Another locomotive with a storied past, old Number 7 started out life in 1902 as a 2-6-0 ‘wood-burner’ for the Minnesota Land and Construction Company which built the Duluth, Virginia and Rainy Lake Railway in 1905. In 1909, the locomotive was sold to the C. H. Sharp Construction Company, who added the two-wheel trailing truck under the engine’s cab, making it a 2-6-2. The locomotive was converted to burn oil, likely by Sharp as well. Sharp, who later merged with the Fellows Co., used the locomotive in the building portions of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway system through Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. During the First World War, No. 7 served at Camp Kearney in San Diego, and served during World War II at an assortment of ordnance depots, including Defense Ordnance at Fort Wingate, New Mexico and the Navajo Ordnance Plant at Flagstaff, Arizona.
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Sharp & Fellows, in the railroad construction business for over 140 years, is headquartered in nearby Gardena, California, and works on projects throughout southern California. The company is a longtime friend of Travel Town. Old No. 7 is still featured proudly on the company’s modern logo!