Stephenson's Folly

When Robert Louis Stephenson exhibited his Rocket, onlookers scoffed that steel wheels and steel rails would not work. More than 150 years later, we all know how that combination worked out.

At the Utah State Railroad Museum, behind the Ogden Union Station, is a forlorn-looking remnant of a steam locomotive. The boiler and wheels are there, but the cab, pilot (cowcatcher) and tender are not. This engine is known among museum volunteers as "The" 223, and is 131 years old this year and undergoing complete restoration to operation.

This picture shows the third driving wheel from the front, with the frame-mounted brake shoe. It was requested as a series of photographs for an upcoming book about the "last four" locomotives of the same class as the 223. I don't know if this picture will be published yet, but I like it.