Re: UP Steam (not NG) & ATSF #3751

Thanks, Rick -
And my heartfelt best wishes for the continuance of your program!!
The ATSF engine is #3751. Built in 1927, she is Baldwin's first 4-8-4, Santa Fe's first 4-8-4, the first oil-burning 4-8-4 and - to the best of my knowledge - the oldest surviving (much less operational) 4-8-4 on the planet. She was rebuilt from 72" drivers to 80" at some point in her career (with a new, cast-steel engine bed and roller bearings on all axles), and received a new, larger tender as well, but - like Abe Lincoln's axe with 3 new handles and one new head - she is still the 3751. (There are probably a few pounds of the original steel still on her somewhere, anyway. I don't even remember whether the bell and the whistle are original.)
In the early 1980's I borrowed a copy of Project 2472's Articles of Incorporation from Mike Mangini, changed several names to protect the innocent, and helped organize the San Bernardino RR Histerical Society, Inc. In those days, Santa Fe was VERY negative about steam, but the guys who stuck with it and rebuilt the engine apparently did such a great job that the ATSF decided it would be a good PR thing to allow her to run once in a while.
- Russo de los Locos