In 1915, the Baldwin Locomotive Works delivered a “Mikado” type locomotive to the Caddo & Choctaw Railroad in Arkansas, which numbered it #4 and named it “R. L. Rowan”. In the early 1920s this locomotive was sold to the Choctaw River Lumber Company, which ran it as #4. The locomotive was sold again in 1924 to the United Mining and Smelting Company in Mexico, which gave it number 2069 and later in 1924, it was sold the Mc Cloud River Railroad.

The Mc Cloud River Railroad already had one 2-8-2, which it bought new from Baldwin in 1914 and had assigned it number 18. The newly acquired locomotive was a close twin to number 18 and it was given road number 19.

The nearly identical sisters served on the McCloud River Railroad in a roster of similar sized 2-8-2 and 2-6-2 locomotives until bumped from service by new Baldwin diesels. In 1953, surplus after twenty-nine years of service, the #19 was sold to the Yreka Western.