El Paso & Southwestern Railroad

El Paso & Southwestern Railroad (HMPBQ)

Location: El Paso, TX 79901 El Paso County
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Country: United States of America
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N 31° 45.39', W 106° 29.56'

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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 of 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 El Paso's Union Plaza Transit Terminal.
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HM NumberHMPBQ
Tags
Year Placed2005
Placed ByTexas Historical Commission
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Thursday, September 4th, 2014 at 8:51am PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)13R E 358631 N 3514415
Decimal Degrees31.75650000, -106.49266667
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 31° 45.39', W 106° 29.56'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds31° 45' 23.40" N, 106° 29' 33.60" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)915
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 468-476 W San Antonio Ave, El Paso TX 79901, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

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