The Arizona Daily Sun in Flagstaff tells about how Malcolm Mackey and others saved a 1911 steam engine locomotive, nicknamed Old Two Spot, that now sits at the town’s historic railroad depot.
“It was kind of the town mascot because it had a whistle that was recognizable,” said Mackey, 80, who still lives in the home where he was born. “The old-time people who are my age or older had a fondness for that old steam engine. It was bought new and brought here. Town drunks turned out for a big celebration, with the bar right across the street.”
Mackey doesn’t take solo credit for saving the old engine.He said he was one of a group of concerned citizens who each put up $10,000 to buy Old Two Spot from Stone Forest Industries for about $45,000. […]
Stone Forest was the last lumber company to operate in Flagstaff and closed its doors in 1993. The engine was retired on company property in 1966.
“Stone Forest was very unhappy with the city of Flagstaff for its support of the spotted owl; they would not sell to us,” he said. “Through the backdoor, we bought Two Spot and got it moved downtown.” […]
The locomotive has sat downtown since June 1999, when it was dedicated to “all those who worked in the Flagstaff timber industry over the last 110 years.”
In case you’re wondering, here’s a photo of Old Two Spot.
