- Ward Kimball photo, OERM Collection -

History

The Kimballs purchased the Chloe in 1948 from the Waimanalo Sugar Company in Hawaii (where is was their No. 2 "Pokaa"). With the aid of family friend Chad O'Conner, the locomotive was completely redesigned and rebuilt over an 8-year period. It was renamed Chloe after the Kimball's second daughter, and entered service in 1956. By this time, Emma Nevada had developed a leak around one of her staybolts, which, combined with the neighbor's reaction to all the coal smoke and cinders, made the smaller wood-burning Chloe the line's active engine.

An open trailer car and two passenger-carrying "sugar cane" cars were built at Grizzly Flats in order to give the Chloe a way to haul passengers. When Emma Nevada, Coach 5, and much of the other Kimball rolling stock left Grizzly Flats in 1992, Chloe and the home-built cars remained behind so that the family could continue their traditional backyard "steam ups". Chloe and her train came to the Museum in 2006.