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Oregon California & Eastern Railroad Weyerhaeuser Timber Company Sand Cars |
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Sand is essential for all types of locomotives to develop and maintain traction, especially while starting trains or climbing steep grades. As such almost every locomotive servicing terminal has sanding facilities.
During the steam era sand typically arrived at the serving area in gondolas, where they would be unloaded into a bunker. Sand would be dried and screened to remove debris before being loaded into locomotives, usually
through a sanding tower. In more modern years sand would arrive in dedicated sand cars, normally converted from covered hoppers or tank cars. Weyerhaeuser used at least two such sand cars to deliver locomotive sand
to the Sycan shops, they would be interchanged to one of the connecting roads for more loads of sand when empty. |
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 A shed that appears to be the original steam era sand bunker at Sycan on 23 August 1973. Jerry Lamper photo.  What appears to be the same building somewhat modified and maybe relocated as it appeared on 28 August 1984. The edge of the sand tower is just visible inside the right edge of the photo. Jerry Lamper photo.  Weyerhaeuser sand car #100 next to the Sycan sand tower in the later 1970s. John Henderson photo, Jeff Moore collection.  By the early 1980s Weyerhaeuser had added a second sand car, a three bay covered hopper numbered 088, seen here at Sycan on 28 August 1984. The lettering below the right side of the "Weyerhaeuser" name plate reads "When loaded return to agent- Oregon, California & Eastern- Klamath Falls, Oregon". The car also has "Sand Loading Only" lettering in one of the center panels. The end of the #100 is visible to the left of the #088. Jerry Lamper photo. |
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