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The Waco, Beaumont, Trinity, & Sabine Railway Company Prairie (2-6-2) type steam locomotive #1.
Built by the Baldwin Locomotive Company in 1920, this oil burning steam locomotive served the Waco, Beaumont, Trinity, & Sabine Railway Company until it's closure. At it's peak, the WBT&S had 6 locomotives and 56 cars, but don't let the name fool you.
The Waco, Beaumont, Trinity & Sabine Railway Company never made it to Waco.
Or Beaumont.
Or Sabine.
It seems the little railway company that could had big dreams that simply never manifested. Weaving through 115 miles of ballast-free and weed infested tracks through the Piney Woods of East Texas, the railway served the city of Trinity and the surrounding areas.
In 1930 the WBT&S was forced into receivership and stayed there till it was completely abandoned in 1961, the longest bankruptcy of a railroad in Texas history.
In its waning years, the railroad began using regular automobiles on rail wheels, pulling rickety and home built passenger wagons to try to boost service. It is little wonder the railway quickly earned the nickname "Wobbly Bobbly Turnover & Stop".
But little #1 trudged on.
In 1959, after years of faithful service, little locomotive #1, the last locomotive of the WBT&S fleet, failed its ICC inspection and the railway ceased all operations the same day. In 1961 the last remnants of the WBT&S was torn up and lost.
The #1 rusted away in the Trinity yard until 1981, when she was moved to the Galveston Railroad Museum, cleaned up, and put on display. She remains there to this day, proudly welcoming guests into the museum.
This model is completely unpowered, and is one of the smallest steam engines I've ever built. Still, she was a very challenging build - it was very difficult to not only pack all the detail into a very small space, but it also had to hold together enough to run on the rails! I look forward to introducing the real thing to her LEGO doppelganger.
--Tony
