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Southern Pacific Cab-Forward (AC12) 4294 rumbles by a street in Anderson, CA, south of Redding in 1955. This cab-forward was the last steam engine ordered new by Southern Pacific in March 1944 and was in service for only about 12 years, being retired in March 1956. It was subsequently preserved in the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento where it is prominently displayed looking as if it just left Baldwin's erecting shops. There are supposedly few images of the 4294 in service. In 1955 I was with my father getting a load of lumber at a mill in Anderson when I heard the unique sound of an approaching cab forward (or "malley" as they were called though they were not a real compount mallet). I ran as fast as I could for the crossing but this is as close as I could get and I grabbed this shot as it passed by. This is my contribution to an in service photo of the 4294 at work. The 4294 is the only cab-forward which was saved, although others had received major shopping and repainting and were held in reseve, but went straight from reserve status to th scrapper.
Kodak Pony 135 - 35mm 1/200 sec (fastest shutter speed).