New York Central and Hudson River Railroad No. 999

New York Central and Hudson River Railroad No. 999 is a 4-4-0 “American” type steam locomotive built for the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad in 1893, which was intended to haul the road's Empire State Express train service. It was built for high speed and is allegedly among the first steam locomotives in the world to travel over 100 mph. Development In 1892, New York Central's General Passenger Agent, George Henry Daniels, proposed a new, fast locomotive be designed to publicize the Empire State Express at the upcoming World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. New York Central's Chief Superintendent of Motive Power & Rolling Stock, William Buchanan, had designed a class of 4-4-0 locomotives known as the Class "I", which were already capable of reaching high speeds, so it was simply a matter of making some modifications to an existing design. In 1893, locomotive #999 was rolled out of the New York Central's West Albany Shops. The 999 was mounted on other engines of the class, and had its brakes mounted to the front truck, which was a new approach. The bands, pipes, and trim were highly polished; the boiler, smokestack, domes, cab, and tender were given a satin finish of black, and "Empire State Express" was applied to the sides of the tender in high gold leaf lettering. World's fair and later service After the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, the engine continued to pull the Empire State Express between Buffalo and Syracuse until 1899. When the engine was sent to other parts of the railroad system, it was found to be hard to handle when pulling more than five cars, as it slipped. It was rebuilt with the same 70 inch drivers as the other engines of the class. In the 1920s, it was given a new boiler and tender, operating local and branch line trains until 1924, when it was restored for exhibition at the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's "Fair of the Iron Horse" the following year.