Engine #5

Engine #5 was a small narrow-gauge locomotive that served the development of the Matanuska Valley coal fields and their rail connections. Its story began with the discovery of high grade coal along the Matanuska River and the U.S. Navy's search around 1900 for west coast coal to fuel its Pacific Fleet. In 1917 the government built a railroad branch from Matanuska Junction south of present-day Palmer north to Chickaloon to bring coal to tidewater, but after the Navy shifted from coal to bunker oil, demand from Anchorage and its nearby military base kept Matanuska coal important for heating and power generation until the mid 1960's. Built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia and Eddystone, Pennsylvania, in July 1910 for the U.S. government, Engine #5 had already worked in dam construction and land reclamation projects in eastern Washington before being shipped north about 1914 by the Alaska Engineering Commission for work connected with construction of the Alaska Railroad between Seward and Fairbanks. Around 1924 it apparently began Matanuska Valley service on the narrow-gauge line to Eska, hauling coal from the mine to the main branch line. After the Chickaloon mine shut down and mines above Sutton opened, the engine worked on the narrow-gauge line at Eska until that route was upgraded to standard track, then was moved to Moose Creek south of Sutton, where narrow-gauge track built in 1925 reached the Premier, Wishbone Hill, and Buffalo mines. Premier Coal Co. bought Engine #5 and used it to haul coal from the Premier and Buffalo mines to the tipple and the junction with the main branch. In 1926 the lower four miles of Moose Creek narrow-gauge track were replaced with standard track, and Engine #5 continued serving the remaining narrow-gauge line to the upper mines. A 1942 flood washed out large sections of both the standard and narrow-gauge tracks in Moose Creek, and they were never replaced, though Engine #5 continued operating between Premier and the upper mines for an uncertain period. In 1956 local men including Earl Payne recovered the abandoned locomotive at Buffalo Mine, moved it to Palmer with help from Dick Jones and Cappy Ferral, and placed it on a short section of narrow-gauge track. Engine #5 is owned and maintained by the City of Palmer in recognition of its significant contributions to the area's development through service on both the district's first narrow-gauge rails at Eska and its last operating mine at Premier.

Palmer, Alaska · United States