Union Pacific No. 119 became one of the most recognizable locomotives in American history because it stood nose-to-nose with Central Pacific Jupiter at Promontory Summit on May 10, 1869.
No. 119 was a 4-4-0 American-type locomotive built in 1868 by Rogers Locomotive Works in Paterson, New Jersey for Union Pacific.
The 4-4-0 arrangement was common on American railroads of the period because its leading truck helped guide the locomotive over comparatively light and uneven track while four coupled drivers supplied traction.
At Promontory, No. 119 represented the Union Pacific side of the transcontinental railroad. The locomotive was part of the famous photographic scene surrounding the joining ceremony, but the ceremonial spikes themselves were removed after the event rather than left permanently in ordinary track service.
The locomotive returned to normal railroad work after the ceremony. Its historical identity therefore should not be reduced to a single day at Promontory.
Like many nineteenth-century locomotives, No. 119 was rebuilt and altered during its service life as components wore out and operating requirements changed.
The original locomotive did not survive into preservation. Union Pacific eventually disposed of it, and the historic machine was scrapped in the early twentieth century.
The No. 119 displayed and operated today at Golden Spike National Historical Park is a full-size working replica completed in 1979.
Because complete original drawings were unavailable, the replica was reconstructed from period photographs, measurements, historical research, and knowledge of comparable locomotives.
For TransitSatellite, every modern photograph of No. 119 must be labeled as the replica. Period imagery should be used when representing the actual 1869 locomotive, and any 3D model should state whether it reconstructs the ceremony-era machine or the modern operational replica.