Texas and Pacific 610 is a class "I-1a" 2-10-4 "

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

" type

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

that was originally operated by the

Texas and Pacific Railway The Texas and Pacific Railway Company (known as the T&P) was created by federal charter in 1871 with the purpose of building a southern transcontinental railroad between Marshall, Texas, and San Diego, California. History Under the influence of ...

(T&P). It served the T&P from 1927 to 1951 before being donated to the city of

Fort Worth Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

. It was briefly used for the

American Freedom Train Two national Freedom Trains have toured the United States: the 1947–49 special exhibit Freedom Train and the 1975–76 American Freedom Train which celebrated the United States Bicentennial. Each train had its own special red, white and blue p ...

in the mid-1970s, and subsequently for the Southern Railway steam program. Since 1982, No. 610 has remained on static display at the

Texas State Railroad The Texas State Railroad is a historic heritage railroad between Rusk and Palestine, Texas. Built by inmates, it was founded in 1883 by the state of Texas to haul raw materials for a smelter at the prison at Rusk. Regular service on the line was ...

's ''Hall of Giants'' in

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

History

Built in June 1927 by the

Lima Locomotive Works Lima Locomotive Works was an American firm that manufactured railroad locomotives from the 1870s through the 1950s. The company took the most distinctive part of its name from its main shop's location in Lima, Ohio. The shops were located between ...

, No. 610 and its class, the I-1s, were the first authentic 2-10-4s ever constructed. No. 610 was a major work-horse for the Texas and Pacific. By the early 1950s, the T&P had scrapped all of their "Texas" type locomotives, except Nos. 610 and 638, with No. 610 being donated to the Fort Worth Fat Stock Show in 1951 and the locomotive sat on display at the

Will Rogers Memorial Center The Will Rogers Memorial Center (WRMC) is an American public entertainment, sports and livestock complex located in Fort Worth, Texas. It is named for American humorist and writer Will Rogers. It is a popular location for the hosting of specia ...

. Sister engine No. 638 also survived for a brief time as a display piece in the city of

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, but was scrapped after only two years due to becoming a safety hazard after being

vandal The Vandals were a Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century. The Vandals migrated to the area betw ...

ized, and it was subsequently replaced with New York Central 4-8-2 "

Mohawk Mohawk may refer to: Related to Native Americans * Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York) *Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people * Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been ...

" No. 3001. In early 1975, No. 610 was selected as one of the locomotives to haul the

as the bicentennial of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Initially, Richard “Dick” Jensen was in charge of the group rebuilding No. 610, but as the project was running way behind schedule, Jensen was fired and replaced by David Pearson. In 1976, the locomotive was fired up once more, albeit one year late, and it would be used to haul the AFT for the portion of its tour in

. The locomotive would swap trains with

4-8-4 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and four trailing wheels on two axles. The type w ...

No. 4449 whenever it reached a Texas border. for the photo event

Southern Pacific 4449 Southern Pacific 4449, also known as the Daylight, is the only surviving example of Southern Pacific Railroad's "GS-4" class of 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotives and one of only two GS-class locomotives surviving, the other being " GS-6" ...

Texas and Pacific 610 Southern Railway 722 and

Southern Railway 4501 Southern Railway 4501 is a preserved Ms class 2-8-2 "Mikado" type steam locomotive built in October 1911 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as the first of its wheel arrangement type for the Southern Railway (SOU). In 1 ...

were all sitting side by side outside the Roundhouse. After pulling the American Freedom Train, the locomotive was leased by the Southern Railway in 1977 for use in its steam excursion program. The Southern Railway re-lettered the locomotive as "Southern No. 610" and operated it for four years, before the railway decided the locomotive couldn't produce enough speed for their needs, and then they started restoring Chesapeake and Ohio 2-8-4 No. 2716 as a replacement. The railway subsequently returned No. 610 to Texas in 1981. From 1982 it was on display by the Trinity Valley Railfans on GSA property located on James Avenue in Fort Worth. Due to GSA downsizing the property and the resultant need to move the engine, it was transferred to the City of

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

and moved to the

. The locomotive is now on static display at the Texas State Railroad in

Palestine, Texas Palestine ( ) is a city in and the seat of Anderson County in the U.S. state of Texas. It was named for Palestine, Illinois, by preacher Daniel Parker, who had migrated from that town. The city had a 2020 U.S. census population of 18,544, mak ...

side by side with

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison and Topeka, Kansas, and ...

4-6-2 No. 1316. There, the locomotive would often be pulled out of the engine

shed A shed is typically a simple, single-story roofed structure that is used for hobbies, or as a workshop in a back garden or on an allotment. Sheds vary considerably in their size and complexity of construction, from simple open-sided ones de ...

using their smaller locomotives, including

2-8-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and two trailing wheel ...

No. 30, 2-8-0 No. 28, and

4-6-0 A 4-6-0 steam locomotive, under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, has four leading wheels on two axles in a leading bogie and six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles with the abse ...

No. 316, and it would then be pushed back inside by the end of the day.

Historical significance

No. 610 is the only surviving example of a T&P "Texas" type locomotive and the largest non-articulated steam locomotive preserved built by the

. The only other surviving T&P steam locomotives are

No. 316, which is also preserved at the Texas State Railroad, and Ex- Fort Worth and Denver

No. 400, which is preserved in

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

, Texas. The locomotive is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

References

* * * *

External links

Texas & Pacific 610 and the 1975-1976 Bicentennial American Freedom Train

{{NRHP in Texas Individual locomotives of the United States Lima locomotives 2-10-4 locomotives Rail transportation on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas Railway locomotives on the National Register of Historic Places Standard gauge locomotives of the United States Texas and Pacific Railway Preserved steam locomotives of Texas National Register of Historic Places in Anderson County, Texas

History

Historical significance

See also

References

External links