Central Pacific No. 237 El Gobernador

Central Pacific No. 237, named El Gobernador was a 4-10-0 steam locomotive built by the Central Pacific at its Sacramento shops in February 1883, although it didn't enter service until March 1884, just over a year later. It was the last of Central Pacific's locomotives to receive an official name and was also the only locomotive of this wheel arrangement to operate on US rails. At the time it was built, El Gobernador was the largest railroad locomotive in the world.
== Development ==
In the early 1880s, the Central Pacific Railroad's president, Leland Stanford, ordered a huge locomotive to tackle heavy freight trains out of the San Joaquin Valley via the Central Pacific's Tehachapi Loop. Stanford apparently kept the other members of the Big Four (minus Mark Hopkins, who had died who in 1878) in the dark about the locomotive. Once, while Stanford was away, Charles Crocker came through the Sacramento Shops on a tour of inspection and saw the partially completed El Gobernador under construction. Having not been told about the project, he angrily demanded to know what was going on. When told by A. J. Stevens, the master mechanic at the time, that they were attempting to build the largest engine in the world, Crocker ordered all work on the locomotive to stop immediately. When Stanford returned to find that no new work had been done on the engine and when informed of the events that transpired, Crocker's orders were countermanded in no uncertain terms.
This locomotive appeared to have largely been a victim of the impatience on Leland Stanford. For example, the engine's frame alone was so large, that it had to be cast in two separate sections instead of all at once as with other locomotives built at Sacramento. As soon as A. J. Stevens was able to figure out a part, Stanford would order it built and installed on the new engine, without giving any proper time for testing. El Gobernador's construction was completed in February 1883, amid much fanfare from the railroad, but it did not enter service until March 1884, just over a year later. Part of the delay between construction and operation of the engine was due to the railroad's track and infrastructure of the time.
The most interesting feature the locomotive had was Steven's own design of valves and valve gear for the engine. There were two valves for each cylinder, a main valve and cut off valve. The main valve was worked by a single eccentric rocking a link, was the cut off valve was actuated by a connection with the crosshead. The amount of motion of the latter, hence the cut-off, could be varied. 
==Service History==
During the time it was laid up in Sacramento, the locomotive was used as an advertising tool by the railroad, to spectacular effect. According to author Guy L. Dunscomb, the engine was kept under steam near the Central Pacific's passenger depot, where it would await the arrival of passenger trains coming in from the east. As the train arrived, El Gobernador would steam past the depot dragging a long line of empty freight cars behind it and causing quite a stir in the process. The engine would then be uncoupled and placed on adjacent trackage, where the passengers could get a good close-up look at the locomotive.
The locomotive was disassembled into five large subassemblies for transportation to the pass because it was thought to be too heavy for the various bridges along the route to the pass. When the locomotive began operation, it was discovered that the boiler nor firebox were large enough to maintain steam pressure. One fireman even commented in anger, "All Hell couldn't keep steam up in that engine!" The cylinders were too large for the boiler to keep up steam. The locomotive was rebuilt with smaller cylinders to try to fix this problem but the improvement in running capability was marginal at best. The locomotive was scrapped on July 15, 1894. The boiler remained as a static steam generator for the Sacramento shops until 1905 when it was scrapped. However, the boiler from the locomotive is likely still in existence and was used as yard embankment fill near the Sacramento River that is nearest to the old shops, now owned by the California State Railroad Museum.
==Trivia ==
*The El Gobernador was the only 4-10-0 locomotive to operate in the United States.
*Its name is reminiscent of the railroad's first locomotive, Gov. Stanford, as El Gobernador is Spanish for The Governor.
*Some workers called it The Boss due to its enormous sizeChurch, R. (2013). El Gobernador CP 237. In Southern Pacific: Ten-coupled locomotives (p. 23). essay, Signature Press.
*This locomotive is sometimes mistakenly referred to as a "Mastodon" type. However, this was the unofficial name for an earlier engine, No. 229, the first successful 4-8-0 ever built. Both engines looked nearly identical, except that El Gobernador was longer and had an additional pair of drivers.
*This engine was featured in the game ”TrainStation 2” for a limited time.
==Gallery==
File:ElGobernadorlocomotive.jpg
File:Central Pacific No. 237 "El Gobernador" on a turntable.jpeg
File:34B7EEAB-D463-4F83-B05C-B9651037B3F0.jpg
File:F7BA3AE9-190D-403D-946C-45003988A96E.jpg
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==References==
Category:Steam locomotives
Category:Tender locomotives
Category:American locomotives
Category:Built in 1883
Category:Central Pacific locomotives
Category:Ten-coupled locomotives
Category:Scrapped locomotives
Category:Locomotives
Category:4-10-0 steam locomotives
Category:4-10-0 locomotives
Category:Standard gauge locomotives
Category:Standard gauge locomotives of the United States
Category:4 foot 8 1⁄2 inch gauge
Category:Locomotives featured in media