Carl Herrera recently shared this article about engine 1913, one of four one-third-scale Pacifics that Louis MacDermot built for the Overfair Railway at San Francisco’s 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition. In 1993 Al Smith donated the engines, along with his Swanton Ranch, to Cal Poly, where they ran as the Swanton Pacific Railroad.
The 2020 CZU Lightning Complex fire essentially destroyed that railroad. The fire-damaged engines have since moved to the Santa Margarita Ranch, where the volunteer Overfair Pacific Railroad Society hopes to restore them. Thanks to Charlie Crabb for the update and photo.
ENGINE 1913
The 1913 is one of 4 1/3 scale Pacific type 4-6-2 steam locomotives built to 18 7/8" (commonly referred to as 19") gauge specifications.
The enterprising Mr. Louis Main MacDermot, grandson of the late Charles Main, after whom "Main" Street in San Francisco was named, built the 1913 and three other similar units, the 1912, 1914 and 1915, at his shops at 740 Center Street in Oakland, California in a period of 18 months in 1913 and 1914.
Mr. MacDermot built the locomotives specifically for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition held in San Francisco in 1915 in commemoration of the opening of the Panama Canal. His investment in the project was in excess of $70,000, a sum he borrowed from his mother.
The Overfair Railway ran daily on a 6 mile track MacDermot had laid at the Exposition grounds. Although the fair ran a total of 272 days and the fare was a dime a ride, the people's interest in rail ride had apparently shifted, and now they seemed to prefer the rubber tired "elephant trains". As a result, the venture yielded a mere $39,000 in gross revenues, less 30% of $11,700 which went to the fair as had been agreed upon by contract.
At this time MacDermot had met with a succession of incidents which affected his life; his mother's death, the Exposition fiasco, and related misunderstandings with members of his immediate family.
Louis was taken in by the Charlie Hoyle family of 134 Wilder Avenue in Los Gatos, California, who arranged to have him move in to a converted playhouse-cottage in their backyard. He lived there in poverty until his death on February 22, 1948.
In 1940 the locomotives were taken to The Alameda County Zoological Gardens, now named Knowland Park, in Oakland, California. In 1945 they were dismantled, transported to Campbell, California and placed in storage.
In 1948 Billy Jones, former SP Engineer, acquired the locomotives and moved them to his Davis Avenue Ranch in Los Gatos where he reassembled them and converted them from coal to oil. In 1950 Billy Jones displayed the 1913, the tender and the three cars at the Santa Clara County Fair.
By the time Billy Jones died in 1968, he had sold the 1914 and 1915 to a syndicate in Southern California where they were used at an amusement park. Several years later Mr. Robert C. Maxfield of Calistoga, California purchased the 1912 and 1913 from the Jones Estate. He had them restored at the Erich Thomsen's Redwood Valley Shops in Oakland, then moved them to his Calistoga Steam Railroad where they ran from 1975 to 1979, with little success.
In 1979 Mr. Albert B. Smith, a former SP Brakeman who founded and once owned Orchard Supply Hardware, purchased the 1912 and 1913 from Robert Mayfield and moved them to his Swanton Ranch. He then acquired the 1914 and 1915 from Southern California in the early 1980's.
The 1912 is presently undergoing restoration. The 1914 and the 1915 may soon be fully restored and operational. The 1913 is the only one in running condition at this time.