| The locomotive was bought
new by the Southern Pacific, primarily for helper service over the
Tehachapi range which lies between the Los Angeles basin and the
central valley. SP ultimately used it all over the system until
4/2/1968 when it
was leased to the Northwestern Pacific, which the SP owned. It served
on the NWP until 10/14/1970 when it was returned to the SP. Records
indicate that it could be found almost anywhere on the SP system over
the next 20 years but it tended to stay close to California. The SP
started selling off their older, low horsepower locomotives in the
early 90's and the 4423 was sold to Omnitrax in the summer of 1993,
along with about 100 other units. About this time. the SP sold the NWP
to state agencies and it became a separate entity from the SP. Omnitrax
painted the 4423 and 3 other locomotives in the current paint scheme
and leased them to the reborn NWP. These units were delivered over the
period between Thanksgiving and early December, 1996. The NWP was shut
down by the FRA on Thanksgiving day, 1998 and all but 2 of the units
(which were wrecked and still sit in Willits) were returned to Omitrax
between January and February, 1999. Omitrax used the 4423
intermittently on their own railroad, the Great Western Railway in
Loveland, Colorado until December, 2002 when it was set aside. In
mid-2003, several members of the Pacific Locomotive Association became
aware that the 4423 was to be scrapped and Dennis Mann contacted
Omitrax about a
possible sale. An agreement was reached, a check was mailed and
the 4423 came back to
California in December, 2003. It is currently located on the property
of the Oakland Terminal Railway where it is receiving needed repairs.
It will eventually call the PLA's Niles Canyon Railway home where it
should see many years of passenger service over the scenic railroad.
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