El Paso & Southwestern Railroad #1, a wood burning American type (4-4-0) locomotive, was built in 1857 by Breese, Kneeland, and Company of Jersey City, NJ, as Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad Company #40 “Spring Green”. It is the only locomotive built by that firm still in existence.
The Milwaukee & Mississippi became the Milwaukee & Prairie du Chien Railway Company in 1861 and the locomotive was renumbered #111 when the M&PdC was bought by the Milwaukee & St Paul Railroad in 1867, later becoming the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad (Milwaukee Road) in 1874.
With an engine wheelbase of 20’ 6” and driver wheelbase of 6’ 9½”, #1 weighs 52,000 lbs. It has Stephenson valve gear, 15” x 22” cylinders and 64” drivers. The firebox is 77 sq ft and total heating surface 793 sq ft. Operating at a boiler pressure of 110 psi, it delivered 7,232 lbs tractive effort.
In 1889, the locomotive was sold to the Arizona & Southeastern
Railroad as their #1, that railroad later becoming the El Paso & Southwestern. It was probably converted to burn coal during this time, and was used to move mine and mill supplies and products
when it arrived in El Paso, TX, in 1902.
The locomotive was retired in 1903 and, around 1909, it was overhauled, painted and put on display in Downtown El Paso at the intersection of Stanton and Franklin streets.
In 1960, the Southern Pacific Railroad, which had taken over the EP&S in 1924, donated the locomotive to the University of Texas at El Paso who placed it on display near the Centennial Museum and Chihuahuan Desert Gardens.
In 2001, more than 1.1 million dollars of Texas State Transportation Commission and local matching funds were allocated to restore #1. The restored engine was placed in the Railroad and Transportation Museum of El Paso in 2003. Because of the confined space in which it is displayed, getting good photos is difficult.
