Santa Fe 3751

01/02/2026

Did you catch this morning’s airing of the annual Rose Parade? If so, you likely saw a nice nod to Santa Fe steam that we think is worth highlighting!

ATSF 870, a 2-8-0 built by Baldwin in 1906, today sits on display in Santa Fe Springs, CA, with a boxcar and caboose. For this year’s float the City of Santa Fe Springs selected a design that featured the 870 and some decorative artwork on the tender.

This Consolidation type (2-8-0) locomotive was the first of five ( #101- #105) built in 1906 at a cost of $16,216.25 each for the St. Louis, Rocky Mountain & Pacific Railroad by Burnham, Williams & Co., an early incarnation of the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, PA. Despite its sweeping name, the StLRM&P operated entirely in northern New Mexico, mainly serving the coal fields around Raton Pass. It was taken over by the AT&SF in 1913 and operated as a subsidiary. The Santa Fe changed the name to the Rocky Mountain & Santa Fe in 1915 and renumbered the locomotives #870- #874.

In 1940, the Santa Fe sold three 2-8-0s ( #769, #870 & #874) to the Albuquerque & Los Cerrillos Coal Co., which operated a coal mine in Madrid, NM, connected by a branch line from the AT&SF at Waldo. As demand for coal fell off in the 1950s, however, the mine was shut and the branch line abandoned in 1959. #769 and #870 were left at Madrid sitting amid the remains of the mine operation.

In 1989, the City of Santa Fe Springs, CA, acquired #870. The locomotive was restored to its post 1924 Santa Fe appearance and moved to the current location in Heritage Park at 12100 Mora Drive.

01/01/2026

Riding Metrolink today? Have questions about your train, service updates or other inquiries?

You can ask the great social media team at Metrolink anything on this post that kicks off the new year featuring Santa Fe 3751!

Good morning! We’re here to answer your questions from 6:00 a.m. to 11 p.m. Stay informed about delays, cancellations, and service changes by subscribing to Metrolink Alerts at metrolinktrains.com/subscribe. You can also get real-time updates anytime at metrolinktrains.com/train_status/alerts

01/01/2026

Happy New Year from the San Bernardino Railroad Historical Society and Santa Fe 3751!

We hope you'll join us in feeling an immense amount of pride of keeping the Santa Fe Railway's first 4-8-4 steaming as we look back on 2025. Over the course of this year, 3751 received plenty of maintenance from the crew who made sure to have her ready to attend Train Festival 2025 at Los Angeles Union Station Los Angeles in September. Over the course of the two-day event, 3751 was visited by more than 40,000 people and participated in two night photo shoots. By the second half of the last day of the event, our merchandise booth team was tuckered out as ALL our merchandise had been sold!

Besides the success of Train Festival, history was also made this summer in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as the SBRHS' dormitory car SBRX 2506 took to the mainline behind Santa Fe 2926 and traveled on the steel rails of the Santa Fe Railway's original route of the famed "Super Chief" as the 2506 headed to the 2926's primary worksite for its restoration to commence. This marked the first time in more than 70 years that this car had traveled behind Santa Fe steam on the mainline!

There were many other success for the SBRHS this year, and we look forward to many more to come as we prepare to enter the new year. Thank you to all our loyal supports and fans who continue to make what we do possible - it's through your donations, time and energy that our 1927-built product of Baldwin whistles on.

Join us as we continue to keep 3751 steaming!

https://www.sbrhs.org/