LocomotiveAtchison and Topeka businessmen, led by Cyrus K. Holliday, chartered the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad (ATSF) in 1859.Four years later, the trackless railroad received a government land grant of two million acres, on the condition that rails would be laid across Kansas by March 3, 1873. Construction finally began in November 1868; the ATSF reached Colorado on December 28, 1872.
For Kansas, one of the more immediate results of the Santa Fe's completion was the settlement of the state. Anxious to have the land grant property occupied with people who would need the railroad, the ATSF encouraged the settlement of immigrants along the right-of-way. German-born C.B. Schmidt was hired to encourage European immigration to Kansas. Through his efforts the south central area of the state was settled by the Mennonites, a Protestant sect of Germans living in Russia, who excelled at growing winter wheat. The railroad also would become important for both agriculture and the cattle industry. Locomotive No. 132 (pictured) was designed to deal with a problem west of Kansas. Santa Fe locomotives had difficulty climbing the steep grades of the Raton Pass on the Colorado-New Mexico border. In response, the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia built the largest and heaviest locomotive to that time, a 2-8-0 consolidation type tank engine. The success of it prompted Santa Fe to order 10 more locomotives for service over Raton Pass. These would be ATSF locomotives numbers 130 through 139. The museum's locomotive, No. 132, was delivered into service in October, 1880, and immediately was sent to Raton. There it remained for twenty years. It was renumbered in 1898 (#912) and again in 1900 (#2414). More powerful locomotives replaced it at the turn of the century and it was redesignated for local and yard switching service. By 1923 the locomotive was reassigned for switching service at the Argentine Yards, a major freight terminal at Kansas City, where it remained until 1939. After nearly sixty years of use, it was designated for the scrap line. Interest in preserving older steam locomotives saved this locomotive. Found to be Santa Fe's oldest surviving locomotive, it was refurbished twice in 1940-1941 for static display use. After the second refurbishing, it was once again No. 132. As a corporate display symbol, it was spared from the World War II scrap drives. It was overhauled and returned to operation in 1950 as Locomotive #1 "Cyrus K. Holliday," named after the ATSF founder. With a tender and two 1880s coaches the"Holliday" performed under steam at local celebrations, fairs and other events. Occasionally it would be seen in films and an episode of the television series Gunsmoke. The "Holliday" last ran under its own power in 1961 and public displays of the train grew more infrequent in the 1970s. A commitment was made in 1977 by Santa Fe to donate it to the Kansas Historical Society for placement in the Kansas Museum of History's main gallery, then in the planning stages. In February 1983 the train was hauled by flatbed to the museum site and moved in place while the building was still under construction. The Society restored the locomotive to its appearance on the day in 1880 when it first left the Baldwin shops. Today it is once again known as No. 132. The two coaches have been restored to their one-time use as a 1920s drover's car and a 1910s division superintendent's car. Partial As-Built Specifications
For a complete copy of the as-built specifications, please contact Blair Tarr, Museum Curator, at btarr@kshs.org.
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