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MoPac Steam Power
A Golden Age
On July 4, 1851 at St. Louis, ground breaking for the Pacific Railroad Company marked the beginning of the Missouri Pacific, becoming the first railroad west of the Mississippi River.

With a history dating back to the mid 1800's, the Missouri Pacific and it's predecessors such as the Iron Mountain had run a colorful assortment of engines - from the earliest 4-4-0's pioneering the westward march of the young Pacific Railroad of Missouri, to the massive Baldwin-built 2-8-8-2 Mallet used to tend transfers drags and yard hump in St. Louis and Dupo near the close of the Steam Era.

Like other roads, the American class locos were the early favorite of the line, pulling passengers and freight over farmland and wild prairie west into the new territories of the U.S. There were the countless disastors and tales often associated with the pioneer railroads. One legend often told was known as the "Great Train Robbery" no less, which perhaps inspired the fictionalized yarns recounted in the novels of the day.

MoPac grew and the need for bigger, faster and stronger locomotives grew as well. The age of 'modern' steam power began after the turn of the century with the growing size of steam engines. The new age began with the appearance of newer and improved designs to meet the needs and specifications of different roads. Traditional 4-6-0 locos evolved with the placement of the heavy firebox behind the driving wheels over a newly added two-wheel trailing truck. In fact the new class of steam locomotive - the 4-6-2 'Pacific' class - was named for the Missouri Pacific, the first rail company to use this new type of engine.

Even back then the ever forward-thinking MoP was quick to use the newest technology available.

During 1942-43, MoPac was operating a wide variety of over 1,150 steam engines, what would be the highest total for steam power in the system's history. Painted a conservative glossy black for the boiler, graphite for the smoke and fire box with brushed aluminum numbers and lettering, MoPac's power represented steam in it's purest form. MoPac crews were long-noted for the pride and care shown to its locomotives. As one would come off-duty it would be scrubbed and washed, the running gear was hosed off with hot water and kerosine, and the boiler lagging was wiped dry. Finally, the headlight and number boards were polished.

With one modest lttle engine, which brought amusement to onlooking crewmen's faces, the Missouri Pacific system began the introduction of small gas and diesel powered yard switchers around 1939. It would be years for the new power to be fully accepted by yard crews and the corporate executives alike, but inevitably, the days of the steam engine were numbered on the MoP.

In April 1955, a hundred years after its first steam loco would roll past the Mississippi River, a string of the last steam locomotives lead by MP 124 puffed together toward Dupo, Ill., for disposal as scrap. The "Missouri River Eagle," the first diesel-powered, streamlined passenger train on the Missouri Pacific, went into service in 1940

MP 724 - The 2-10-2 literally fills the sky with hot steam on this frigid 21st of January day, 1951. It would be one of the last times steam would be seen on this mainline, as #1724 pulls a freight northward near Lake Street in Omaha, Nebraska - photo © copyright William W. Kratville, used with permission