I have heard about all the connections that the EN 12 has had with other places and their history and at the same time heard arguments minimizing its Nevada connection.
The fact is, the EN 12 has now been in Nevada more than all the time it has spent anywhere else. That is not to dimisish anyone else's memories about the locomotive, but it has had an association here that has transcended mere running on the Eureka & Palisade (Eureka Nevada).
The EN 12 was one of the last locomotives to run on the old Eureka & Palisade. It was to heavy for the #35 rail and had a bad habit of breaking some. Nevertheless, it was big, powerful and one of the last of a long line of locomotives to run on the E&P. But, that is not the end of the story. In fact, it is just the beginning.
The engine was picked up by one Doby Doc, as he was known, from Palisade. He was a true character of the old West and Nevada History. He brought the locomotive along with some old E&P cars to Elko to put it on display in the early 1940s. It sat there for awhile until the mid 1940s when the Last Frontier Hotel and Village were built here in Las Vegas. Doby Doc had a bunch of other old west memorabilia that he had collected over the years, and all of it was brought to Las Vegas. This included old jails, barns, shops and God knows what else from Nevada's ghost towns all of which is still in existance, and would have been lost to the ravages of time, if not for Doby Doc.
Doby Doc needed to transport all the railroad equipment down to Las Vegas via highway. So, he went to Carson City and got the head of the Nevada Highway Patrol to give a police escort, which the Chief did....himself!
The only problem was that the Union Pacific laid claim to the EN 12 and other equipment, and charged Doby Doc with grand larceny. (Talk about a train robbery!!) The complaint against him was filed and Doby Doc retained legendary Las Vegas trial lawyer Harry Claiborne to represent him. Claiborne told me the story himself before he died. He let it be known that there was absolutely no criminal intent on the part of Doby Doc, after all, who with criminal intent would get the Head of the Highway partol to give him a police escort if he was stealing the locomotive? That stumped the prosecution and the whole affair quietly faded away. The locomotive was put on display at the Last Frontier Village for decades to the absolute delight of hundreds of thousands of people over the years. In fact, my parents met inside the Last Frontier Village when the EN 12 and the other E&P cars were on display outside. I admired it for years since I was a kid It is the single greatest thing that inspired me to get Eureka and spend a good portion of my life to preserving Nevada's rail history. I have met countless people over the years who fondly remember it being on display and how it introduced them to an interest in old west railroading well before there were such things as railroad museums or thoughts of restoration.. I was not the only one.
So, the EN 12 may not have run here for long, but it closed the book on one of the legendary railroads of the west. As as display locomotive it has inspired and entertained untold numbers of visitors who saw it. It is true that after it left the Last Frontier Village that it started to fall in direpair, but that ain't the end of the story either. Eventually, the Nevada State Railroad Museum, Boulder City got hold of it. it has been kept under secure lock and key since it was acquired. In spite of the gloom and doom of things happening to the Nevada Museum system, the good news is that the NSRM BC is by far the most profitable museum in the state, and it will definitely keep going.
As for the locomotive, it is starting to get some TLC. I have been slowly cleaning it, oiling her up, overhauling applicances like the injectors, air pump, boiler gauge and things like that. I have made drawings of the cab for eventual reconstruction and before I check out of this world, I want to see her run again. There is a LOT of work to do, but the interest is there and some day whe will have a fire in her again.
The thing is, for all the claims made to the EN12 by others, if it had not been here in Nevada there is a huge probability that it wouuld have been scrapped decades ago. It was Nevada people that brought her here, and Nevadans who kept her through the years. I do not think there are any F&CC locomotives that have been saved except the EN 12, nor are there any Uintah locomotive left that I know of.
So, the EN 12 will stay here. When she is running again someday, I am sure she will be shared, and the history of her on other railroads will be well known and stand as a representative of those other lines as well. We here in Nevada, and Las Vegas in particular, have been often publically criticized for not preserving our history. Well, by virtue of the EN 12 still being here, and Eureka being operational and in very public view, and us desiring to keep our rail history alive, the charge is not well founded. We appreciate what others may like to do with the EN 12, but it belongs to Nevada which has been with her through thick and thin and time.
Well Mike, you said to ask me about this!
Dan Markoff
