Like those on the UP #480 and UP #481 pages of this website, Union Pacific #485 was built in 1902 by Burnham, Williams & Co., later incorporated as Baldwin Locomotive Works, as part of an order for twenty Consolidation (2-8-0) type locomotives built as Vauclain compounds (#1901-#1920). They were renumbered #480-#499 in 1915.
As built, #485 had 15½" x 30" high pressure and 26" x 30" low pressure cylinders. However, by the turn of the century, many US railroads were no longer investing in compounds and were converting those they owned to single-expansion locomotives. So, between 1910 and 1918, the 1901s were progressively simplified with 21" x 30" cylinders, #485 in June 1910. From about 1914, most of the 1901s were also progressively fitted with superheaters and many worked into the late 1950s.
#485 was donated to the City of Lexington, NE, in 1956. It is one of several early 20th Century Union Pacific Consolidations dotted across the Great Plains. You can see some of the others on the UP #237, UP #407, UP #437, UP #480 and UP #481 pages of this website.
The 1901s were a continuation of the 1640 Vauclain compounds (you can see one on the UP #437 page of this website) but heavier, 192,670 lbs, with boiler tubes lengthened by a foot and grates increased to 47 sq ft.
With a 191.2 sq ft firebox and total heating surface of 2,584 sq ft, they operated at 200 psi, delivering 31,719 lbs tractive effort. You can see the first 1901 on the UP #480 page of this website and #481 on the UP #481 page.
The tender weighs 115,798 lbs light and has a capacity for 6,000 gallons of water and 11 tons of coal.
Above, the birds have made a home inside the firebox and, as the other photos on this page show, have left droppings all over the boiler, drivers and running gear as well as inside the cab. It is altogether not a pretty sight!
#485 is on display in the grounds of the Dawsons County Historical Society at 805 Taft Street in Lexington, NE. The locomotive is coupled to an unidentified flat car.
