Cagney No. 4

As one of the 20 locomotives built for the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, this Cagney Class D engine featured a much heavier construction than earlier (1901) Cagney Class Ds. Together with it’s 19 other sister engines, it ran over the 6 miles of track at the fair--shuttling visitors from attraction to attraction in specially constructed oak coaches.

Little is known of the history of N^o. 4 from 1904 until 1912. In 1912, Cagney sold the engine to the Como Hot Springs Resort in Morgan, Utah.  It was run on a quarter mile loop of track that encircled the resort’s pools. It served nearly 50 years as a reliable carrier of the hundreds of thousands of visitors to the resort. Sometime in the 1950’s the little engine underwent severe modifications to run powered by a gasoline engine. In the process, alterations were made to the firebox and parts not needed for the transfer of steam power to the drive wheels (rods, valve mechanism, plumbing) were removed. Engine N^o. 4 continued to run until the early 1960’s, when the train was put into storage.

Cagney No. 4 stripped down to the boiler and frame prior to restoration.
Photo by John E. Rimmasch.

A steam engine enthusiast from Green River, Wyoming, Mr. E. L. Bangerter, purchased the remains of the Como Hot Springs Railway in 1972 and took some initial steps to restore the locomotive by having the boiler patched and repaired at a Salt Lake City boiler shop.  But difficulty in locating and/or fabricating the many missing parts presented a temporary setback to any further restoration efforts and resulted in the Cagney being returned to storage in 1974.