Home
Photos
Organization
Locomotive
History
Project Plan
Restoration
Financial
Contact Us
Donation Info

 

Related Links:
Model Train Club
Steam Preservation
Rock Island Tech Soc.
Steam Whistles
Remember the Rock Magazine

 

     

The 905 Comes to Duncan
                   
       

THE ARRIVAL AND MOVE OF THE 905

            
                                             
 

     Lewis (Blackie) Shawbell, President of the Duncan Youth Council, arranged with the Rock Island Railroad to make a gift to the City of Duncan of a retired steam locomotive.

     The Pacific 33, 4-6-2, Coal Fired, Steam Locomotive # 905 arrived in Duncan on Saturday, October 2, 1954, from the Rock Island Storage Yard in Blue Island, Illinois.  It was left on the siding South of the Duncan Depot.

   Rock Island 905 sitting in scrap yard at Blue Island, Ill., 1954      
   

Blue Island, Illinois, August 1954

      
 

    
     The locomotive was donated to the city of Duncan for public display.  When the 905 was given to the City of Duncan, the president of the Rock Island Railroad, Downing B. Jenks, required that the city sign an agreement stating that they would take care of the engine, keep it painted and keep it presentable to the public. It was given to them with that understanding.  This document was brought to Duncan by Richard Beard, an employee of Rock Island, and was signed by various City Officials. This document transferred the ownership of the Steam Locomotive #905 to the City of Duncan.

     Blackie Shawbell was named “Engineer in Charge” of the move on behalf of the Youth Council. An article on Oct 4th in the Duncan Banner quoted him as stating that the “ticklish task will require about two or three days. A big tractor will tug the locomotive over the short set of tracks that can be lifted and set up again in front, a sort of leap frog arrangement.”

      The locomotive was still on the Rock Island Siding. Although they had attempted to move the locomotive with trucks, the venture resulted in a broken drive shaft and two broken winch lines.

  
                                             
  Clifford C. King, Frisco Railroad      By October 7th Mr. Shawbell had been replaced as Engineer in Charge by C.C. King, a former employee of the Frisco Railroad as a Roundhouse foreman, and the City of Duncan had contacted I.J. (Ike) Haynes, Rush Springs Rock Island Section Foreman and his crew to lay the track and move the locomotive.  "Ike" Haynes, Rock Island Foreman & Track Supervisor  
                     
      Rock Island Section Crew - Spring 1954      
                                   
                                             
                   Volunteer worker, L.V.Williams, a Rock Island employee assigned to the bridge crew working from Chickasha OK to Bowie Texas, relates in an interview on April 2, 2006, that Haynes crew and other Rock Island Volunteers removed the rail from the siding and began bending it onto temporary cross ties to form a curve onto Oak Street. He stated that there was a 50 pound compressor hooked up to operate the brakes and that Haynes ran the compressed air to the boiler and used the air to replace the steam, he than started the   locomotive over the temporary track. In this manner the locomotive was moved from the siding to Oak Street facing West.

     By October 10th the locomotive was clear of the temporary curved track; the rail was straightened and re-laid on the crossties of the siding.  The Locomotive came to rest near the rear door of Jones & Laughlin Supply company, 200 N 7th Street. Less than 50 yards from where it started.  

     From this position with the aid of two Halliburton trucks, under the supervision of Lloyd (Smokey) Herndon and several Rock Island railroad men the rails were jockeyed to an east/west position in front of the locomotive.  Halliburton provided trucks and “volunteer” drivers to move the rails forward as the locomotive moved down Oak street.  Mr. Herndon was in charge of the trucks and drivers during the move.

  
  L.V. Williams, Rock Island Employee, 38 Years.  
               
                                             
  Roland Gay, Halliburton Employee                   Cletis Ball, Sr., Halliburton Employee  
      In interviews with 2 of the drivers, Roland Gay and Cletus Ball, the method of selection was pretty straight forward, the boss came up to the man or men and told them they had “volunteered” to help with moving the locomotive, to take a truck and go down to Oak Street. There they reported to Mr. Herndon and were assigned duties.  
                     
                                             
                          905 moving down Oak St. from Rail Head to Fuqua Park in 1954.        
   

     On October 15, a larger 100 pound compressor was brought to the site in the back of a City truck. This larger compressor was hooked up to the boiler to provide pressure for the locomotive to operate and the smaller 50 pound compressor was used to operate the brakes. The 905 began its journey of 8 blocks down the middle of a city street to its destination in Fuqua Park.

     By October 17th, the Locomotive had moved 4 blocks to the intersection of 11th and Oak.

          
                         

"905"Moving West on Oak Street

        
                                             
  David Haynes, Halliburton Employee                   Lloyd "Smoky" Herndon, Halliburton Employee  
       By October 18th the Locomotive had moved another 4 blocks to the entrance to the park at 15th street. New rail was necessary to make the turn into the park, lighter rail was available in Lawton. David Haynes and Smokey Herndon went to the Rock Island Tool House in Marlow to get a keg of spikes for the additional rail needed to make the turn and complete the move to the pad.  
                     
                                 
                                             
  Elmer Petty, Independent Truck Owner                   J.B. Williams, Halliburton employee  
 

    Elmer Petty, an Independent Truck Owner who volunteered the use of his truck and assisted in the Move of the 905.      

     J. B. Williams, Halliburton employee, spent a day driving one of the trucks pulling the rail sections forward. His brother L. V. worked for the Rock Island  and had helped move the locomotive off of the railroad siding.

    
                     
                                             
  Willie Travis, Marlow, Rock Island Employee                   Fred Scifres, Rush Springs, Rock Island Employee  
           Willie Travis and Fred Scifres, Rock Island employees, helped to line up the track in front of the locomotive so it could be moved forward.    
                     
                                             
     

     Photo not available.  Joseph Lee, Rock Island employee, was a member of the Duncan crew and worked from the day they started moving the locomotive off of the siding until the day it was moved into the park. He assisted the other railroad hands in lining up the tracks in front of the train each time it moved forward to the end of track. Although his memories are faded he remembered two things well. It was slow going and hard work.

      
                                             
  Roy Biffle, Rock Island Employee, Duncan                     Captin Clifford English, Duncan Police  
   

     Roy Biffle, Rock Island Employee.  Part of the railroad crew responsible for the movement and placement of the portable tracks for the 905.

     Capt. Clifford English assisted the move of       the 905 with traffic and crowd control. It was reported that at one time there were “hundreds” of people gathered to watch the move of the locomotive.

  
                       
                                             
  J.B. "Squirrel" Walling, Independent Truck Owner                     "Chief" Fleetwood, Rock Island Station Clerk  
   

     Silas "Chief" Fleetwood was the Rock Island Station Clerk in Duncan.  He assisted the 905 move by contacting employees when volunteers were needed.  He was present in 1980 when the last Rock Island Train left Duncan.

     J.B. Walling, Independent truck owner, volunteered his time, employees and equipment for 2 days to help with the move of the 905.

  
                       
                                             
Willard Meritt - no larger photo available.
         

     Willard Merritt, Rock Island Employee, a member of the Rush Springs Maintenance of Way crew. He worked with the crew to move the locomotive from the siding onto Oak Street and then helped with the track movement and line up until it was parked on the pad in Fuqua Park.

    
                                   
    Wallace Mooney, City of Duncan Employee                      
                                   
           Wallace Mooney was employed by the City of Duncan.  The city assigned his crew to assist with the move of the 905.  He helped the railroad crews with the movement of the rails.          
                                   
                                             
   

     There were many men that volunteered their efforts to move the 905. I have been able to talk to only a few of them.  I have never met so many modest men.  Generally the first thing they would say was “I really didn’t do much, just helped with the rails” or “ just drove a truck and moved the rails up when they were needed.”

     Each man was important to the project, had they not volunteered and showed up to work, no one would have been there to do what they did, no matter how great or small the task they performed was.  The men pictured here were there when they were needed and did the job assigned to them.  Everyone working together to achieve a common goal.

     In an article dated  October 24th, the locomotive was between 15th and 81 Hwy. New track was laid to curve the rails into the park, changing direction from West to North. The locomotive derailed and it took several hours to get the wheels back on the rail using large “frog jacks”. Once the locomotive was clear of Oak street forward movement stopped. It was necessary to lay track across the park and the moving crew wanted to be sure that a substantial base was provided before making the final move through the park

     A December 5, 1954 article from the Duncan Banner states that what started out to be a weekend railroading job turned into a job that lasted off and on for two months.

     On Saturday, Dec. 4, 1954 City manager, W.T. Loman and CC King boarded the engine for the last stretch. When the locomotive was finally on the permanent pad, they blew the whistle and rang the bell.  The brakes were set, cylinders drained, spikes welded behind the rear wheels and the 905 was at the end of the line. …Or was it?

     Now 53 years later it is getting ready to move again….to a new resting place and a complete make over.

     Only a few names have been mentioned in this short account of the arrival and move of the #905 so I am listing all of the names I have found or been given of men who helped move the Locomotive.

Blackie Shawbell                                               C.C. King                                         Smokie Herndon
Ike Haynes                                                        David Haynes                                  Clifford English
Luther Prater                                                     C A Rhoades                                   Heston Bumpass
Louis Vallier                                                      J.O. Stark                                        Ben McCowen
Normie Ritter                                                    Fred Snelson                                    Wallace Mooney
Dave Fitzgerald                                                 Lonnie Spain                                   Glynn Runnels
Harry Shaw                                                       J.J. Maddox                                     Roland Gay
Clyde Rollins                                                    Kenneth Carwell                              Floyd Jones
Mansell Sweeney                                             Archie Sellers                                   Roy Biffle
Fred Ramsey                                                    W.F. McKinzey                                H.F. Cannon
Jimmy Jones                                                     L.V. Williams                                   J.B. Williams
Billy Lynn                                                         Guy Woody                                      Willard Merritt
Willie Travis                                                     Jim Willmon                                     J.R.Kirk
Joseph Lee                                                       Jake Seratte                                    Gilly Whitley

If you know of anyone who should be on this list, Please contact me:
 historian905@cableone.net       or by phone 580-467-4172    or by fax 580-251-9536