1939 NY World's Fair - The William Mason - 1856
The Transportation Zone (Zone 6)
1939 New York World's Fair
Railroads on Parade
The J K Bowker - 1875
" The V&T's 21st steam locomotive was named for John William Bowker, revered V&T innovator and master mechanic." (Sourse: NV State RR Museum)
The J K Bowker - 1875 - Courtesy of the World's Fair Historical Society -
photo wf-273r
The J K Bowker - 1875 - Photo RM23 - captured with permission from Robert Martens from a film taken by his grandfather, Gustave Martens.
The Pagent Pages Menu
Circa 1820s
1829 - The Stourbridge Lion
1829 -The Tom Thumb
1830 - The Best Friend of Charleston
1831 - The DeWitt Clinton
1832 - The Atlantic
1837 - The William Galloway
Circa 1840 - The Conestoga Wagon
1856 - The William Mason
1861 - William Crooks
1869 - The Joining of the Rails
1860s - Passenger and Baggage Car
1875 - The J K Bowker - 1875
1939 - Pullman Passenger Car
The Grand Finale
Baldwin built Bowker in 1875 with a powerful Knowles steam water pump atop its boiler for firefighting purposes. The similarly equipped V&T # 9, I. E. James, handled switching duties at Carson City. The J. W. Bowker was the switch engine in the V&T yards at Virginia City.
With the eventual decline in V&T business, # 21 was sold in 1896 to the Sierra Nevada Wood & Lumber Company near Truckee, California. Cecil B. DeMille used the engine in his 1939 epic motion picture Union Pacific—more people have probably seen this engine in operation on the "silver screen" than in person.
(Sourse: NV State RR Museum)