Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Railway 4-8-4 3751, constructed by the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Eddystone PA in May 1927 and was the Santa Fe's first 4-8-4 … and also the first 4-8-4 built by Baldwin as well. Coal-fired ATSF 3751 entered passenger service on the railway's New Mexico Division, a difficult territory with 3.5% westbound grades and 3.3% grades on the eastbound side across Raton Pass. The 3751 performed so well that the AT&SF took delivery of nine additional Northerns (the name for steam locomotives with a 4-8-4 wheel arrangement) in 1928, and four more arriving in 1929. In 1936 locomotive 3751 was sent west and converted to an oil-burner at the railway’s San Bernardino Shops. AT&SF 3751 was finally retired in Los Angeles on August 23, 1953, completing a 26-year career. In 1958 it was placed on display in Viaduct Park near the AT&SF station in San Bernardino. Formed in 1981, the San Bernardino Railroad Historical Society was formed with the goal of restoring and operating this historic locomotive, and five years later, AT&SF 3751 was removed from the park and placed back upon Santa Fe rails for the first time in 28 years and towed to the Kaiser Steel Plant in nearby Fontana. It was here that this locomotive underwent a five-year restoration and it returned to steam on August 13, 1991, when it moved under its own steam for the first time in thirty-eight years. Thirty-three years later, the SBRHS's pride and joy is still plying the rails whenever the occasion arises, as seen here on display at Los Angeles Union Station Train Festival 2023, looking as good as ever. (Los Angeles, California – September 10, 2023)
