Butte and Plumas Railway Locomotive Roster

California / Logging / Butte and Plumas Railway

Compiled by John F. Hall.

The Butte and Plumas Railway was incorporated in 1910 and controlled by the Tahoe Land and Lumber Company. The Swayne Lumber Company had a small logging railroad nearby. In 1912 the idle TL&LCo and B&P were purchased by the West Side Lumber Company. Sometime in 1912 the West Side exchanged the B&P No. 4 Shay for the Hetch Hetchy and Yosemite Valley Railroad's No.1 Heisler. The TL&LCo and B&P remained idle until 1917 when the WSLCo. sold the TL&LCo. and B&P to the Swayne Lumber Company. The SLCo. then combined the locomotive roster of its railroad with the B&P roster and renumbered the locomotives accordingly.

Locomotives of the 36 inch gauge Butte and Plumas Railway 1910-1942

	TLCo. 1910- 1917 No.	SLCo. 1911- 1917 No.	SLCo. 1917- 1942 No.	Whyte	Builder	C/N	Order Date	In Service Date	Class	Cyl.	Drv.	Wt.	Notes
	?			Unknown locomotive									Leased
	1		A or B "Dinky"	0-6-0T	Baldwin	4036	Nov. 1876	1909	6-18D-1	12x16	37"	42,000	Ex. Eureka and Ruby Hill Railroad, No.2; Ex. Pacific Lumber and Wood's Donner And Tahoe Railroad, No. 3; Purchased by the Truckee Lumber Co. 1901; to Swayne Lumber Co., 1917. In operation in 1935.
	2		B or A	0-6-0T	Baldwin	12015	July 1891	1909	6-12D-?	9x14	30"	24,000	Ex. Pacific Lumber and Wood's Donner And Tahoe Railroad, No. 2; Purchased by the Truckee Lumber Co. 1901; to Swayne Lumber Co., 1917. On the deadline after a roll over in 1927.
	3		3	2T	Lima	2369	Sept 1910	July 1911	B 36-2	3-10x10	29"	66,400	purchased by Truckee Lumber Co.; to Swayne Lumber Co., 1917; to Michigan-California Lbr. Co. No. 4 (2nd), Dec 1940.
	4			3T	Lima	2465	July 1911	Aug 1911	C 60-3	3-11x12	32"	105,600	purchased by Truckee Lumber Co.; After West Side Lumber Co. purchased Truckee Lumber Co. in 1912 it exchanged B&P No.4 with Hetch Hetchy and Yosemite Valley No. 1 Heisler; to Pickering Lumber Co., No. 7, 1925; West Side Lbr. Co. No. 7, 1934; City of Sonora, display, 1965; West Side & Cherry Valley RR, No. 7, 1978; Roaring Camp & Big Trees RR, No. 7, 1986.
		1		Unknown locomotive
		2	4	2T	Lima	2458	June 1911	1911	B 24-2	3-8x8	27.5"	48,600	Purchased by Swayne Lumber Co. in 1911 before it bought the Truckee Lumber co. Became No. 4 in 1917, Scrapped 1940
		3	1	3T	Lima	2926	Aug 1917	Sept 1917	C 60-3	3-11x12	32"	101,700	Purchased by Swayne Lumber Co. after taking control of Truckee Lumber; to Michigan-California Lumber Co., No.1 (2nd) Jan. 1942; scrapped 1951
			2	3T	Lima	3078	April 1920	1920	C 60-3	3-11x12	32"	99,900	Purchased by Swayne Lumber Co.; derails and rolls down hill 1926, to Michigan-California Lumber Co., No.3 (2nd) 1941; scrapped 1951
			5	Heisler 2T	Stearns Mfg.	1028	Feb 1899	About 1912				35 tons	Ex. Hetch Hetchy & Yosemite Valley No. 1; exchanged for B&P No. 4 when West Side Lumber Co. purchased the Truckee Lumber Co. in 1912; Scrapped 1940
			6	3T	Lima	3302	April 1926	1926	C 60-3	3-11x12	32"	113,500	Purchased by Swayne Lumber Co.; to West Side Lumber Co., No.12, 1940, to West Side & Cherry Valley RR No. 12, 1968; to Georgetown Loop RR, No. 12 1986; to storage Colorado Railroad Museum, 2004.

Sources:

Baldwin Locomotive Works Construction Numbers Index, DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University

Baldwin Locomotive Works Engine Specifications, 1869-1938, DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University

Casler, Walter C., The Heisler Locomotive 1891-1941, Garbely Publishing, 2018, ISBN 978-0-9966963-6-4

Ferrell, Mallory Hope, Rails Around Lake Tahoe, Signature Press, 2011, ISBN 978-1-930013-32-2

Ferrell, Mallory Hope, West Side Narrow Gauge in the Sierra, Pacific Fast Mail, 1992, ISBN 0-915713-02-0

Koch, Michael, The Shay Locomotive, Titan of the Timber, World Press Inc., 1971.

Maxwell, Gregory J., The Eureka & Palisade, White River Productions, 2019, ISBN 978-1-932804-50-1

ShayLocomotives.com

California / Logging / Butte and Plumas Railway