HISTORY OF THE RAIL

Engine 1076 was a 4-6-0 class G-8 Ten Wheeler from Baldwin Locomotive Works, but built in 1903, not 1900. The final batch of Milwaukee Road Ten Wheelers had a larger bulge on the smoke box around the door than the 1900 batch. She more than likely followed the path of her other Ten Wheeler sisters and was built as a compound engine and later rebuilt with simple cylinders like in this photo and classed B-4. This photo dates to the late 1940’s to the early 1950’s judging by the Big Ben number boards installed on all Milwaukee power in 1944-46 framing her headlight. She still carries a main line-style tender, versus a modified yard-style tender with a narrow coal bunker, maybe narrowing the photo further to the late-1940’s. The Ten Wheelers roamed the lines where the land was flat and typically where rail was light and bridges couldn’t withstand much weight. (info from Milwaukee Road Historical Association, and Austin Anderson)