LAST - Remaining example of the 1903 "Harriman Standard" Locomotive -- Columbus NE USA - Last of its Kind on Waymarking.com

Pawnee Park is located near the corner of Eighth Street and the Lincoln Highway/US 30. in Columbus, NE. There are a lot of important and interesting historical items to see here, as well as fun things to do and experience.

The UP 561 locomotive is located along the US 30/Pawnee Park Road, not far from the North Branch of the Oregon Trail Memorial.

A sign near the locomotive gives its history as follows:

"HISTORY OF UNION PACIFIC STEAM LOCOMOTIVE 561

With the driving of the golden spike in 1869, the Union Pacific gained access to the riches of California via its connection to the Central Pacific Railroad. In 1881 the Union Pacific, wanting its own route to the equally resource rich Pacific Northwest, created its subsidiary, the Oregon Short Line Railroad, from Granger, Wyoming to Huntington, Oregon. From there to Portland, it operated on tracks leased from the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company, which later became a Union Pacific subsidiary. Both companies were eventually absorbed into the Union Pacific.

By the turn of the 20th century the Union Pacific was headed by E. H. Harriman, under whose leadership the Union Pacific became one of the foremost railroads. He inaugurated far-reaching policies and programs of development and efficiency, the “Harriman Standards.” In 1903 these standards were first applied to an order of locomotives. The 561 is one of the first group of “Harriman Standard” locomotives, and is the sole remaining example of that first group.

561 was built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in January 1904 for the Oregon Short Line and was assigned number 1011. At that time it was one of the largest and most powerful locomotives. In 1915 the Union Pacific did a renumbering of the locomotives across all of its operating divisions and 1011 became 561. 561 worked in the Pacific Northwest until the 1950s when it was reassigned to duty in Nebraska until it was retired in 1955. Remarkably, it retains its original Stevenson valve gear even though many others of this class were rebuilt with Walschaerts valve motion.

The city of Columbus made a request to the Union Pacific for display locomotive on April 20, 1955. On November 11, 1955 the 561 arrived in Columbus. It was placed on this display site in Pawnee Park on November 16, 1955 and was dedicated on November 28, 1955.

The locomotive has been painted as if it were still in service with the number “79” on the train boards, that of the branch line mixed train that ran from Columbus to Spalding in the 1950s.

[Design diagram of the 1903 Harriman Standard locomotive order]"

Related links: [Web Link] parking coordinates: N 41° 25.307 W 097° 22.134 additional Related links: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   02/11/2023 Benchmark Blasterz visited it