A Knott's Berry Farm steam locomotive is reborn

A steam locomotive at Knott’s Berry Farm has been reborn, a birthing that took seven years.

Engine No. 340, the “Green River,” is one of two engines owned by the farm. It and sister engine No. 41 were purchased in the early 1950s by Walter Knott to power the trains of the Ghost Town & Calico Railroad at the theme park.

Baldwin Locomotive Works built the engines in 1881 for the D & RGW (Denver & Rio Grande Western) Railroad. They are narrow-gauge locomotives designed to operate on steeper rail lines, with sharper turns, as found in the Rocky Mountains the railroad served.

The steam engines were refurbished and converted from coal burning to oil burning, then put to work at Knott’s hauling passengers on a 5/8-mile loop.

Read the rest at the OCRegister