Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe #1010 will be returned to operation by the California State Railroad museum. The news was announced in the Fall/Winter 2023 issue of the museum’s On Track publication. This will be the largest steam restoration done by the museum since it opened.
The locomotive was built by Baldwin in 1901 for the AT&SF as a Vauclain compound with 4 cylinders. No. 1010 was the 11th of the 2-6-2 1000 class and ran the La Junta-Albuquerque route between Colorado and New Mexico. In 1905, the locomotive played a part in pulling the Scott Special, a record-breaking one-time passenger from Los Angeles to Chicago.
All of the Santa Fe’s 1000 locomotives were converted to conventional cylinders in the 1910s. No. 1010 was re-assigned to secondary communter trains and shorter freight trains for the rest of her career. She was retired in the 1950s then donated to the California State Railroad Museum in 1984 where she has remained on display or in storage.
The museum estimates that it will take $600,000 to complete the restoration. A $300,000 matching grant has already been secured from three generous families and will help to kick-start the restoration. No timeline has been officially given for completion. When completed, the museum plans to use the locomotive for trains on it’s excursion railroad; the Sacramento Southern.
Image by Bob Krug on rrpicturearchives.net
Learn more
Trains Newswire article
Steamlocomotive.info record for AT&SF 1010
California State Railroad Museum website