Due to my ignorance on the subject, I had to do some research on what is so special about the Leviathan Special. In short, it is an oil burning replica of one of the four named locomotives built by the Schenectady Locomotive Works for the Central Pacific; the most famous being the Jupiter which was CP’s representative at the 1869 golden spike ceremony. The original UP & CP engines from that ceremony were scrapped in the early twentieth century, only to be replicated in the 1970’s at a cost of $1.5 million. Even if you are well aware of the story, the Wikipedia sites for “Promontory, Utah” and “Jupiter (locomotive)” contain some really interesting info on the subject.
|
|