The personal and professional website of Douglas Van Bossuyt
The Sumpter Valley Gold Dredge.
An old safe.
It is REALLY big.
Teeth for the buckets.
Inside the dredge. This thing is BIG.
Very big.
This was used to let the gold dust fall out of the mud and water slurry.
An old boat to get to the dredge.
A home-built air compressor.
Screens to keep trash out of the dredge water intakes.
From the older dredges that are now rotted away.
A small smelter setup.
The train getting robbed again. I sense a pattern developing.
Getting ready to head downhill back to McEwen.
Look at all of those patents!
I love those steam pistons.
Smoking away.
The engineer talking with someone on the platform.
An old luggage caddy.
Watch out for bears!
Doing some maintenance to the engine.
Oiling things up.
The engine steaming in the station.
Safety first!
Getting up in the cab.
The boiler and fire box.
I love those brass gauges!
The engineer’s seat.
They let me sit in the engineer’s seat! This is what I worked through three degrees to do! I’m a real engineer!
Steaming out of the station.
Steaming south.
A little speeder.
The fire tender.
Coming into McEwen Depot.
The engine heads off to the switch so it can run to the other end of the train for the next departure to Sumpter.
Boilers waiting to be put into an engine someday.
Filling up with water.
A view of the rail yard and engine shed.
The McEwen Depot on the Sumpter Valley Railroad. This is the downhill terminus of the railroad at present. Someday it will be extended further toward Baker City.
A long wrench serves as the door stop.
Looking downhill in the direction of the future track to Baker City.
A log car sitting on the siding.
I believe this is the bottom of an old gold dredge. Three gold dredges tore up the Sumpter Valley over a 40 year period. What was once a lush meadow is now a bunch of piles of rock.
The historical railway.
Engine #3 pulls into the station with the train.
Yes. Those are antlers on the train.
Getting ready to head out of the McEwen Depot.
Filling up with wood and water.
In one of the original passenger coaches.
Heading out of the Sumpter Depot.
Looking toward the mountains.
A maintenance and fire tending crew waiting for the train to pass
Rolling along on the Sumpter Valley Railroad.
The history of the Sumpter Valley Railroad
Bandits fire at the train in order to get it to stop so they can rob it for gold.
Getting held up for gold.
The bandits saluting the train.
An old water tower.
Arriving at the depot.
At the Sumpter Depot.
The bandits talking to the train passengers and posing for pictures.
