Western Pacific No. 401 was a class "M-100" 4-6-6-4 "Challenger" type steam locomotive that was built by ALCO's Schenectady Works for the Western Pacific Railroad in 1938.
History[]
In the late 1930s, the Western Pacific Railroad needed more powerful steam locomotives to pull monstrous freight trains throughout their system, so ALCO's Schenectady Works had drew up the blueprints for an all new 4-6-6-4 "Challenger" type steam locomotive that was based off of Union Pacific's Fetter Challengers, this resulted in the creation of what had became the Western Pacific Class M-100.
No. 401 was constructed in 1938 as one of seven examples of the M-100 4-6-6-4 "Challenger" type steam locomotives that were ever constructed by ALCO's Schenectady Works in 1938 and they were all delivered to the Western Pacific Railroad that same year in 1938.
Withdrawal of the class had commenced and not a single example of the Class M-100, including No. 401 had survived into the preservation era, all seven examples including No. 401 were all scrapped by 1952 when the Western Pacific Railroad had began to dieselize their lines.