Gov. Stanford Locomotive at the California State Railroad Museum

On our family’s California vacation, we spent March 15, 1992, exploring the California State Railroad Museum. 

The California State Railroad Museum first opened in 1976 with the reconstructed Central Pacific Railroad Passenger Station, and the Railroad History Museum opened in 1981. Sacramento is a fitting place for the state-operated museum; not only is Sacramento the state capitol, is was also the home of the state’s first railroad in 1856, and was the starting point for the Central Pacific Railroad’s eastward construction of the first transcontinental railroad in 1863.

As I recall, flash photography was not permitted inside the museum, and I don't think my dad brought a flash anyway, so the pictures he took inside the museum did not come out well.

Photo by Cliff West

Central Pacific 4-4-0 locomotive #1, the Gov. Stanford, was the Central Pacific Railroad’s first locomotive. It is named for California Governor Leland Stanford, the first President of the Central Pacific Railroad. It was built in 1862 by R. Norris of Philadelphia. The 40-ton locomotive arrived in Sacramento on October 7, 1863, and made its first run on November 9, 1863.

Photo by Cliff West

The locomotive was downgraded to a switcher in 1873, and was probably renumbered to #212 at the same time. It was renumbered to #1174 in 1891. It made its last run in January 1895 and was retired on July 20, 1895. It was refurbished in 1899 and presented to Stanford’s widow Jane Lathrop Stanford, who in turn donated the locomotive to Leland Stanford Junior University, where it was placed on display from March 1899 until 1963. In May 1963, it was loaned to the Pacific Coast Chapter of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society, whose collection formed the basis for the California State Railroad Museum.