Sunset at Stasek Slough. The former McCloud River Railroad Prairie #25 hauls a mixed freight train across the wooden trestle at Stasek Slough just moments before sunset on an October evening.
McCloud River Railroad #25 is a 2-6-2 Prairie Type Locomotive, purchased from the American Locomotive Works in 1925. This superheated log-hog was one of 4 such locomotives that were purchased by the McCloud that year for use hauling timber in Northern California. The 25 enjoyed a 30-year career hauling logs until her first retirement in 1955. Over the next 53 years, the locomotive was restored and re-activated several times for use in excursion service, while still on home rails at the McCloud. Over those many years, she also put in a couple of movie appearances. After the McCloud Railway closed down for good, she was sold to the Oregon Coast Scenic Railway, in Garibaldi Oregon. Today, she's the primary steam power in excursion service on that line. The scene depicted here is on track just north of Tillamook, OR, which is not typically used on the line's regular excursions.
