Historic Rolling Stock

Steam Locomotive No. 3423 was built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1921 as a coal-burning passenger steam locomotive. The “Pacific” type, or class, was the predominant steam passenger locomotive style during the first half of the 20^th century. Originally operating on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad in the Illinois Division, this locomotive came to Texas in 1944. The engine spent the rest of its operational life in service in the Galveston/Temple/Brownwood/Cleburne area and retired from service early 1955.

The tender was coupled behind the engine and carried the fuel for the firebox and the water for the boiler that kept the locomotive running and the train rolling. This engine was converted to oil burning in the 1940s, and tenders were changed for the additional required capacity.

After donating the locomotive to the City of Temple, the engine was put on permanent display adjacent to the Gober Party House, located on 31^st and Ave H. When the Museum relocated to the restored Santa Fe Depot in downtown Temple in 2001, the engine moved with the Museum.

Today visitors can relive the steam era—the open-air cab is open daily during normal business hours where visitors have the chance to ring the bell. 

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe (ATSF) Diesel No.2301

This ATSF Diesel locomotive is a Model HH600 switch engine built-in July 1937. It was the second ALCO diesel purchased by the Santa Fe, and worked the Santa Fe yards in San Diego for 30 years.

This locomotive is powered by a 6-cylinder, 4-cycle diesel engine with 600 horsepower and a direct current generator. The top speed was 40 miles per hour.

After World War II ended, more powerful diesel-electric switchers came into use and smaller engines such as No.2301 became obsolete.  In 1963, No. 2301 was sold to the Continental Grain Company in Lubbock, Texas, and served there into the 1980s. It was acquired by the Museum in 1993 and moved to its current location.

This is the oldest Santa Fe Railway diesel locomotive in existence.

Burlington Northern and Santa Fe (BNSF) Diesel No.1680

Engine No.1680 is a GP9U general-purpose locomotive built by General Motors’ Electro-Motive Division in 1957.  This engine entered service as ATSF 742 and finished its operational career in BNSF’s general freight service.  The bright “Yellowbonnet” color scheme was designed for safety; it gave the locomotive higher visibility at crossings.

Burlington Northern and Santa Fe used this locomotive for safety training after it was pulled from general service, and donated No.1680 to the museum in 2005.

SLEEPER CARS

Clover Glade Pullman

Originally named Dunvargin, this sleeper car was built in 1913 by the Pullman Company who operated it on the Pennsylvania Railroad until 1935.  Rebuilt and renamed Clover Glade, this car traveled on the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (MKT) until 1948.  The Pullman Company retired the car in 1948, but the MKT Railroad purchased and kept it in service into the late 1950s.   

Clover Glade is an example of an 8/5 car—with eight open berths in one section and five private bedrooms.  Each Pullman car had an assigned porter who was available around the clock to attend to the passengers.  Clover Glade was donated to the museum in 1995. 

Pine Mesa Amtrak Sleeper No. 2986

Sleeper No.2986 was built by the Budd Company in 1950 for the Santa Fe Railway.  It was transferred to the new National Railroad Passenger Corporation—Amtrak—in 1972.  Pine Mesa rolled more than one million miles before it was finally retired in 1988.

All of the Pine series of sleeper cars were 10/6, having 10 roomettes and 6 bedrooms.  Roomettes were small sleeping compartments, made for one passenger.  Two passengers could sleep in the double bedrooms. Pine Mesa came to the museum in 1998.

The Pine Mesa and Clover Glade sleeper cars are open on Family Day, the 1^st Saturday of every month.

Pullman Troop Sleeper No. 9826

During World War II the Pullman Company built cars like Troop Sleeper No.9826 to move troops around the country.  To make them easier to build, the cars were based on the standard 50 ½ foot boxcar.  After the War ended, Troop Sleeper No.9826 was sold to Frisco Lines and used by the Railway Express Agency into the mid-1970s. 

This car could berth 30 men in 10 triple-deck bunks.  Each end of the car had a latrine with one toilet and two washbasins.  Each soldier’s berth included coat hangers and a rifle rack.  The middle bunk could be folded down into a bench seat during the day.

BOXCAR

Missouri Pacific Boxcar No. 252476

This boxcar was built in 1971 for the Missouri Pacific Railroad.  The car’s oversized doors, measuring 10 ½ feet tall by 9 feet 9 inches wide, were designed with versatility in mind. Boxcars used to carry everything from cars to fresh produce—essentially anything that would fit into the boxcar’s empty, open spaces. Railroads eventually realized that specialized cars were needed to haul the different types of freight, leading to the developments such as the refrigerator car and autorack.

Early boxcars were made of wood or a combination of wood and steel. The first standard, all-steel 50-foot boxcar like this one, was introduced in the 1930s and steadily grew in popularity over the years. Boxcars are still important to the railroads of today and are used to carry bulky items.

This boxcar was later purchased by the Union Pacific Railroad in 1980 and used until the mid-1980s. It came to the museum in 1986.

CABOOSES

Before the age of computers, the caboose served as the logistic center of a freight train—it served as the conductor’s office, kitchen, bedroom as well as a lookout for the crew who kept an eye on the train as it traveled along the rails.

A caboose was usually outfitted with a heater, a refrigerator, a battery-powered electrical system, a bathroom, radios, and seats that converted into beds.  The cupola atop the caboose served as an observation platform from which the crew could monitor the train’s movement and condition while it was in motion.  Up until the 1980s, all freight trains in the US were required to have a caboose. 

Advancements in technology have made the iconic caboose obsolete on the railroads and they are rarely seen rolling today.

Missouri Kansas Texas (MKT) Caboose No. 140

This caboose was built in 1973 for the Missouri Kansas Texas (MKT) Railroad and was donated to the museum in 1989.  No. 140 sports the MKT’s latter-day green and yellow paint scheme. 

Santa Fe Caboose No. 1556

This caboose was built in 1927 by American Car & Foundry Company and underwent a refurbishment in 1960-1970.  Although No.1556’s exterior is painted in its 1927 color scheme, the interior retains its 1969 appearance.  Caboose No.1556 joined the museum’s rolling stock in 1988. 

Missouri Pacific (MoPac) Caboose No. 1243

This caboose was built in 1951 at the Sedalia Missouri Car Shops as a group of 40 cars that were designed after a series of cabooses built by the Magor Car Company in 1937. Rebuilt in 1963, windows frames were replaced, the coal stove was converted to oil, and the interior was rearranged. This caboose was retired in 1976.  It was donated to the museum in 1986.

It is one of the only surviving two cabooses of this class.

This caboose caught on fire in the fall of 2016. It was gutted and refurbished to serve as a party room/rental space for the museum. The only surviving historical component was the external metal shell.