Above: The fireman’s side of Southern Pacific 3420 was photographed at El Paso on January 10, 1953. 3420 is sporting a switching pilot and no number boards at this point indicating that she is regularly assigned to switching service. Photographer unknown. Robby Peartree Collection.
Coal, Copper, Cantaloupes, Cervezas, and Celebrations!
The International Adventures of Southern Pacific 3420. In the Chihuahua Desert of the Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico.
My Story
The story of the steam locomotive Southern Pacific 3420 is a diverse study of coal, copper, cantaloupes, cervezas, and community celebrations. 3420s part in the railroad story begins in October 1904 and continues today. Over the years 3420’s role in the community has changed yet the City of El Paso’s steam locomotive 3420 is an important reminder of the significance of the Pass of the North and the uniqueness of the Borderland. Let us her 3420 tell her story.
My Construction for the El Paso & Northeastern
With the start of the year of 1904, the copper mines of Southeastern Arizona and Southern New Mexico were producing a great deal of copper and as a result the railroads in the area were seeing a great deal of business as a result. This was particularly true for the recently completed Eddy Brother’s railroad, known as the El Paso & Northeastern (E.P.& N.E.). Construction of the E.P.& N.E. started at El Paso, Texas and headed to thru Alamogordo, New Mexico to Santa Rosa, New Mexico. Later using the Rock Island Railroad to reach the coal mine branch from Tucumcari, New Mexico to Dawson, New Mexico. During a 19-hour period on January 24, 1904, the E. P. & N.E. handled 275-cars into El Paso and 150 empty and 28 loaded cars out of El Paso.
As the year continued the traffic level did not ease for the young railroad company. On April 12, 1904, the E. P. & N.E. placed an order for an additional 20 locomotives from the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, including the 18, 2-8-0s that I was apart. Baldwin completed ten locomotives in June, myself and five others in August, and the final two in September. I was the eleventh locomotive in the order, with builder’s number 24586, and road number 171.
This photograph is of 3420’s engineer’s side builder’s plate. 3420 still retains two builders plates from Baldwin Locomotive Works. Photo by Robby Peartree
This view of the engineers Main Rod shows stamping from the Baldwin Locomotive Works. Baldwin Number 1038 E 1327 is stamped into the rod. Photo by Robby Peartree
Delivery to the El Paso & Northeastern
We were shipped from the factory over the Rock Island from Kansas City to Santa Rosa, and then the E. P & N. E. moved us dead to Alamogordo for final setting up for service. As new locomotives, we were shipped to the E. P. & N. E. shops at Alamogordo, New Mexico, where the E. P. & N. E. accepted our delivery and their employees set us up for operation. The October 6, 1904, edition of the Albuquerque Journal reported that the E. P. & N. E. had recently received four locomotives from Baldwin and six more were on their way.
Initially, we worked north out of Alamogordo, New Mexico To Santa Rosa, New Mexico, and on the Dawson Railway from Tucumcari to Dawson. The railroad from Santa Rosa to Tucumcari was initially constructed by the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad and they operated this trackage until 1907.
On March 22, 1905, the El Paso Herald Post reported my first trip to El Paso. The paper stated that that;
“J. Harris and fireman D.J. Shulda of Alamogordo are in the city (El Paso) as engineer and fireman on engine 171, one of the big consolidated freight engines which the Northeastern had received a few months ago. To handle the rush of business the engine was brought into this city from the east end, where it usually runs.”
This would be the start of my now long relationship with the city of El Paso.
The El Paso & Southwestern Years
July 1, 1905, the El Paso & Southwestern (E.P. & S.W.) Railroad purchased the E.P. & N.E. The E.P. & S.W. was the railroad for the mining company Phelps, Dodge, & Company who was busy in Southeastern Arizona. I continued to be busy hauling coal from Dawson, New Mexico, to El Paso, Texas, and we began to see shipments of copper heading east.
The railroad was a busy place during this time. Phelps Dodge revenue from copper mining at this time allowed them to make significant investments in improving their railroad which they did. With growth also comes challenges and there were plenty during this time. I had an accident on June 16 1906, at Dawson New, Mexico.
Here is The Tucumcari News, June 16, 1906 report;
“Three cars got away from the tipple at Dawson this week and ran 13 miles out on the main line and smashed into Extra 171 east bound, totally demolishing one and derailing the other two of the runaway cars. The headlight was knocked off and the front of engine 171 was mashed in. Nobody was hurt.”
And here is how Santa Fe New Mexican, June 20, 1906 covered the accident;
Engine No. 171 of the Dawson line was sent to Tucumcari a few days ago for repairs from damages caused by three coal cars running into it. The cars had run away from the coal tipple at Dawson and had proceeded for thirteen miles on the main line when they crashed into extra Train No. 171, east-bound. One coal car was totally demolished and the other two were derailed. The entire front of engine No. 171 was broken into scrap iron.
While no one was injured in the Dawson line incident a few months later, it was not so in the Tucumcari Yards while I was being repaired. It is a hard topic to talk about so I let the reporter do the talking.
Tucumcari News and Tucumcari Times, January 4, 1907:
“Valentine Romero, residing here, was ran over by Southwestern engine in Yard Sunday night about six o'clock, and his body so badly cut and mangled that death resulted in a few minutes. After the accident occurred.
Valentine Romero and his helper were ordered to repair engine 171 which was standing on the cinder pit track out in the yards near the coal chute just west of the new Southwestern roundhouse. While engaged in repairing 171, he stood back a few feet from it, waiting for it to be moved a short distance, another locomotive came down through the yards on a parallel track about seven feet from the track on which was standing the engine they were working on; the two men were between the two tracks about two feet from the track on which the engine was approaching with their backs to the track. The approaching engine backed down upon them without warning, with no lights on the tank, striking the two men. Valentine Romero was struck first, thrown under the engine and dragged about twenty feet and terribly crushed. Sotero Romero, the helper, was thrown twenty or thirty feet, falling to one side of the track, being only slightly injured. There were no witnesses to the accident except Romero, and the engineer in charge of the Locomotive which ran over the man.
Romero, the helper, testified at the inquest held before Justice of the Peace Ed E. Saxon, that they had been working on engine 171, near the coal chute just west of the cinder pit; that they were waiting for the engine to be moved; that they were standing a few feet away from the engine they were working on waiting for it to be moved; that their torch went out in a gust of wind; that it was so dark they could not see the approaching engine; that no warning, whistle or bell was given; the engine that backed down and had no lights on the tank: that the escaping steam and noise from the 171 was so great that they could not hear the approaching engine.
The engine that struck the man was stopped within a short distance of the place where Romero fell in front of it, with the body still beneath the engine. The body was removed as soon as possible, but the man died before medical attention could be called. Romero leaves a large family.
The inquest was held before Judge Ed F. Saxon, on December 30, the day following the killing, and the jury after a short deliberation, found that Romero came to his death by being run over by an engine in the yards at this place, and charged the railroad company with criminal negligence.”
A little more excitement, as seen by this report in the Carrizozo News, on May 7, 1909;
“A freight wreck occurred 24 miles this side of El Paso Wednesday afternoon. Engine No. 171, with Engineer Hardy and Fireman Heidrick, and the train in charge of Conductor Hoban. The train left Carrizozo Wednesday morning at 3:30. and, on account of a broken journal, eight cars going into the ditch. No one was hurt, but the wreck brought about a cessation of traffic until a shoo-fly was built around. No. 4, the east bound Limited, was delayed 10 hours and 55 minutes, and the No. 2, the east bound passenger, which was due here at 12:20 yesterday morning, did not arrive until 11 o'clock, it suffering a slight derailment in coming over the shoo-fly”.
This site is near the railroad station of Hueco, 5.6 miles north of Newman TX on the Texas, New Mexico border. This is just south of the present site of MTC Otero County Prison Facility along US 54 in New Mexico.
Mechanical Changes by the El Paso & Southwestern
On October 4, 1913, my number was changed to 271 as a part of a general renumbering of many locomotives on the E. P. & S. W. In 1916, I received 4, 3-inch diameter arch tubes from the bottom front to the top back of the firebox. During the months of September and October 1918, I received superheater units to produce superheated steam for use in my cylinders. The Authority for Expenditure, W-944, for my superheating (S.O. 14038) and my conversion to nine-inch universal chest steam valves (S.O. 14037). The cost in 1918 dollars was $4076.85 for the superheating and $1373.15 on the conversion of my valves to the nine-inch universal chest stream valves.
Photo by Robby Peartree of the engineer’s side of 3420’s smokebox. The superheaters are the vertical pipes in the back of the photograph.
Coal and Copper were not the Only Freight I pulled. How about a Cantaloupe
After I received my superheaters, I was back hauling freight trains out of El Paso, Texas. One of the items that I was assigned to pull was 40 mph melon trains. This was cantaloupes that were being moved from the Imperial Valley of California to Chicago and points east. Our normal Freight speed was 30 mph, but the dispatchers could authorize a maximum speed of 40 mph for the Melon trains. E.P. & S.W. Road Foreman of Engines A. L. Bartz, described the issues we were having with the lack of lubrication in a letter to the E.P. & S.W. Superintendent of Motive Power Thomas J. Paxton. To help resolve this issue, he was pushing for us to receive the same grease type lubricators that the newer locomotives already had. Grease lubricators were acquired from the Franklin Locomotive Supply Company for the price of $113.00 per locomotive.
My Lease for Service in Mexico
After WWI the copper industry suffered a great reduction of demand for their products. On April 11, 1921 I was leased to the Cia Cervecera de Chihuahua, S.A., and Cia Harinera El Globo, S.A and contracted to operate between Juarez and Torreon, Mexico. When the lease was over, I was returned to the E.P. & S.W. Coal and Copper were not the only freight that I pulled.
My Purchase by the Southern Pacific
On October 31, 1924, the Southern Pacific (S.P.) took over the E.P. & S.W. and my number was changed to 3420 to merge the two locomotive rosters into one. My years on the S.P. were spent on the same lines that the E.P. & S.W. owned. My sisters and myself found ourselves pulling trains on branch lines including the Dawson line and the Nacarzari line and switching cars at several locations including Dawson and Tucumcari, New Mexico, Douglas, Arizona, and El Paso, Texas. From August of 1937 to the middle of June 1940, the former E.P. & N.E. Locomotives that the S.P. classified as C-18 and C-19 were the regular power on the line to Dawson New Mexico. The S.P. returned two former E.P. & S.W. 2-8-2 type locomotives to using coal as fuel in June and July of 1940 for use on the Dawson Branch as traffic increased with the United States involvement in WWII approaching.
My Conversion to Oil Fuel
The closing of the Dawson Coal Mine in 1950, I was chosen to be the last locomotive using coal as fuel to remove the coal reserves that the S.P. purchased before the closing of the Dawson mine. After this was accomplished, I was converted to burn oil in April 1951. The S.P. continued to use me for switching at several locations. By this time, the diesel locomotive was the locomotive of choice when railroads purchased new locomotives.
In 1953. many in El Paso not only noticed the change but decided that they needed a locomotive that represented the modern era of steam railroading before the steam locomotive disappeared. The individuals promoting this idea, decided to approach the Southern Pacific for a modern steam locomotive to preserve for future generations.
S.P. Rio Grande Division Superintendent W.R. Adair was involved in choosing a locomotive for the City of El Paso. W. R. Adair started his railroad carrier on the E.P. & S.W. and recognized the railroads importance to El Paso’s history. By October 1954, there were only five steam locomotives assigned to the Rio Grande Division of the S.P. All of these locomotive’s heritage dated back to the E. P. & N.E. and the E. P. & S.W. I was chosen as the locomotive that the S. P. would donate to the City of El Paso.
above: This J.E. Whittaker, photo of the engineer’s side of 3420 taken on September 2, 1952, at Douglas AZ. You can see my fellow E.P. & S. W. veteran 3400 tender in the background. Robby Peartree Collection.
El Paso’s Celebration of 75 years of Railroading.
On May 1, 1956 an audience of 300 witnessed the S.P. formally presented me to the City of El Paso in front of El Paso Union Depot. A fifty-piece Army band made up of members from the 62nd and 424th army Bands performed. (El Paso Times May 2, 1956 pg. 6). The committee to place me near Union Depot included Chris P. Fox, Cleofas Calleros, El Paso Times Historian, City of El Paso park superintendent Bryce Lammert, and Southern Pacific employees, Fred D. Bunsen and James Bledsoe. El Paso Mayor Tom Rogers, State National’s Bank’s Chris P. Fox, and Southern Pacific Division Superintendent W.R. Adair, all of whom spoke at my dedication. On my water cooler there is a copper plaque that the names, in order by seniority, of the Southern Pacific employees who were involved in placing me on display near the El Paso Union Depot. (El Paso Times, Southern Pacific Bulletin June 1956)
During the ceremony A.S. McCann, assistant general manager of Southern Pacific in San Francisco dedicated me to “to the memory of the pioneers who foresaw the growth that the railroads would make possible in the southwest.” Rio Grande Division Superintendent, W.R. Adair, stated that “We railroad men think a lot of these engines and we think a lot of our railroad. I give this engine away with a heavy heart.” (El Paso Times Article May 2, 1956, pg.6)
The leaders of the Save an Engine Campaign stated that they wanted a modern locomotive to represent the modern era of steam railroading to complement the important era that El Paso & Southwestern #1 represented. Today, El Paso & Southwestern #1 is recognized by many historians for its high level of original fabric including its original rod iron boiler, rarity of many of the locomotive design details and the sole survivor from its manufacturer Breese Kneeland. It is recognized nationally as an important locomotive showing the development of the locomotive that El Paso should be proud to have as a part of the community. El Paso & Southwestern #1 was retired from active service in 1903, just before my construction, so I do represent the next era of railroading in El Paso. The Southern Pacific donated over 55 steam locomotives to many communities thru out their system. Among the locomotives chosen as gifts to communities I am a unique locomotive that the Southern Pacific selected as I am the only locomotive to I represent the El Paso & Northeastern and El Paso & Southwestern companies and their respective histories as much as I do the Southern Pacific history in the southwest. As I am a locomotive that operated the Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico my entire career, I am one of the symbols of the impact railroads have had in this area. Southern Pacific Superintendent, Mr. Adair, had the vision to choose a locomotive with a lot of local history. While I, 3420, am not the most modern locomotive the El Paso & Southwestern or the Southern Pacific owned, none of the more modern power could represent the diverse history that I do. This was a true gift to the City of El Paso.
While many people may see me as antique technology of railroading’s past, most do not realize the different skills and diverse jobs that the historic railroads needed to have accomplish to get the goods and passengers from one end of a railroad to another. Further, many of these skills were unique to the steam era. The new diesel locomotives needed new skills and even some departments like the Maintenance of Way Department that maintains track had to adjust some work habits for the new technology. Railroads of my era were heavily dependent upon labor to accomplish the tasks at hand. This heavy dependence on labor meant that a significantly large part of the El Paso population was working for the railroads that served the community. By 1950, El Paso’s population was approximately 130,000 people. The Southern Pacific employed about 3000 people in El Paso, Texas or about 2.5% of the city’s population. The end of the use of steam locomotives on the railroad, not only reduce the number of employment opportunities in the shop, it also reduced or eliminated the water department in many areas, eliminated the need for the locomotive fireman, anaffected other departments including accounting and payroll.
In the years since my placement on display, the importance of the passenger train continued to decline. The U. S. government would form Amtrak to relieve the private railroads of this responsibility. The Sea Container would steadily gain importance that would overtake the box car in importance to the railroads. Further changes in the U.S. economy have continually caused changes in the way railroads operate. As the years have passed, the publics awareness of railroads has declined. The diversity of jobs that were on the railroad became less known. Mass entertainment created new ideas of “old time” railroading. The problem with a cold static display in a park is that a steam locomotive does not have the ability to tell a story of the past to the next generation that lay eyes upon it. It takes an interaction with others who can explain my importance, what I was intended to represent and why I was chosen to represent that bygone era.
For me, my years of display at El Paso Union Depot were quiet years. A low fence was constructed around me and time moved forward. I was given a coat of paint a couple of times and I was mentioned in local articles. I also appeared in a Justin Boots advertisement in 1975. But for the most part, my life was quiet. The story of my years operating do not end there.
Southern Pacific 3420 on display infront of El Paso Union Depot shortly after being placed on display and before the low height fence was installed around 3420. Notice the rear head light is still inplace. The Santa Fe Roundhouse appears in the Background. Photogrpher unknown. Robby Peartree Collection.
For more history of Southern Pacific 3420 please see About 3420 the Restoration Years About 3420 the Restoration Years
3420’s Technical Information can be found at A Descriptive Record of 3420. A Descriptive Record of 3420
My Basic Parts shows the location of some of the locomotive’s basic parts. My Basic Parts