The No. 119 Steam Locomotive - Golden Spike National Historic Site, Promontory, Utah - Exact Replicas on Waymarking.com

There is a lot of excellent material on the web about this locomotive. The link at the bottom of this web page connects to a Wikipedia article that describes the original locomotive. The Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum at www.cprr.org is a treasure trove of information and a must-see. In particular, their account of the story behind the replicas is fascinating - (visit link)

The locomotives are accurate in many details, although there have been some compromises. The brakes share the original design to the extent that they were only installed on the last truck of the tender. No other wheels have brakes; I spoke with one of the locomotive engineers about this who told me that stopping the locomotive was like stopping a car on an icy road. A steam-driven air brake compressor was installed on the side of the locomotive, which the original did not have; nor did it have air brakes, although those had been invented at the time. Other compromises: there is a venturi-type steam-boiler feed-water injection system that was not on the original; the original had a mechanical pump. The train crew claimed that the replica is a coal burner, like the original, and when the engine rolled down the track, there was plenty of smoke and that beautiful coal-burning smell.

The National Park Service is to be commended for going to the trouble of preserving history to this extent. While I was there, a group of Boy Scouts were being given rides on the footplate. One can only imagine how much they learned from that experience.

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Where is original located?: The original was scrapped in 1903, after many renovations to where it no longer resembled the original. Where is this replica located?: At the Golden Spike National Historic Site - Promontory, Utah. Who created the original?: The Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works of Patterson, New Jersey Internet Link about Original: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Pacific_No._119 Year Original was Created (approx. ok): 1868

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