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Releasing a Little Steam
EXACTING PAYMENT
During November 1868, Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works of Paterson, New Jersey built Union Pacific locomotives "116", "117", "118", "119", and "120". Seven months later, "119" received the call to pull Union Pacific Vice-President Thomas Durant and his contingent of dignitaries to Promontory Summit. Like Stanford, Durant originally chose a different locomotive to take part in the Golden Spike Ceremony.
Enroute to Promontory for the May 8th Ceremony, the Durant Special was forced onto a siding track and stopped at the little town of Piedmont, Wyoming, not far from the Utah border. There to "greet" Durant were over four hundred laid off tie cutters, who had been waiting more that three months to be paid.
Durant's coach was immediately chained to the siding, and, after a delay of nearly two days, the men's pay arrived. The delay caused Durant substantial embarrassment, and cost his original locomotive (whose number is unknown) her place in history.
MORE PASSAGES
While Durant was delayed, the rain swollen Weber River continued to rise. When the Durant Special reached the river at Devil's Gate Bridge, the locomotive's engineer saw the raging water had removed some bridge supports. This left the bridge unsafe for the heavy engine, and the engineer refused to cross. Instead, after assuring Durant that the bridge would support the lighter passenger coaches, the engineer gave each coach a push with his locomotive. The cars of shaking dignitaries coasted across the equally shaking structure. Unfortunately, this action left Durant without a locomotive.
A hastily wired message to Ogden requested rescue. Sitting in Ogden were the five Union Pacific locomotives "116" through "120". When the call came, "119" was next to the main line and so took the first UP locomotive's place at the Golden Spike Ceremony.
After May 10, 1869, "119" continued service as a freight locomotive. In 1882, she was renumbered "343" and served out her days until scrapped in 1903. Like "Jupiter", "119's" sacrifice brought her railroad a scrapper's fee of one thousand dollars.
