on 2/14/2021, 11:57 pm, in reply to "Re: What became of the C&LC's ex-M&LS equipment?"
Yes, the #2 did move to and from Illinois under its own steam for its role in the movie Gaily, gaily. The route was CLK-Missaukee Jct-PRR-Cadillac-AA to Owasso for work at the AA shop. Work was primarily setting the timing of the cylinder events. Howard said a retired steam machinist was called in. The man had literally buried his tools for setting valve gear after steam was retired. He dug them up at the shop and squared the valve gear on the #2 in 1968.
Carleton Johnson, owner of 0-4-0 #11, and Ed Seeley, were engineer and conductor respectively. They ran the #2 with a railroad pilot to the movie site at Freeport, IL. Route from Owasso was GTW-Chicago-IC. The #2 returned under steam via reverse route. Howard says the #2 left Chicago during the evening commuter train rush. His opinion is that the dispatchers did that on purpose.
When purchased, the ICC mandated flue time for #2 had expired. Vierson Boiler works in Grand Rapids reflued the #2 in the C&LC's two stall, metal enginehouse.
Primary freight was, in descending order, outbound Christmas trees, pulpwood to S. D. Warren in Muskegon, Falmouth hay for racehorses in Hialeah, FL, and a few carloads of metal stampings from a now gone Lake City plant to the Detroit area auto plants and perhaps ten to twelve lightly loaded gons of Black Walnut logs. Walnut was loaded by Lake City's Nick Hertzel to a Muskegon furniture maker's veneer mill. Inbound was west coast originated dimension lumber to Lake City Lumber and coal for resale by the Falmouth Co-op.
Woodburning 2-6-2 #18 was used only one season when the #2 was off-line for the movie. It stayed in Lake City afterwards. It was gone by 1970. #18 burned free pulpwood log scrap. It took two firemen to keep up with its appetite for wood. Another labor cost was a following motor car crew which put out grass fires started by embers out the stack. It had a straight stack with extra (but inadequate) screening in the smokebox.
Both the #2 and the Santa Fe lunch-counter diner #1554, aka C&LC "Emerald Lakes) were owned by the C&LC.
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