A new addition to the abundance steam engines represented on RP isn't exactly what it appears to be. Fort Worth & Denver 'Mikado' #401 on display at the National Ranching Heritage Center is actually CB&Q 4994 in disguise. When a vice president of the FW&D, who was also a regent for Texas Tech University, wanted a to acquire a locomotive for the school, all the FW&D engines had been sold for scrap. Class O-1A CB&Q 4994 was brought out of storage from the Colorado & Southern line, restored as the new FW&D 401 & donated to Texas Tech in 1964. Another piece of history in the photo is the AT&SF Ropes depot which was moved from its original location in Ropesville, TX to the NRHC and restored according to the 1910 blueprints.
A collection of engines, cabooses, cars, etc., great and small that are past their prime, but represent a spirit of railroading that will never pass away!!
