Espee Cab Forward! Thoroughly dominating the main hall of the California State Railroad Museum is one of the most impressive steam locomotives that I have ever seen displayed indoors. Weighing in at more than 650,000 lbs, and having over 124,000 lbs of tractive effort, this powerful 4-8-8-2 locomotive was built for the Southern Pacific Railroad for use on mountain routes, where long snow-sheds and tunnels were commonplace. The front-end exhaust of conventional steam locomotives typically filled such structures with hot, toxic gasses which could easily asphyxiate crew members on the train. To solve that problem the SP built several classes of "Cab-Forwards", such as this Class AC-12. They offered the crew not only cleaner air to breathe, but fantastic forward visibility, although their ability to watch their engine's workings was diminished considerably. The use of oil as a fuel allowed the firebox to be moved to the forward end of the locomotive...something that was impossible with solid fuels. The 4294 was the last member of the ultimate class of cab-forwards and only enjoyed a relatively short service life, from 1944 to 1956. When these locomotives were retired, all but one...the one seen here, were scrapped. Thanks to a good relationship between the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society and the SP, this one was preserved. After spending some time as an outdoor display, she was restored and brought to the California State Railroad Museum, where she is clearly the centerpiece of their display. The cab is open for viewing daily and is manned continuously by museum docents.
