Lower Duck Pond Railroad

10 taking a train through Poleville

Lloyd Peterson (1932-1963)

Frank B. Westerson (1920-1932)

William "Billy" McCormac (1903-1920)

The Lower Duck Pond Railroad (LDPRR) is a railroad that runs around Lower Duck Pond and makes connections with surrounding towns. It is currently operated by Pete Williams as well as a handful of other employees.

## History

The LDPRR was opened on May 7th, 1903 by William McCormac, after hearing complaints from citizens about the total lack of public transportation in the town. Known as the Duck Pond, Bellevue & Mount Shenley Railroad (DPB&MSRR), the railroad made several stops within Lower Duck Pond, as well as stops in Upper Duck Pond (via the Upper Pond Branch), Rosewater (via the Rosewater Branch), Bellevue, and Mount Shenley. In 1919, the line added a station at Poleville. At an unknown point in the railroad's history (somewhere between 1918 and 1923), the Upper Pond Branch was removed from service due to "increased strained tensions between the two communities." The line was abandoned in 1923 and the rails were ripped up shortly afterwards.

Under the control of Westerson, it was decided that the line be extended from Mount Shenley to Grand Coulee Junction. The line's extension added a stop at Hydroelectric City, since the railroad had the budget to add a station. This also prompted the railroad to change its name to the Lower Duck Pond Railroad, seeing as Upper Duck Pond was no longer serviced and there were more stations. A proposed name for the railroad was the Lower Duck Pond, Bellevue, Mount Shenley, & Grand Coulee Junction Railroad (or LDPBMS&GCJRR). This name was unanimously rejected. The line has not undergone any major changes since then.

In July of 1983, LDPRR #10 was selected to be exhibited at Steam Expo 1983 1/2 and had to be shipped to Ft. Worth, Texas. The engine was brought to Grand Coulee Junction on August 7th and was prepared for shipment. On August 10th, the locomotive, along with a freight wagon of parts in case of any damage, was brought by a PLR locomotive to Jarville. The locomotive and wagon were loaded onto a ferry and were then sent off. The locomotive arrived at Ft. Worth on August 12th after extra traveling and "pre-Expo checks." The Expo lasted for 4 days and featured other locomotives from the US, UK, Austria, and France. The engine made its return to LDP on August 20th.

On the railroad's 100th anniversary, LDPRR #1 was transported from its display in the Lower Duck Pond Museum of History to the railroad, as part of a special event. The engine had not been run in 19 years, but was still in operating condition. The railroad also received a locomotive from Dutch railway company Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) as their way of saying congratulations. In addition, special patches and stickers were given to attendants to commemorate the event.

On May 27th, 2019, The Brimswood Incident occurred. A train travelling through the Brimswood neighborhood past Mt. Shenley station derailed due to improper toxic waste disposal. The investigation lasted about 2 weeks, during which it was discovered that 15 barrels of toxic waste were buried underneath the tracks.

In 2020, the station closest to the Murtwood neighborhood of Lower Duck Pond was closed as service plummeted after a carpet-bombing incident. The station has since been brought back to regular service as of March 18th of the same year.

In September 2020, the website for the railroad was revamped and currently holds information about the railroad, as well as contact info and a blog.

## Locomotives

Upon opening in 1903, the LDPRR ordered three locomotives from the American Locomotive Company (to be numbered 1-3). Unfortunately, one of the locomotives slipped loose from its bearings and fell into the water.

At the same time that the line was extended to Grand Coulee Junction, Westerson paid for three more engines; each from a different country. The first was a French locomotive (originally Nord 2.263) which became #4, the second was a British locomotive (originally GWR 2853) which became #5, and the third was an American locomotive (originally Monon 553) which became #5. Shortly after the purchases, it was found that LDPRR #4 was in poor condition; being about 20 years old when purchased. Westerson tried reaching out to the seller of the locomotive to no avail. Currently, #4 can be found next to the train shed past the Lower Duck Pond Terminal. #5 and #6 continued successful service. In 1930, the lease on #6 was due, so the engine was sent back to America, where it continued service until 1947. Of the three, #5 is the only engine that is still in operation (currently undergoing cosmetic restoration as of May 2019).

To help with switching operations, a small American tank engine was purchased in 1930 and given the number 7. Despite being 10 years old at the time of purchase, the engine was in relatively good shape.

In 1936, another American locomotive was purchased; an express passenger locomotive to keep up with the ever expanding passenger service. She was given the number 8 and kept this number for about 15 years.

In 1951, the railroad purchased an American diesel railcar, which was among growing popularity in the States. Once the engine began service, the railroad saw a great increase in passenger density. Peterson, as head of the railroad, decided to take advantage of the situation and use the engine for advertising; giving her the name "Buddy" in the process. This move proved itself very successful, with the railroad making high profits off of operations. "Buddy" was then given the number 8, with the previous #8 being given the number 9. "I just thought that an engine of more importance should get the lower number," explained Peterson.

The following year, another American diesel was purchased for passenger service. While not a railcar, it proved itself a powerful locomotive. In a confusing decision, the number 9 was given over to the new engine, leaving the previous #9 (previously #8) to be numbered #10. Peterson gave no explanation for this renumbering.

In the early 1970s, the owner at the time (name unknown) realized that the railroad was unable to keep up with the increased production of goods in the area, so he decided to buy two freight locomotives to pull trains. He reached out to the New South Wales Government Railways in Australia looking to purchase locomotives from them. They were hesitant at first, but then decided to sell two 442 Class locomotives. The purchase was made and the locomotives arrived in 1974.

In 1987, business was going downhill. The former owner decided that the best course of action was to purchase another locomotive in order to prove to suppliers and factories that the railroad was capable of handling more business. Once again, the locomotive came from the US: a U30C locomotive from the CSX railroad that had recently been wrecked. CSX was willing to send the locomotive for a small price, to which the owner hastily agreed. The locomotive arrived later that year and it was evident that it had not been repaired since its accident. The owner put together a team of mechanics to fix the locomotive for service as soon as possible. The job was completed in 1988 and the engine was put into service immediately.

In 2003, the railroad received a Class 6400 (numbered 6419) from the Nederlandse Spoorwegen in the Netherlands as their way of congratulating the railroad on "100 years of successful operation."

## Current Operations

As of 2020, the LDPRR continues to operate along the same route as 1935 as a freight-passenger service. At the end of the line at Grand Coulee Junction, freight is taken by the neighboring Port Line Railroad (PLR) to ports on the coast to be shipped internationally.

## Route

### Main Line (Current and Former Stations)

#### Former Stations include year of closing

* Lower Duck Pond (Terminus)
* Murtwood (LDP)
* Northern Border (LDP)
* Poleville
* First St. (Bellevue) (1935)
* Bellevue
* Fairview Ave. (Bellevue) (1935)
* Mt. Shenley
* Hydroelectric City
* West Hydroelectric (HC)
* Grand Coulee Junction (Terminus)
* Roundabout (GCJ) (1971)

### Rosewater Branch

* Murtwood (LDP)
* South Rosewater (Rosewater) (1948)
* Rosewater
* Hatsville (Terminus)

## Employees

### Current Employees:

* Pete Williams - Owner and engineer
* Phil "Collins" Stewart - Engineer
* Stefano Belgrano - Engineer and Bus Driver
* Samantha "Sammy" Wilson - Engineer and mechanic
* Frank McDowell - Engineer and mechanic
* Charlie "CharlieCard" Watson - Conductor

### Previous Employees (of note):

* Dwight "Dewey" MacStourman (1917-1948) - engineer
	+ Known for his love of trains, especially at high speeds, and was a very faithful employee. The Dewey Straightaway is named after him.

* Rail McRoad (1883-1925) - engineer, conductor, mechanic, signalman
	+ Known for being among the first employees on the railroad -- and among the most enthusiastic employees. A Pullman car has been named in his honor, as well as a room in the main station building.

## Gallery

Video footage at Murtwood station (1988, 1929): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnGTlxP7k-o

#10 in 1937, when she was still #8#7 in 1988, after being out of service since 1971Roundabout Station (in Grand Coulee Junction), circa 1974