That reunion happened last weekend at the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad, in Garibaldi, Ore.
Restoration of Skookum started in 2005 with the reconstruction of the tender that had been damaged when the Columbia River Belt Line locomotive rolled off a low trestle in February 1955. When the tender was completed it was stored at the Oregon Coast enginehouse in Tillamook, Ore., while work proceeded on the locomotive itself. On Saturday, former McCloud Railway 2-6-2 No. 25 moved a hospital train of cars and one other steam locomotive to Tillamook where crews retrieved Skookum’s tender and took it back to Garibaldi. The next day, crews linked the Skookum to her tender thus completing another big step for a return to service this spring.
More information is available online.
The other locomotives in the photograph each have their own interesting story.
The hood unit behind the caboose is former Port of Tillamook Bay GP9 #101, and wears a unique “Holstein Cow” paint scheme to honor the well-known dairy industry in Tillamook County.
The cab unit to the right is former GN F7A #274, and was once part of Doyle McCormack’s stable of locomotives. It was stranded on the Oregon coast in 2007 when a winter storm severed the POTB line through the Coast Range and led to the railroad’s shutdown.