Trains! I don’t know what it is about these enormous beasts, but our whole family has always been fascinated with trains. No matter where we are, if there is a train ride available, we’ll do it, and if there are engines or train cars to check out or play on, we’re pretty much always going to stop.
We’ve experienced the Skunk Train, the Yosemite Sugar Pine Railroad, the Santa Cruz Roaring Camp Steam Train, the Railtown 1897 Train, and the Sacramento River Train, as well as the El Dorado Orchard train at Apple Hill, the Folsom Zoo train, and numerous others.
On our way to Grand Canyon National Park, we stopped in Kingman, Arizona to check out the Route 66 Museum, the Historic Powerhouse, the Mohave Museum Of History And Arts, the Route 66 Electric Vehicle Museum, and Mr. D’z Route 66 Diner… and what just happened to be across the street? The Route 66 Locomotive Park!
The Route 66 Locomotive Park
The city of Kingman was established in the early 1880s by Lewis Kingman who located the route of the Santa Fe Railway and in 1883 Kingman was established as a railroad stop. Today the most well-known park in the city is the Locomotive Park which features an enormous steam engine and caboose that kids are allowed to touch, explore, and climb on, as well as a covered picnic area and large grassy area.
About Locomotive 3759 And Caboose 999520
Locomotive 3759 is a northern-type coal-burning steam locomotive. It was built in 1927 with 73-inch drivers, and delivered in 1928 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works. In 1936, the engine was converted to oil and then rebuilt between 1938 and 1941 with 80-inch drivers.
For more than 20 years, the steam locomotive pulled passenger trains on the Santa Fe’s main line through Kingman, making ten round trips monthly. Kingman was a water stop on the eastbound run from Los Angeles to Kansas City.
Quick Facts About Locomotive 3759:
- Gross Weight including Tender: 468,800 lbs
- Weight on Drivers: 236,000 lbs
- Tractive Force: 66,000 lbs
- Diameter of Drivers: 80″
- Boiler Pressure: 230 PSI
- Tender Capacity (water): 20,000 gal
- Tender Capacity (fuel): 7,107 gal
- Overall Length: 108′ 7″
- Top Speed: 100 mph
In 1953, Locomotive 3759 was retired after having traveled over 2,585,600 miles. Two years later, in 1955, Engine 3759 came out of retirement at the request of the Railway Club of Southern California for a special excursion run, dubbed Farewell to Steam. This round trip between Los Angeles Union Station and Barstow, California had stops in Pasadena and San Bernardino and marked the last Santa Fe revenue steam train to leave Los Angeles and to traverse Cajon Pass. After this trip, the historic locomotive went back into storage, until Santa Fe donated the locomotive to the city of Kingman in 1957.
In 1987 caboose 999520 was retired and donated to Kingman to be added to the 3759 display at Locomotive Park along Route 66. Today, you can climb up into the cab of the old steam engine and onto the back of the caboose and watch modern trains roll loudly by on the tracks across the street.
Know Before You Go
- The Locomotive Park is located at 310 W Beale Street, Kingman, Arizona 86401 across the street from the Powerhouse Visitor Center, Arizona Route 66 Museum, and Mr. D’z Route 66 Diner and one block from the Mohave Museum of History and Arts.
- This is a small strip of park along Old Route 66 that includes picnic tables, Santa Fe Locomotive 3759 and Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (ATSF) Caboose 999520, and Beale Monument. Children are allowed to climb up the stairs for the engine and caboose.
- The historic site and park is a great spot for a picnic lunch on your way through town!
- The historic locomotive was added to the National Register of Historic Places as AT & SF Locomotive in 1986.
