Name/Title
Train Model, built by Waldemar F. Anderson, 1937-1939Entry/Object ID
1982.18.1Description
Acc.No. 82.18.1
Subject Category: Transportation
Date or period: 1937-39
Object: Train, model
Description: See enclosed description.
History of Object: See enclosed history (originally given in Oct, of 1981)
Acquired from: Mrs. Maria Andersen (wife of creator of train model)
Date May 7, 1982
Enclosed Letter:
Notes on Waldemar F. Andersen,
builder of the model steam engine donated to the Alameda Historical Society by his wife, Maria Andersen
Personal Background
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1. Great grandfather was Dr. George Lambert, Alameda's first doctor, who pioneered the settlement of Alameda in the 1850's and 60's.
2. Waldemar Andersen was a lifelong resident of Alameda - attended Lincoln School and Alameda High School.
3. His father, Francis J. Hooper, was employed by the Southern Pacific for many years first as a pilot on the S.F. barges plying the Bay, then as a conductor on the Alameda Red Trains. Mr. Andersen's interest in trains - especially the Southern Pacific - spanned a lifetime. He worked for the company as a fireman briefly in the early 1930's fulfilling a childhood dream of the "romance of the rails.
Background/History of the Train
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1. It was at Mr. Andersen's machine shop and foundry in Alameda where the patterns for the train were fabricated, castings poured, the machining of parts completed, and the train assembled.
2. The train was built in 1937 and is a scale model of a standard Southern Pacific switch engine. It is complete in all details except for the controls, throttle, and brakes, which would have been too small to manipulate if scaled down.
Height 25 inches
Length: 47 inches (Locomotive)
87 inches (Locomotive plus tender)
Track: 8 inch centers
Tender holds 13 gallons of water
The locomotive has air brakes, steam to air compressor, a generator which lights the headlight, sand bell, and a steam operated bell. It is capable of pulling a load of ten to fourteen adults.
3. The trestle upon which the train rests was built by the late M. Austin Ross, a master boatbuilder and childhood friend from Alameda.
