I have not been able to find out much about this narrow gauge (36”) American type (4-4-0) locomotive other than that it was built by Crown Metal Products of Wyano, PA, and was fuelled by Propane gas. It is on display in an open lot next to the El Paso Connection pottery and gift store on Gateway Blvd W just outside El Paso, TX.
From 1960 to the late 1980s, Crown produced over fifty steam engines for amusement parks, ranging from 15" to 36" gauge. Crown ceased to produce engines in the early 1990s, but a number of its products still operate in parks around the country.
#1 was built in 1963, the first 36" gauge locomotive built by Crown. It has 48" drivers and weighs 25 tons.
Legend City was an amusement park on the border of Phoenix and Tempe, AZ, that opened in 1963. Originally conceived as an Old West theme park in the style of Disneyland by Phoenix artist and advertising agency owner Louis E. Crandall, Legend City went through a series of closures, bankruptcies and ownership changes throughout the 1960s and 1970s, and was never a significant financial success. It closed in 1983.
