Union Pacific Class T-57 #1242 is on display in the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens on Carey Ave not far off Exit 11 on the I-25. The locomotive, known as "The 1242" as well as "Old Sadie", is a Ten Wheeler (4-6-0) type 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, the firebox 174.6 sq ft and the total heating surface is 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. The tender weighs 110,204 lbs and has a capacity of 14 tons of coal and 7,000 gallons of water.
#1242 was donated to the City of Cheyenne, WY, in 1955 and is one of the oldest surviving locomotives from the Union Pacific roster. It is one of only two surviving engines owned by the Union Pacific from the era when E. H. Harriman controlled the railroad. You can see the other, another T-57 on the UP #1243 page of this website.
#1242 ran on the Walcott-Saratoga-Encampment branch line from 1921 to 1954, when it was retired.
The Saratoga and Encampment was incorporated in 1905 to connect the copper mines at Grand Encampment to the UP at Walcott, WY.
Work on the the forty-five mile line was completed in 1908 at a cost of $869,733.97.
A roundhouse was
later built at Encampment, the road-bed was improved and side tracks and a wye were built, which brought the total to nearly $900,000.
Unfortunately, the line was completed just as copper ore gave out at the Grand Encampment mine, and it transported mixed freight for most of its life. The line was leased to the Union Pacific in 1921 and merged into the company in 1928, when it changed its name to the Saratoga & Encampment Valley Railroad. In 1951, it was absorbed into the UP completely as the Encampment Branch.
#1242 made its final run on 15th May 1954. The line stumled on until the remaining sections were finally abandoned and the last train ran in 2007.
