The Two Spot

Photo by Peter Corbett  http://www.ontheroadarizona.com/

The Two Spot is a beloved Flagstaff icon that sits serenely on the southeast corner of the bustling intersection of Route 66 and San Francisco Street. Probably everyone who lives in or visits Flagstaff is aware of the engine but how many know it's name?

It's The Two Spot!

And, believe it or not, The Two Spot is actually on The National Register of Historic Places.
The Two Spot is steam locomotive #35938 that was constructed in 1910 and early 1911 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for the Arizona Lumber Timber Company (AL&T) of Flagstaff, Arizona. The locomotive bore the number "25" in the AL&T roster. It was called Two Spot because water bag hanging from its cab obscured and eventually obliterated the number "5" and also because later owners changed its roster number to "2." The standard gauge 2-8-0 steam locomotive was used 55 years by the AL&T, the Saginaw Manistee Lumber Company, Southwest Lumber Mills, and Southwest Forest Industries for operations in the Flagstaff area until being retired from service in 1966.

Baldwin Locomotive Works/BLW began building the oil-powered steam engine with tender in 1910, completed it in January of 1911, and outshipped it on January 20, 1911.  Mr. Taylor was the engineer in charge of the cross-country delivery. The AL&T received the locomotive in February and immediately placed #25 in service at the newly-rebuilt Greenlaw mill. Pleased with his purchase, Timothy A. Riordan remitted payment of $11,220 to BLW on April 19,1911.

Once hallmark of the lumber industry, logging trains such as Two Spot are now extremely rare. The report "Logging Railroad Resources of the Coconino and Kaibab National Forests, Arizona" estimated that about 30 logging locomotives operated at various times (circa 1887 to 1966) in the greater Flagstaff area. Most were sold for scrap iron during World War II. Only two Baldwin #35938 and #60870 have survived to the present day. Of the two, #35938 is the older, predating #60870 by 18 years; #35938 is, in fact, the only surviving pre-World War logging locomotive left in the Flagstaff area. The structure accurately reflects the engineering and configuration of Consolidation 2-8-0 engine of Baldwin class 10-30 E, once common but now rare type. With its steam-powered locomotive, tender, and log carrier car, Two Spot embodies the distinctive design characteristics of a technology that is now obsolete.

In its order and drawing system, BLW referred to the Flagstaff engine as "10-30 123." The code translated as follows: "10" was the total number of wheels; "30" was code for the cylinder diameter; in this case it meant 18-inch diameter cylinders; "E" referred to four pairs of driving wheels; and "123" was the sequence number in the class; that is, the AL&T locomotive was the 123rd example of this class. Class 10-30 E was light-to-medium weight freight locomotive of the period. It made solid narrow-gauge freight hauler, as demonstrated by the 50 examples that BLW sold to the Japanese mainline railways. It was also popular in standard gauge, version used in constructing the El Paso Southwestern from Bisbee to El Paso. In terms of wheel arrangement, Baldwin #35938 was Consolidation 2-8-0 type locomotive, meaning that it had one pair of pilot (truck) wheels, four pair of drive wheels, and no trailing axle wheels.

Locomotive #25 first acquired its more common name of "Two Spot" because its engineers used to suspend from the cab  a water bag that obscured and eventually obliterated the number "5". Around 1951 Saginaw Manistee renumbered the engine as "2," the number it retained under subsequent Southwest Lumber and Southwest Forest ownership. The engine has since been repainted with its original AL&T roster number of "25."

The above information was extracted from the National Register nomination located here:
https://ncptt.nps.gov/rt66/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/TwoSpotLoggingTrain_Flagstaff_AZ.pdf
The nomination document contains much additional information.

Many Thanks to Peter Corbett for recording these images to make this post possible.

Photo by Peter Corbett  http://www.ontheroadarizona.com/