Episode 1: ATSF Motive Power Development - Introduction

In the this episode I talk about how getting involved in the restoration and preservation of AT&SF Steam Locomotive 5000 (Madame Queen) in 1992 got me interested in the motive power development story on the Santa Fe Railway.

For one thing, It was easy to get interested walking up to a massive and powerful steam locomotive like the 5000. Second, meeting Dale Worley, author of "Iron Horses of the Santa Fe Trail" was a very special experience. He was just about to retire when I met him after working for the Santa Fe for 50 years. Dales father was also a 50 year veteran on the Santa Fe Railway as a steam locomotive engineer.

My experiences with founding and managing two non-profit organizations formed to preserve and restore Madame Queen took my life on a journey I could have never imagined. Between 1992 and 2008 I had authored the only book ever written about the Madame Queen. I supervised the relocation of 5000 to a new location in downtown Amarillo that was filmed for the History Channel's Mega Mover Series. Then, in 2008, I supervised the 2nd cosmetic restoration of the 5000.

The book, "The Madame Queen - ATSF 5000" has been out of print since 2014, but there is a link below to a four-part series of my book in video form.

I did further research on the Madame Queen in 2013 where I compared the performance of Madame Queen with Big Boy.

I will be covering Santa Fe's motive power development from the first steam locomotive obtained in 1869 to the last diesel ordered by the Santa Fe - the SD75m. To my knowledge, this series is the only place this motive power history from 1869 - 1994 is available today. It is the fascinating story of the railroad needing powerful locomotives after obtaining Raton Pass in 1872, and the mechanical engineers of the Santa Fe Railway, (unsung geniuses and heros) who designed and built the the most powerful and efficient steam locomotives ever built and guided manufactures like EMD and ALCO in the pioneer days of diesel locomotive technology.