UP T-57 #1243 is on display at the Durham Western Heritage Museum in Omaha, NE

Ten Wheeler type (4-6-0) #1243 is on display at the Durham Western Heritage Museum in Omaha, NE. Unfortunately, its location makes it challenging to get good photos.

#1243 was built in 1890 in the Patterson, NJ, workshops of the Cooke Locomotive & Machine Works (later part of Alco). With a 23' 9½" engine wheelbase and 13' driver wheelbase, it weighs 154,400 lbs, 125,600 lbs on its 57" drivers. The grate area is 31 sq ft and firebox 174.6 sq ft ,with a total heating surface of 1,819 sq ft. It has 20" x 26" cylinders and, operating at a boiler pressure of 190 psi, it delivered 29,467 lbs tractive effort.

#1243 worked on various UP branch lines in Nebraska and then, from the 1930s until 1956, on the railroad's Encampment Branch in Wyoming. That year, it was retired and went on display in Rawlins, WY, before going to Cheyenne, WY. In 1990, it was cosmetically restored and moved to Omaha in 1996.

It is one of only two surviving engines owned by the UP from the era when E. H. Harriman controlled the railroad. You can see the other on the UP #1242 page of this website.