Representatives from the Age of Steam Roundhouse in Sugarcreek, Ohio, bid up the price on the embattled steam locomotive to $400,000 and bested Valley Railroad of Essex, Conn., to win the locomotive. The organizations were the only two bidders.
The sale happened because the Chelatchie Boiler Works of Woodland, Wash., placed a lien on No. 19 after they were not paid for the boiler work they completed on the engine in 2006. The lien amount was $264,000. The sheriff had a court order to seal the engine house since 2013. The original sheriff’s sale was cancelled at the last minute in October 2013 when prior operators of the Yreka Western claimed they had a superior lien on No. 19.
Age of Steam officials now have only two weeks to get No. 19 moved out of the roundhouse that is still under the local sheriff’s control. Age of Steam officials tell Trains News Wire that they will load loose parts from the engine immediately onto a truck while a trucking company is scheduled to start loading the locomotive onto a low-boy trailer in the next week. Age of Steam officials plan to truck the tender to Ohio directly. The engine will be trucked to Sacramento, Calif., then loaded on a railroad flatcar for shipment to Ohio. The engine movement will start the second week of October.
By buying No. 19, Jerry Jacobson, the owner of the Age Of Steam Roundhouse now owns two other former McCloud River Railroad steam locomotives, having bought former McCloud No. 9 last year from it’s long time owner Steve Butler. No. 19 is best known for its supporting role in the 1973 move “Emperor of the North” staring Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine. The locomotive was also power for the Oregon, Pacific & Eastern Railroad.
No. 19 last operated in November 2008 on the Yreka Western Railroad in Yreka, Calif. Since that last run, the locomotive has stayed locked away in the Yreka engine house.
UPDATE: Details on the auction and information from the winning bidder on the locomotive’s movement. Oct. 6, 2016, 1:28 p.m. Central time.
