Archie Hayden, a longtime resident of Hannibal, Mo., asked me, below, about the Hannibal & St. Joe's "General Grant." What with the H&StJ being acquired, then sold, then reacquired by the Q, the road's early locomotive roster is fragmentary and little or nothing is known about a good many of the road's engine. It is known that H&StJ locomotives 35-"General Grant" and 36-"General Sherman" were built in the Hannibal shops during 1865, when those names, as I noted yesterday, would have been very popular -- at least with Missourians in the northern portion of the state. But whether they were the first locomotives built west of the Mississippi, and what happened to them, I simply cannot say.
Hol
> From: klinerarch@charter.net
> To: holpennywagner@msn.com
> Subject: Re: Old Locomotives
> Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 13:02:54 -0600
>
> Hol, What about the H&STJo General Grant? At one time it was
> reported to be the first locomotive built west of the Mississippi
> River, however I read an article that disputed this fact as the
> Pacific RR in St Louis claims to have built one there a while
> earlier. Archie