The Black Hills Central Railway locomotive 108 heads through the countryside as it makes its first trip of the day in stormy, wet weather of the forest to Keystone, South Dakota on my birthday, May 30th, 2022! I for one can’t recall a better way to spend the day then chasing a steam locomotive and they later in the day riding it with family! Despite the wet and rainy weather, it was a great day, and I even got the drone up a few times! A big shout out to Cory Jakeway for all the help on finding my way around on the railroad and railfanning with me!
According to their website: Locomotive #108 joined its nearly identical twin, #110, at the beginning of the 2020 season following a four-year restoration. It is a 2-6-6-2T articulated tank engine that was built by the Baldwin Locomotives Works in 1926 for the Potlatch Lumber Company. It later made its way to Weyerhaeuser Timber Company and eventually to the Northwest Railway Museum in Snoqualmie, Washington.
The acquisition and subsequent restoration of locomotive #108 completed a more than 20-year goal of increasing passenger capacity which began with the restoration of #110 and the restoration of multiple passenger cars. Both large Mallet locomotives (pronounced “Malley”) can pull a full train of seven authentically restored passenger cars, up from the four cars utilized prior to their addition to the roster.
Keep an eye out over the next few weeks for images from this 3,600-mile trip!
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Nikon 10-24mm @ 13mm, f/3.8, 1/400, ISO 250.