Background

In the early 1920s the SP&S had experienced an increase in traffic, especially logging traffic off the Portland, Astoria and Pacific and United Railways west of Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

. To help handle this tonnage, several locomotives had been leased from the Great Northern Railway and Northern Pacific Railway

Northern Pacific Railway

The Northern Pacific Railway was a railway that operated in the west along the Canadian border of the United States. Construction began in 1870 and the main line opened all the way from the Great Lakes to the Pacific when former president Ulysses S. Grant drove in the final "golden spike" in...

. To offset these costs, several of these locomotives were sold by the parent roads to the SP&S. Number 525 was one of these locomotives.

Construction History

SP&S locomotive 525 was originally built for Northern Pacific by the Schenectady Locomotive Works. Builders Number 46878 was built in February 1910.

Operational history

Number 525 was officially bought by the SP&S on November 30, 1925. She was used on the mainline because she was able to haul heavier eastbound trains upgrade out of Pasco WA. Over time, as newer locomotives were obtained by the SP&S, Number 525 was demoted to local or work service, or used on doubleheaded mainline trains. By late 1942 and Early 1943 she was assigned to the Vancouver WA yard as a switch locomotive. She was finally scrapped in 1947.

Numbering

SP&S number 525 was originally NP number 1698, in class W-1.