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Full Gallery
The Waco, Beaumont, Trinity, & Sabine Railway Company Prairie (2-6-2) type steam
locomotive #1.
Built by the Baldwin Locomotive Company in 1920, this oil burning steam
locomotive served the Waco, Beaumont, Trinity, & Sabine Railway Company until
it’s closure. At it’s peak, the WBT&S had 6 locomotives and 56 cars, but don’t
let the name fool you.
The Waco, Beaumont, Trinity & Sabine Railway Company never made it to Waco.
Or Beaumont.
Or Sabine.
It seems the little railway company that could had big dreams that simply never
manifested. Weaving through 115 miles of ballast-free and weed infested tracks
through the Piney Woods of East Texas, the railway served the city of Trinity
and the surrounding areas.
In 1930 the WBT&S was forced into receivership and stayed there till it was
completely abandoned in 1961, the longest bankruptcy of a railroad in Texas
history.
In its waning years, the railroad began using regular automobiles on rail
wheels, pulling rickety and home built passenger wagons to try to boost service.
It is little wonder the railway quickly earned the nickname “Wobbly Bobbly
Turnover & Stop”.
But little #1 trudged on.
In 1959, after years of faithful service, little locomotive #1, the last
locomotive of the WBT&S fleet, failed its ICC inspection and the railway ceased
all operations the same day. In 1961 the last remnants of the WBT&S was torn up
and lost.
The #1 rusted away in the Trinity yard until 1981, when she was moved to the
Galveston Railroad Museum, cleaned up, and put on display. She remains there to
this day, proudly welcoming guests into the museum.
This model is completely unpowered, and is one of the smallest steam engines
I’ve ever built. Still, she was a very challenging build - it was very
difficult to not only pack all the detail into a very small space, but it also
had to hold together enough to run on the rails! I look forward to introducing
the real thing to her LEGO doppelganger.
--Tony
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