Examiner Enterprise

AT&SF No. 940 Moving to the Depot

By Special to the E-E
Saturday, November 7, 2009 8:47 PM CST

Preparations for the relocation of the Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe No. 940 steam locomotive are under way thanks to a generous grant from The Lyon Foundation and support from ConocoPhillips. Relocation of this rare 106 year-old engine from Johnstone Park to the Santa Fe Depot is the first phase of a $130,000 historic preservation project, which also includes cosmetic restoration, historical displays, decorative lighting and a protective awning.

A new roadbed for the AT&SF No. 940 was prepared last week just north of the station adjacent to the Bartlesville Regional Chamber of Commerce parking lot. Construction of a new railroad for the No. 940 will begin this week. The No. 940 and her tender have been disconnected. Her whistle and bell have been removed for repairs.

During the week of Dec. 7, two cranes will lift the 300,000 pound locomotive onto an 8-axle lowboy trailer. Sixty-four tires will support the load as the No. 940 is transported via Johnstone Avenue and Hensley Boulevard to the new railroad. The trailer will straddle the rails, cranes will lift the locomotive and the trailer will pull away. The No. 940 will then be set in place. Her tender will be transported separately.

The AT&SF No. 940 is one of only 50 Santa Fe steam locomotives still in existence. She is the only surviving "2-10-2 Santa Fe Type" locomotive of the 342 such engines built for the Santa Fe Railroad. "2-10-2" refers to a wheel arrangement of two leading wheels, 10 driving wheels and two trailing wheels. This arrangement allowed the engine to both pull and push very heavy loads through difficult terrain.

The Baldwin Locomotive Works built the No. 940 in November 1903. She spent her early years in Needles, Calif. Over the next 50 years she hauled some 3,000,000 tank, coal and freight cars in California, Kansas, New Mexico, Kansas and Oklahoma. She rode the rails through Bartlesville between Tulsa and Chanute.

According to fundraising coordinator Julie Daniels, the preservation project has several goals.

"Donors to this project will save No. 940 from further deterioration due to flooding in the park, will restore and improve her condition and display her alongside the rails she used to travel. Their participation will accomplish a significant historic preservation project and create a new attraction in downtown Bartlesville.'

Several additional donors have pledged financial support leaving a balance of $45,000 to be raised to complete the project.

"And those who donate before the end of the year will be giving a 100th birthday present to the depot by bringing one of her locomotives back to the station."

The current Santa Fe Depot was completed in December 1909. The first train stopped at the station on December 17, 1909.

There are three ways to make donations to the No. 940 project. Make checks payable to the Bartlesville Community Foundation, write Discovery 1 Park-No. 940 on the memo line, and send to 501 S. Johnstone, Suite 540-A, Bartlesville, OK 74003. Or, make checks payable to the City of Bartlesville, write Santa Fe Locomotive Preservation Fund on the memo line, and send to 401 S. Johnstone, Bartlesville, OK 74003. Cash donations can be taken to the Bartlesville Regional Chamber of Commerce at the Santa Fe Depot.

Railroad experts Tom Birkett and Jay Hastings are planning and building the railroad.

Pryor Track, of Pryor, is supplying railroad ties. Mid States Fab and Steel, LLC, in Dewey is donating railroad spikes and the Midland Railway Museum in Baldwin City, Kan., is donating track bolts. Birkett and Hastings will use rail they salvaged from city-owned property west of the depot.

Service and Technology, Inc., is overall manager of the project. Taylor Crane and Rigging, Inc., in Coffeyville, Kan., will lift, transport and set the engine. City Manager Ed Gordon, Director of Engineering Terry Lauritsen, Public Works Director Keith Henry and staff from the Bartlesville Area History Museum are providing support from the City of Bartlesville.

Service and Technology, Inc., is overall manager of the project. Taylor Crane and Rigging, Inc., in Coffeyville, Kan., will lift, transport and set the engine. City Manager Ed Gordon, Director of Engineering Terry Lauritsen, Public Works Director Keith Henry and staff from the Bartlesville Area History Museum are providing support from the City of Bartlesville.

For more information about the history, relocation and preservation of the AT&SF No. 940, including how to make donations as well as an extensive photo gallery, go to www.bartlesvillelocomotive.org.

The AT&SF No. 940 preservation project is sponsored by "Discovery 1 Park - Where Oklahoma Oil Began!"" Discovery 1 Park is located in Johnstone Park at the site of Oklahoma's first commercial oil well, the Nellie Johnstone No. 1. Discovery 1 Park features the only operational cable tool-drilling rig with gusher in the United States.

The Discovery 1 Park Project Team plans to locate an open-air visitor center at the site currently occupied by the locomotive. The center will showcase and celebrate the early history of the oil and gas industry in Bartlesville and Oklahoma. Donations to Discovery 1 Park may also be made to the Bartlesville Community Foundation. For more information call 333-8062.