christmas greetings from 401

The Cattle Shipping Complex at the Ranching Heritage Center features Number 401, a steam locomotive originally given to in 1983. Texas Tech University in the 1960s and moved to the NRC from its space near the Coliseum. When former vice president of the Fort Worth and Denver railroad line and Texas Tech Regent Wright Armstrong made an effort to acquire a locomotive for the University, he learned the engines had been sold for scrap in 1955. With none available in Texas, the Burlington Railroad Lines brought Number 4994 out of storage. It was restored and its markings changed to represent the locomotive as one used in West Texas—the Fort Worth and Denver 401, which was built in 1915. The Cattle Shipping Complex, including the Ropes Depot, shipping pens from the King Ranch and Number 401 with its cattle cars and caboose helps tell the story of the railroad’s influence on the cattle industry in Texas.

Ranching Heritage Center
3121 4th Street
Lubbock, Texas