Eccles Lumber Work Train. A short work train serving the Eccles Lumber Company takes advantage of a break in the Sumpter Valley Railway schedule to shuttle a team of loggers and their tools out to job site west of Sumpter. During its "working life", Eccles Heisler #3 spent most of her time hauling timber out of the woods on the many logging lines that sprang up along the Sumpter Valley Railway, but at times, she could be found running on the main line. Of the three major types of geared logging locomotives, the Heisler was the most versatile because it was capable of hauling heavy loads on steep grades, but it could also make reasonable speed on level track, so it wouldn't be a rolling road-block like a Shay might be. With Eccles Lumber Company being owned by the same family as the Sumpter Valley Railway, #3 was considered shared power and there are photos of her performing in a number of roles on the main line, including plowing snow.
Today, on the reconstructed Sumpter Valley Railroad, #3 shares the duty hauling passenger trains with Mikado #19. Being a wood-burner, she rarely smokes much, but on a cold morning like the one pictured here, this locomotive is capable of producing some very spectacular steam plumes.
