Oregon Pony

Oregon Pony
Power type	Steam
Builder	Vulcan Iron Works
Build date	1861
Configuration	0-4-0
Driver diameter	34 in (0.864 m)
Wheelbase	Coupled:
Length	14 ft 6 in (4.42 m)
Width	10 ft 9 in (3.28 m)
Height	15 ft 4 1⁄2 in (4.69 m)
Locomotive weight	16,000 pounds (7.3 tonnes; 7.1 long tons)
Fuel type	wood
Cylinders	Two, outside
Cylinder size	9 × 18 in (229 × 457 mm)
Train heating	Steam heat
Career	Oregon Portage Railway
First run	1862
Retired	1904
Restored	1981
Current owner	State of Oregon
Disposition	Environmentally controlled static display at the Cascade Locks Historical Museum in Cascade Locks, Oregon

The Oregon Pony was the first steam locomotive to be built on the Pacific Coast and the first to be used in the Oregon Territory.^[1] The Oregon Pony, a geared steam 5' gauge locomotive with 9"X18" cylinders and 34" drivers,^[2] was used in the early 1860s to portage steamboat passengers and goods past the Cascades Rapids, a dangerous stretch of the Columbia River now drowned by the Bonneville Dam. Steamboats provided transportation on the Columbia River between Portland, Oregon and mining areas in Idaho and the Columbia Plateau. Portage was also necessary at other navigation obstructions, including Celilo Falls.^[3]

San Francisco's Vulcan Iron Works built the wood-burning engine in 1861 for $4,000.^[2] Weighing only 8 tons and only 14.5 feet long, the Oregon Pony arrived in Oregon in 1862.^[3] It replaced flat cars running on rails, equipped with benches for passengers and pulled by mules for 4.5 miles over iron-reinforced wooden rails for the Oregon Portage Railway. Shortly after the Oregon Pony was put into service, canopies were added to protect the passengers and their goods from the hot, sooty water that rained down on everything as the locomotive steamed along. The Oregon Pony engine moved nearly 200 tons a day between the Cascades and Bonneville.^[1]

The railway was bought by Oregon Steam Navigation Company (OSN). The company consolidated its Cascades rail portage monopoly on the Washington side of the Columbia River and moved the Oregon Pony to The Dalles, where it may have been used for portages around Celilo Falls.^[3]

In 1866, OSN sold the locomotive and it was returned to San Francisco for work filling and grading the streets of that city. After the Oregon Pony was damaged in a 1904 fire, the owner partially restored it and donated it to the Oregon Historical Society. It was displayed at the 1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition and afterward at the Albina Rail Yards. In the 1930s, the Oregon Pony was moved to Union Station; it was returned to Cascade Locks in 1970. The Port of Cascade Locks funded a 1981 restoration and built a permanent, covered display.^[3]

The Oregon Pony is currently owned by the State of Oregon and is preserved in a climate controlled exhibition chamber next to the Cascade Locks Historical Museum at the Marine Park, Cascade Locks, Oregon.^[1]

Further reading

• Gill, Frank B. “Oregon’s First Railway.” Oregon Historical Quarterly 25:3 (September 1924): 171-235.^[3]
• Schwantes, Carlos. Long Day’s Journey: The Steamboat & Stagecoach Era in the Northern West. Seattle: University of Washington Press 1999, 129-32.^[3]
• Staehli, Alfred. “The Oregon Pony.” Association for Preservation Technology International (APT) 19:3 (1987): 10-18.^[3]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Port of Cascade Locks. Cascade Locks Historical Museum & Oregon Pony. Port of Cascade Locks. 2010-05-29. URL:http://www.portofcascadelocks.org/museum.htm. Accessed: 2010-05-29. (Archived by WebCite® at http://www.webcitation.org/5q5SawX3A)
2. ^ ^{a b} Other Geared Steam Locomotives - Page STUV. Geared Steam Locomotive Works. 2010-05-30. URL:http://www.gearedsteam.com/other/other_stuv.htm. Accessed: 2010-05-30. (Archived by WebCite® at http://www.webcitation.org/5q6gIByh1)
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Kathy Tucker. Oregon Pony. Portland State University. 2010-05-29. URL:http://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/entry/view/oregon_pony/. Accessed: 2010-05-29. (Archived by WebCite® at http://www.webcitation.org/5q5SzspQw)