Because of other locomotives arriving at the museum, work on the Number 3 slowed. Some time in the early 1970’s “Bones” Andrews cut a section out of the tank exposing the smokebox and thus greatly improving the Number 3’s appearance.”

“In the late 1970’s, R. A. McAllister took over the rebuilding of number 3. Initially, the number 3 was rebuilt as a saddle tank locomotive without a tender; but once the locomotive was complete, Mac went to work building a tender to carry the large amount of wood fuel that was needed to keep the Number 3 in operation for a day. The tender was built out of that ore car frame I had purchased with the locomotive. It was about 1980 that the Number 3 was completed; and at that time, I donated her to the Association.”

“When Castro Point closed at the end of 1985, the Number 3 was stored, along with the M-200, on some private property near Niles Canyon; and shortly after the M-200 was delivered to the canyon, the Number 3 followed. I can’t recall when the Number 3 first operated in the canyon, but it was to prove two things fairly quickly. Somewhere, someone got a hold of some coal, and we quickly found out that coal burners smoke far worse than wood burners. One trip and the canyon was full of black smoke. That was the last time we used coal.”

“While wood did not produce a great volume of smoke as compared to coal, it still produced enough to create a problem. Finally, the Air Quality Control Board demanded a change. As a result of their attention, the Number 3 was converted to burn oil, which was the fuel it had originally been designed to burn. Initially some fifty-five-gallon drums mounted in the tender held the oil; but in time, a custom-made tank was fitted into the tender. For three years, the Number 3 saw almost regular service as an oil burner operating in the canyon. The complaints about her smoke ceased once she was converted to oil.”

“Today, the Number 3 sits, “out of service” at Brightside. After eighty-two years of existence, she needs some major firebox work before she can run again. The hope is that some day that work will be undertaken, and the Number 3 will again be under steam.”

“Because of her small size, the Number 3 has been transported a number of times to various spots within the Bay Area in connection with special events. She even spent some time at the State of Nevada’s Railroad Museum in Carson City. The Number 3 is not the only locomotive to see service away from our facility, but, by far, she has done so many times more than any other item of equipment. The numbers 2, 12, 233, and 1269 have all seen operation away from either Castro Point or Niles Canyon.”

Sometime in 2000, the locomotive was taken apart to make repairs to the firebox and the running gear. In 2006, the museum was approached with the offer that we could have the locomotive for the price of transportation. We agreed to take the locomotive. Trips to Niles Canyon revealed that there was not a nut attached to a bolt and the parts were stored through out the complex.

Tentative arrangements were made to move the locomotive to Ely when we got hit with our own steam problems on both locomotives 93 and 40. All of the museums resources were used to get our steam locomotives back in operation and No. 3 was pushed to the back burner.

In 2009 we were asked if we were still interested and another trip was made to Niles Canyon and not much has changed either there or here. They still had the locomotive that we wanted but our resources were still stretched thin.

Finally in November 2010 the resources were dropping into place. Paul Gianoli agreed to donate the cost of hauling the locomotive to Ely. Gary North, who has assisted the museum on many different projects, was available to go to California and supervise the loading of the locomotive. Henry Luna and Alan Siegwarth of the Niles Canyon Railroad were on hand and able to assist Gary in locating all of the parts for Number 3. Everything as loaded and it was off to Ely.

Meanwhile in Ely, the question needed to be answered, where are we going to put the locomotive? Our shop staff unloaded a flatcar that locomotive 3 could be loaded on. Sam Smith was able to bring one of his cranes to the railroad on short notice and everything was ready. The truck arrived, the locomotive was unloaded on to the flat car and then the flatcar was pushed to the RIP Building.

So what does the future hold for locomotive 3? The preliminary assessment is that all of the parts are there and for around $375,000 locomotive 3 could be put back into service. Why make such an investment? Short version – people come to Ely to see steam locomotives steaming. Locomotives 40 and 93 cost about $2,500 to fire up. Locomotive 3 could be fired up for a lot less, say $500. And then there is the track between the White Pine Public Museum and the East Ely yards. Making this investment would allow a short steam powered train to operate between the two museums inexpensively. Secondly, since she weighs only 17 tons, Steptoe Valley Smelting and Mining #3 could be a roving ambassador for the museum. All of this is in the future; right now the important thing is that the locomotive is back home in White Pine County.