Santa Fe Locomotive Ten Twenty-Four

The black steam locomotive on display here is Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe number ten twenty-four. It is a two-six-two type, built around the turn of the twentieth century and designed for fast, light service on the Santa Fe lines that made La Junta a railroad town.

When the steam era ended, the Santa Fe donated the engine to the city of La Junta. Decades later, the city undertook a remarkable move. Crews lifted the heavy locomotive onto a steel sled and dragged it through the streets on greased plates, sliding the engine to a new home where you can see it today off United States Highway Fifty.

It is a survivor from the age when the railroad, not the highway, ran this corner of Colorado.