Heading for the loop. With Nevada State Railroad Museum Pilot Barry Simcoe clearing from the gangway, Southern Pacific Locomotive #18 comes off the gallows-style turntable, backing northbound on the A-track, headed for the museum's dual-guage loop track. This beefy little 4-6-0 was brought to the "Great Western Steam-Up" event by the Carson & Colorado Railway of Independence, CA. Today, the 18 will be hauling the event's narrow gauge passenger train. An oil-burner, SP #18 is one of the few surviving, operable steam locomotives to feature a "whale-back" tender, so-named because the tank top is rounded, similar to the back of a whale. The only other one I am aware of is the 2-6-2 #12 at Colorado's Georgetown Loop.
