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CB&Q #710
Lincoln, Nebraska

 

The images on this page are big. You may want to grab a refreshing drink while the graphics load.

 


#710 at home in Lincoln's Haymarket District - 6/11/95

Chicago Burlington & Quincy locomotive #710, displayed in Lincoln's Historic Haymarket district beside Lincoln Station sits on home turf. -- or home rails in this case. A native of Nebraska, #710 was built in the Havelock Shops in 1901 as #31 for the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad (B&MR), a predessesor of the CB&Q (which is in turn a predessesor of today's BNSF rail line). The small locomotive, one of 24 sisters in the K-4 class, was later renumbered CB&Q #710, the name it wears today.


For more than 50 years #710 remained in service for the B&MR and CB&Q. It had been built for the then high-speed passenger service with 72 inch driving wheels. In later years when heavier steel passenger cars replaced wooden ones, all K-4 class engines such as #710 were replaced by larger steam locomotives, sending the now out-dated engines into local and branch line service. They were fitted with smaller drivers (64-inch) for slower speeds and handling the heavier cars.


The 710 is a coal burner, it's tender can carry 9 tons of coal and 5,000 gallons of water. After larger locomotives began handling the new steel passenger cars, it was assigned to the CB&Q's Wymore Division in Nebraska in June, 1935 continuing on into the '50's. It often hauled mixed freight between Wymore and Concordia, Kansas.


710's hilltop display at Pioneers Park - circa 1960's

CB&Q 710 as it appeared for many years displayed in Lincoln's Pioneers park. It almost didn't make it. With the advent of diesel, the steamer along with a number of other others stored in the CB&Q yards in Lincoln, was slated to meet the scrap heap in 1954. An attorney and a railfan, W. E. Haydon asked the Lincoln Division of the line if it would donate the engine to the city for display at Pioneers Park just outside of Lincoln. The answer was "no." But Haydon was undeterred. He then went to officials in Omaha. The answer was still the same. Finally he contacted the President of the "Q" himself, Harry C. Murphy, and stated his case for the loco's preservation. The CB&Q had strong ties to Lincoln since the road's establishment there in 1870, and the historical importance of keeping an engine that had been built here.

The engine was pulled from the scrap line and cleaned-up at the roundhouse before being put on permant hilltop display in the park. #710 had beaten the odds and cheated certain doom.




From 1955, #710 remained on display at Pioneers Park until 1990. Then it was time for another move again, one closer to "home". With much difficulty and delays (the flatbed trailer used for transportation sunk into the park's mud after the 78-ton engine and 17.5 ton tender were loaded) she was completely restored at Mt. Pleasent, Iowa at a cost of $100,000. Unofficially, #710 was in fit enough condition to be operational again, but there were no plans for this. By June, 1991 the good-as-new 4-6-0 was moved to Lincoln Station and dedicated as the centerpiece of Iron Horse Park.


Click on the thumbnails for a larger image




CB&Q #710
- another shot at Lincoln, Nebraska, 2001 - T. Greuter Photo ·



CB&Q 710 Tender
- Lincoln, Nebraska - T. Greuter Photo ·

 




 

Preserved Steam Locomotives in Nebraska

No. Class F.M.Whyte Gauge Railroad Line Location Status Notes
710 K-4 4-6-0   4'-8.5" CB&Q Haymarket (9th&Q), Lincoln, NE display this page
719 K-4 4-6-0   4'-8.5" CB&Q 18th Ave, Alliance, NE display  
967 K-10 4-6-0   4'-8.5" CB&Q Pioneer Village, Minden, NE display  
1 -- 0-4-0T   4'-8.5" H&LB Pioneer Village, Minden, NE display  
2 -- 0-4-0T   4'-8.5" H&LB Pioneer Village, Minden, NE display  
69 -- 2-8-0   36" NM (WP&Y) Stuhr Museum, Grand Island, NE stored  
437 C-57 2-8-0   4'-8.5" UP Stuhr Museum, Grand Island, NE display photo
119 -- 4-4-0   30" UP Henry Doorly Zoo, Omaha, NE operational replica
407 C-57 2-8-0   4'-8.5" UP Legion Park, Sidney, NE display  
421 C-57 2-8-0   4'-8.5" UP park (5th Street) Fairbury, NE display  
423 C-57 2-8-0   4'-8.5" UP park, Gering, NE display  
480 C-57 2-8-0   4'-8.5" UP Memorial Park, North Platte, NE display  
481 C-57 2-8-0   4'-8.5" UP 7th and 11th Streets, Kearney, NE display  
485 C-57 2-8-0   4'-8.5" UP Dawson Co. Museum, Lexington, NE display  
561 C-2 2-8-0   4'-8.5" UP Pawnee Park, Columbus, NE display  
1243 T-57 4-6-0   4'-8.5" UP Durham Western Heritage Museum, Omaha, NE display  
3977 46644 4-6-6-4   4'-8.5" UP Cody Park, North Platte, NE display  
4023 48842 4-8-8-4   4'-8.5" UP Kenefick Park (S airport), Omaha, NE display  
6237 -- 2-8-0   4'-8.5" UP Hastings Museum, Hastings, NE display  
395/104 395 0-6-2T   30" CFR Henry Doorly Zoo, Omaha, NE operational  
-- -- 0-4-0T   4'-8.5" Grand Rapids Gravel Great Western Sugar Plant, Bayard, NE stored  
-- -- 0-4-0T   4'-8.5" GWSCX Great Western Sugar Plant, Bayard, NE unknown current location unknown
-- -- 0-4-0ST   4'-8.5" GWSCX Mitchell, NE display  
-- -- 0-4-0T   4'-8.5" GWSCX Wood River, NE stored  



Sources:
Lincoln Rail Fans Club, The 710 - Lincoln's Own Engine

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Latest update: Thursday, 13 November, 2003

Photos taken in Lincoln, Nebraska unless otherwise noted.
All photos & text © 2000-2003 T. Greuter / Screaming Eagles , unless otherwise noted. All Rights Reserved.

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