"Little Buttercup" was originally built in 1899 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works as an 0-4-0 saddle tank locomotive for the Santa Fe Terminal Railway as their #1. The SFT was a subsidiary of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway, operating under the moniker of the San Francisco & San Joaquin Valley Railway, was designed to run a terminal operation in the China Basin around San Francisco, California. It was absorbed into the ATSF system in 1902, and SFT #1 became ATSF #2419.[1] She was then moved to the shops at Needles, California to work there as the "shop goat," and was renumbered at least 3 more times till finally running with the road number #9419 in 1948.
ATSF #5 "Little Buttercup" in her original "shop goat" appearance, then numbered #2419. Taken 1947 at Needles, CA.
That same year was the Chicago Railroad Fair, and Santa Fe had chosen #9419 to be their exhibition engine. She was rebuilt into a tender engine with an 1800s "Old West" style appearance with a diamond smokestack, gaining the #5 and the name "Little Buttercup," after a 4-4-0 locomotive that had previously carried the name. That one had been scrapped in 1899.[2] After 1948, the Santa Fe had kept "Little Buttercup" in storage, along with some ancient wooden coaches, for exhibitions and special events. She was the star a few commercials for the ATSF, even starring with Randolph Scott in the 1951 film Santa Fe where she was driven by a Native American chief.[3]
