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Spokane, Portland & Seattle 700 is the only surviving example of the E-1 class 4-8-4 Northern type steam locomotive. Nearly identical to the A-3 class Northerns built for Northern Pacific Railway, it burns oil instead of coal. After years of running second-hand equipment, the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway (SP&S) was allowed by its parent companies, Great Northern Railway and Northern Pacific Railway, to purchase its first new locomotives. These included three Northern E-1 class locomotives (700, 701 and 702) for passenger service and 6 Z-6 class Challengers (4-6-6-4s) for freight service.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title=Spokane, Portland & Seattle Northerns )〕 After retirement from service in 1956, the SP&S 700 was donated to the City of Portland, Oregon, in 1958. It was on static public display at Oaks Amusement Park until 1987, then moved to private quarters for the continuation of work to restore it to operating condition.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.sps700.org/rollingstock/sps700.shtml )〕 It began making occasional excursion runs in 1990.〔 In 2012, the 700 was moved to a new facility where it can again be viewed by the public, the Oregon Rail Heritage Center. == Revenue service years == 700 was delivered on June 21, 1938, joining the 702 pulling overnight passenger trains between Spokane and Vancouver, Washington, along the north shore of the Columbia River, with the 701 providing backup and pulling freight. Owing to an undersized turntable, the Northerns didn't reach Portland, Oregon, until 1943. By 1947, the Great Northern Railway had begun to streamline its premier passenger train, The ''Empire Builder'', and had started adding diesels to the locomotive mix. SP&S also started purchasing diesels at this time, but they arrived after the streamlined cars were brought into service and for a few months, the 700s pulled the Portland section of Great Northern's ''Empire Builder'' and Northern Pacific's ''North Coast Limited''. Through the late 1940s and early 1950s, the E-1s continued to pull secondary passenger trains, but by 1954, the diesels had completely replaced steam for passenger service and the E-1s were relegated to pulling freight trains until 1955. Finally, on May 20, 1956, a spruced-up 700, with its normally grey smokebox painted silver, pulled its last passenger train. The ''Farewell To Steam'' run had a total of 21 cars carrying 1,400 passengers from Portland, Oregon, to Wishram, Washington, in the heart of the Columbia Gorge, and back again. After the trip, the 700, 701, 702, Challengers and other SP&S locomotives were sent to the scrap line. At the same time, however, Union Pacific Railroad was offering to donate a steam locomotive to the city of Portland, Oregon, and not to be outdone, the SP&S offered the 700. The two locomotives (SP&S 700 and OR&N 197) were moved into Oaks Park along the Willamette River in 1958 and were soon joined by SP 4449 where they sat for nearly 20 years. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Spokane, Portland and Seattle 700」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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