Tucked away in a corner of the Oregon Pacific & Eastern's engine facility on September 15, 1979, was their shop switcher, a Plymouth DLC-6 15-tonner numbered 14½. (It appears someone in the shop had some fun with the numbering!)
This engine was built in May 1930 (c/n 3476) for Garfield & Company (Plymouth dealership), San Francisco, CA. It then went to Unemployed Exchange Association, San Francisco, CA, and then to Feather River Pine Mills #A. After that, it was owned by Feather River Railway, who sold it to OP&E in 1968 as their #9, later renumbered to OP&E 14½.
While on the Feather River in late 1964 and early 1965, this engine was equipped with a snowplow in an unsuccessful attempt at removing silt that had built up on the line after heavy rains caused the river to back up behind the partially completed Oroville Dam. On the second day, the motor overheated and their GE 44-ton #8 was placed into service shoving the diminutive Plymouth to plow the line.
