Pickens 2-6-0 "Mogul" Locomotives in the USA

Class 1 (Locobase 14679)

Data from DeGolyer, Vol 62, pp. 82. Works number was 51969 in June 1919.

South Carolina Upstate (the part of the state that rises into the Piedmont) was ill-served by railways for most of the steam era. The Pickens was a short line chartered in 1890 to run 19 miles (30.6 km) from Easley, South Carolina to Olenoy Gap through Pickens, the county seat and the most-elevated (above sea level) incorporated town in the state.

The only section completed was the 8 miles between Easley and Pickens. That short segment remained in service for decades, however, and this Mogul operated a mixed train over the line. It became known as the "Doodle Train" because it ran backward in one direction, the leading car reminding many of a doodle bug backing into its hole. Twelve times a day, the 1 traveled over the 50 lb/yard (25 kg/metre) rail from 1919 to 1946.

The 1 was scrapped in 1956. The Pickens, converted to diesel operation, continued for more than another half-century before railroad service ended in 2010 and the company filed for abandonment in September 2012. Proposals to turn the abandoned line into a walking and bike trail met resistance from trackside landowners who argued that the original charter required land granted to the road be returned to the original owners.