Dear Do-It Man: I am trying to locate a little steam engine that my father-in-law, Willard Mitchell, and his brother, Roy, built.
It was known to be in White City Park in Boise, Idaho over 40 years ago. Also, it was supposed to have been at Lagoon first.I wrote the Boise Chamber of Commerce, which forwarded my letter to the Idaho Historical Society. It suggested I contact Lagoon.
I did, but no one there knew anything about the little train.
The steam engine was a model of an Atlantic type of locomotive and measured 11 feet 6 inches from the tip of the pilot to the end of the tank.
The Mitchell boys built it in a shop in the back of their family home at 63 N. 7th West in Salt Lake City. They gave it the number 1907, the year it was finished.
The driving wheels were 14 inches in diameter. The trailer wheels were seven inches in diameter. The boiler was 14 inches in diameter and five feet long.
The engine had spring riggings, including equalizers. The boiler was made from flanged steel with a jacket of imported Russian iron.
One of the boys was a machinist. The other was a boiler-maker. The boys took 20 months to build the engine, working holidays, evenings and Sundays.
I have a black and white picture of the train. The words "Sylvan Limited" are on the side of the engine, which is pulling little cars that seat two people. The passengers face each other.
We're wondering if some railroad has it or if it is on display at some museum.
- Mrs. W.M., West Bountiful.
Dear Mrs. M.: We unfortunately had to call it quits on your question. Even after numerous phone calls to Boise, including several to the state Historical Society and the city's park's department, we remain clueless as to the whereabouts of little Engine 1907.
White City Park was a privately owned amusement park in Idaho's capital city. It may well have featured a miniature train but it closed and was torn apart in the '40s. The Historical Society has no information about what happened to the park's rides.
The Historical Society believes a man who had been affiliated with Lagoon during its early years moved to Boise and helped establish White City Park. It speculates he could have brought the little engine to Boise with him.
All that remains of the park is the natatorium, which is now operated by the city. No one in the city's park's department knew anything about a little train.
We spoke to a miniature train buff in Salt Lake City who helped restore Engine 999, a miniature engine that ran for years at Lagoon. When we described to him over the phone the picture you sent us of Engine 1907, he seemed familiar with the photo. "I think I have the same picture," he said.
He says it's likely the engine has long since been buried in a scrap heap, like so many others of that vintage. "I doubt it exists anymore," he told us over the phone.
If any of our readers have information about Engine 1907 to the contrary, please call us at 237-2170.