One hundred years ago, in April, 1925, F. Scott Fitzgerald published “The Great Gatsby,” one of my favorite novels, and also one of the seminal works of the “Roaring 20s.” Its portrait of the Jazz Age in New York is nothing short of brilliant.
At the same time, about a hundred miles to the southwest in Philadelphia, another event occurred, although far more mundane: An ungainly little steam locomotive, attired in a dull olive green, rolled off the Baldwin Locomotive Works assembly line, destined to toil thanklessly in a New Jersey sand pit. The awkward engine, with only four wheels and a water tank wrapped over the boiler like a saddle, bore little resemblance to the streamlined passenger queens or massive freight locomotives Baldwin was producing at the time, but for the Raritan River Sand Company, it was to be an essential part of its small industrial operation. Round brass plates, bearing the serial number 58367, and “April 1925” were affixed to the engine.
Through the years and several owners, the decimated engine was destined for the scrap heap, until it was given a new lease on life by none other than Walt Disney. Disney Legend Roger Broggie had seen an ad for the engine in a railfan magazine, and a quick deal to purchase the engine for $2,000 was made. Walt had given the instruction to spare no expense in rebuilding the engine. Ward Kimball suggested how the engine might be remodeled and produced a photograph of the Denver and Rio Grande’s first locomotive, the 1871-built “Montezuma.” The Montezuma had a diamond smokestack, box oil headlamp, pointy “cowcatcher,” a pair of small guide wheels in front, and a diminutive four-wheel tender trailing behind.
In 1959, the engine made its appearance on Disneyland rails, now named “Ernest S. Marsh,” a nod to Walt’s friend and then-president of the Santa Fe Railway. The final cost of the engine? $57,070.00 – or $681,004.81 in today’s dollars.
To celebrate her 100th birthday, the Marsh has been freshly shopped and repainted, and the original pinstriping design has been applied to her headlight. She now has whitewall tires, just as she did when she first rolled out of the Disneyland roundhouse. in 1959. Hopefully folks who can get to the Park can get photographs for us.
So as The Great Gatsby turns 100, let’s wish the Disneyland Railroad’s third centenarian, the Ernest S. Marsh, a “Happy Birthday” as well!
