Union Pacific 1243 is a preserved 4-6-0 " Ten Wheeler" type steam locomotive on display at the

Durham Museum The Durham Museum (formerly known as the Durham Western Heritage Museum) is located at 801 South 10th Street in downtown Omaha, Nebraska. The museum is dedicated to preserving and displaying the history of the United States' western region. The m ...

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

. Built in 1890, No. 1243 is one of the oldest "Ten Wheelers" owned by the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

(UP). It is often named the "Harriman Engine" because, along with sister locomotive No. 1242 currently displayed in Cheyenne, Wyoming, it is the only engine owned by the Union Pacific Railroad from the era when

E. H. Harriman Edward Henry Harriman (February 20, 1848 – September 9, 1909) was an American financier and railroad executive. Early life Harriman was born on February 20, 1848, in Hempstead, New York, the son of Orlando Harriman Sr., an Episcopal clergyman ...

controlled the Union Pacific.

History

UP No. 1243 was built in 1890 originally as UP No. 1477. It operated on various

branch line A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminology to denote a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Industrial spur An industr ...

s of the

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pac ...

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

. It was renumbered 1243 in 1915. From the 1930s until 1956, the No. 1243 operated on the railroad's Encampment Branch in

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...

. That same year, the No. 1243 was retired from active service. Following retirement, No. 1243 resided in

Rawlins, Wyoming Rawlins is a city in Carbon County, Wyoming, Carbon County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 8,221 at the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census. It is the county seat of Carbon County. It was named for Union Army, Union General John Aa ...

before going to

Cheyenne, Wyoming Cheyenne ( or ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming, as well as the county seat of Laramie County, Wyoming, Laramie County, with 65,132 residents, per the 2020 US Census. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne ...

. In 1990, the 1243 was cosmetically restored and transported on a

flat car A flatcar (US) (also flat car, or flatbed) is a piece of rolling stock that consists of an open, flat deck mounted on a pair of trucks (US) or bogies (UK), one at each end containing four or six wheels. Occasionally, flat cars designed to carry ...

in a special train to

, where it was placed on display at the

in October 1996. UP 1243 is now a static exhibit at the museum, with no plans to restore it to running condition. It currently sits inside the Trish and Dick Davidson Gallery exhibit, along with a variety of other railroad equipment.

References

1243 4-6-0 locomotives Cooke locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1890 Individual locomotives of the United States Standard gauge locomotives of the United States {{steam-loco-stub Preserved steam locomotives of Nebraska