Welcome to Locomotive Park Lewiston Idaho
This is one of my favorite things about the area, an old steam locomotive that you are still able to not only touch but climb up into the cab. In all my many travels, I don't think I have come across another locomotive in a park you can climb in. I have found locomotives, but they have barriers to keep the public off them. There have been physical caches here they just don't last, so here is a cache that will stand the test of time.
Locomotive #92
Oil burning Potlatch Forests three truck Heisler #92 was built by the Heisler Locomotive Works in Dunkirk, NY, for the Ohio Match Co., as #1 in 1924. At some point it was bought by Potlatch in Headquarters, ID. In 1959 it was moved to Lewiston, ID, and in 1963, was donated to the City. It is on display in Locomotive Park.
#92 weighs 180,000 lbs. It has 40” drivers and 18” x 16” piston valves and is equipped with a superheater. Operating at a boiler pressure of 200 psi, it delivered 49,410 lbs tractive effort.
The Heisler locomotive is one of the three major types of geared steam locomotives and the last to be patented.
Charles L. Heisler received a patent for the design in 1892, following the construction of a prototype in 1891.Somewhat similar to a Climax locomotive, Heisler's design featured two cylinders canted inwards at a 45-degree angle to form a 'V-twin' arrangement. Power then went to a longitudinal drive shaft in the center of the frame that drove the outboard axle on each powered truck through bevel gears in an enclosed gearcase riding on the axle between the truck frames. The inboard axle on each truck was then driven from the outboard one by external side (connecting) rods.
In 1897, Heisler received a patent on a three-truck locomotive. As with Class C Shay locomotives, the tender rode on the third truck. Unlike the Shay, Heisler's design did not have a continuous string of line shafting running the length of the engine. Instead, the tender truck was driven by a line shaft above the shaft driving the main engine trucks, connected to it through spur gears. This patent also covered use of a 4-cylinder 'V4' cylinder configuration.
The Heisler was the fastest of the geared steam locomotive designs, and yet was still claimed by its manufacturer to have the same low-speed hauling ability
To Log This Cache:
Climb inside the cab, sit in the folding seat on the left side (south) of the cab. Reach out and grab the lever and make your best Chew Chew sound. Then look for two words written upsidedown with an arrow pointing down. Message me the second word "The -------"
Virtual Rewards 4.0 - 2024-2025
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between January 17, 2024 and January 17, 2025. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 4.0 on the Geocaching Blog.