Steam Locomotive Information

Here are the notes for Comstock Mill & Mining Company] No. 1, a 0-4-0T located in Chester, CA. If you have additional information about this locomotive, and would like to share it, click the Add Note button.

Posted: May 5, 2026 @ 02:05:24 by 45de26b
Sorry, meant the loco weight is 12,000 lbs. I am unsure of its tractive effort.

Posted: Apr 25, 2026 @ 24:04:10 by 45de26b
No. 1, C/N 848, 12,000 lbs, 23 inch drivers, 6x10 cylinders, wood fired

Posted: Dec 21, 2019 @ 24:12:05 by Kyle Wyatt
Per the original Porter specification sheet, Order entered April 6, 1887 for the Nevada Mill Co, Empire, Nevada, for an 0-4-0T, 30 inch gauge; Porter construction #848. Shipped May 28, 1887. Cab lettering "C. M. & M. Co." [Comstock Mill & Mining Company], number "1", tank lettering "Eureka". 6x10 cylinders; 23 inch drivers; wood fuel. Water tank capacity 150 gallons. Shipping weight 10,360 lbs. Per 1889 Porter catalog, 6x10 0-4-0T in working order nominally 12,000 lbs (with water in tank and boiler). Eureka Mill operation closed for last time in 1901; railroad believed taken out ca 1905-06. Locomotive believed sold to individual or company. Ca. 1913 loco used by the contractor building the Nevis Dam in Big Meadows to form Lake Almanor for the Great Western Power Company – this in Plumas County, California. The contractor may have been Utah Construction Co., but this is not verified. Ca 1916 Great Western Power developed a small power plant in nearby Butt Valley (that is “Butt”, not “Butte”), and it is possible the contractor used the Porter there, but again unconfirmed. The small power plant supplied power for the construction of Nevis Dam and related developments. Between 1920 and 1922 Great Western Power contracted with Stone & Webster to construct the Caribou Power project, including the large dam in Butt Valley as part of it, forming Butt Lake. Stone & Webster built a 3-foot gauge railroad using several Vulcan 0-4-0Ts that were oil burners. The (30 inch gauge) Porter was set up on blocks as a stationary boiler at one of the fuel stations. After the project was completed, the Porter was left in place on the blocks, and the reservoir was filled, covering it until 1996, when the Butt Lake reservoir was drained for repair work on the Butt Dam. Pacific Gas & Electric purchased and absorbed Great Western Power in 1930. Pacific Gas & Electric donated the loco to the Chester Museum in 1996.

Posted: Nov 13, 2012 @ 16:11:03 by Murphy Henson
This locomotive was recovered from the botton of the lake in the late 1990s/early 2000s.


Comstock Mill & Mining Company] 0-4-0T No. 1 Chester, California, United States	Location: Chester-Lake Almanor Museum Status: Display