| Caption: NP 1 Reubens ID 1914 copy negative from Herb V Banks. Fireman O'Brien in the cab. Engine 1 is one of the two 2-10-0 class M engines built by Baldwin in 1886 and used by NP to haul trains on the switch backs up and over Stampede Pass prior to the completion of the tunnel. They were apparently troublesome and NP never bought another engine with five driving axels. With the completion of the tunnel the two engines were put to other uses. Engine 1 is here serving as a helper on the Grangeville branch of the Camas Prairie RR jointly owned by NP and UP. Reubens is situated at the top of the grade up Lapwai canyon. Here the helpers are turned on a wye and sent back downhill for their next shove. Herb Banks was roundhouse foreman at the Camas Prairie East Lewiston roundhouse and a good friend of Nixon. There is a Banks collection of steam era photographs at the museum in Lewiston. |