EP & SW RR Locomotive No. 1 -- El Paso TX - Locomotives on Waymarking.com

A 150 year old locomotive which helped open the west is on display at the El Paso Railroad Museum at 400 W San Antonio Ave., a few blocks away from El Paso's beautiful Union Station.

The Museum website details the collection, and exciting plans for the future: (visit link)

The state historic marker fort his locomotive reads as follows:

"EL PASO & SOUTHWESTERN RAILROAD
LOCOMOTIVE NUMBER ONE

One of the oldest survivors of America's steam railroading era, this locomotive was built 29 years after the steam engine was first developed for transportation. Breese, Kneeland & Company of Jersey City, New Jersey also operated as the New York Locomotive Works and is represented by the No. 73 on the locomotive builders plate. The company used its standard style, based on a design patented by Henry Roe Campbell in 1836. Known as a 4-4-0 "Classic American" for its wheel configuration, this particular locomotive was manufactured in 1857 for the Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad Company.

Believed to have been named "Spring Green", the locomotive served the upper midwestern United States for more than 30 years. By 1889, the Arizona & Southeastern Railroad Company, which later became the El Paso & Southwestern Railroad (EP&SW), had acquired it and converted it from a wood-burner to a coal-burner. The smokestack was also likely reconfigured from a funnel type to a straight type at that time. Calling it Locomotive No. One, EP&SW utilized it in the development of Bisbee, Arizona and in other mining and industrial operations in the southwest.

EP&SW retired Old Number One after more than 50 years of service, moving it to a park adjacent to company headquarters at 416 N. Stanton Street in 1909. Except for its brief role in the 1938 film "Let Freedom Ring", it remained there until 1960, even after the rail company became part of the Southern Pacific railroad system in 1924. In 1960, the railroad donated it to Texas Western College (now the University of Texas at El Paso), which placed it at the Centennial Museum. In 2000, the City of El Paso received state and national funds to restore the engine to its 1909 appearance, moving it to the present site at the Union Plaza Transit Terminal. (1968, 2005)"

Locomotive Type: (required): Steam Do you need to pay an entrance fee to view this locomotive? (required): No How accessible is this locomotive display? (Required): Display is behind a fence, access is limited to viewing only. If "other" what is the engine type? (optional): Not listed If a fee is required what is the approximate cost for admittance? (optional): Not listed

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