The following was an interesting excerpt:
"During the writer's search for locomotive material, an interesting incident concerning an old bogie type engine now standing on the grounds of the Iowa State College at Ames, Iowa, came to light. According to statements made in a college engineering publication of this school, this engine was built by Rogers Ketchum & Grosvenor of Peterson, New Jersey, in 1855 for The Mississippi & Missouri Railroad, and was the second railroad locomotive to enter the state of Iowa. This paper further states that later it was sold to the Denver & Rio Grande and still later to the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, following which the engine was then retired and given to the College in 1904.
"However, a close inspection of this old engine by Mr. Guyon C. Whitely, a member of our Society and who lives in Ames, Iowa, discloses some interesting facts. The drive wheel diameters, wheel base, firebox dimensions, gauge and valve gear coincides exactly with the specifications of Mason engines built for the South Park company. The bade plate giving the builder's name and construction number is missing, but on the front of the right cylinder casting are the letters 'D.S.P.' Cast in a front wheel truck are the words 'Denver Wheel G.W. Co. Denver, Colo. Jan. 14, 1896 U.P.D.&G.' On both of the two rear wheels under the tender are the letters 'D.&S.P.' In view of this and other evidence, Mr. Chas. E. Fisher, Mr. Whitley, and the writer contend that this is an original Denver South Park & Pacific Mason Bogie. How the engine ever got to this final resting place is unknown."
4 comments:
This loco and at least one other was sold by the DSP&P to the Burlington and Northwestern, a 3-foot gauge line from Burlington Iowa to Washington Iowa with a branch (the Burlington and Western) to the coalfields of central Iowa. The B&NW was owned by the CB&Q, and was re-gauged to standard gauge in 1901. While it operated, it shared the right of way with the standard-gauge Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern (a Rock Island subsidiary) for the first few miles out of Burlington, operating on dual gauge track to the little junction of Mediapolis.
The trackage along the Burlington waterfront north of the CB&Q interchange was an interesting tangle of standard gauge, 3-foot gauge and dual gauge tracks, best documented in the Sanford fire insurance maps -- but you have to infer the gauge from the railroad names.
After the conversion to Standard gauge, the loco in question was donated to Iowa State University. ISU never used it for anything, and it was scrapped during WWII.
Wow! Thanks for the info! Where did you find this information? References to this loco in the two publications I've seen it in claim its history as either dubious (like the one provided by the university at the time) or mysterious.
The best source for the history of the Burlington and Northern (as well as the Burlnington and Northwestern) is the pamphlet Rails to a County Seat by Charles Franzen and David Lotz, 1989. (Some say published by the Burlington Route Historical Society, others say it was privately published for the Washington Iowa Sesquicentennial). Amazon lists one used copy for $68.
Thanks for the info on those sources. I really appreciate it! I look forward to checking them out.
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