Mesa Desert Railroad 121 Mk 2

The updated 121, built in 1894 by Baldwin Locomotive Works, was meant to be a rival to the ALCO's NYC 999 4-4-0 locomotive, and take a speed record Baldwin's publicity department so richly deserved. However, after 999's record-breaking 100-MPH run in 1893, Baldwin realized their attempt at a speed record breaker would be vastly delayed in time to have both displayed at the Chicago World's Fair, so Baldwin had the drawings redone and, now clad with modern cylinders and statuesque 90 inch drivers, the new Baldwin 1001 toured the US as both a representation of the bygone era of single drivers as well as a world record holder for largest driving wheels on an American locomotive. After 3 years of touring, she had found herself back at Baldwin as a display piece due to low interest for several more years until the ATSF called up Baldwin and said a subsidiary of theirs was interested in the odd little one-off, the Mesa Desert Railroad. From top to bottom:

1. First paint scheme 121 received after delivery and renumbering, was originally called the "Emperor Norton I" to honor San Francisco's legendary self-proclaimed "emperor" and worked commuter lines around the bay area. A little after her purchase, in Northern California, and with four Pullman Palace cars in tow, 121 finally achieved 105MPH going down Salina Valley, a personal record for the MDRR.

2. in 1908, 121 was the subject of an odd experiment by a San Franciscan gunsmith wlho thought of putting a silencer on a locomotive funnel to curb the stack talk. The experiment did work, but the gathering of residue in the large tank made it hard to clean, and the softening of the smoke allowed it to drift downwards, causing crews to complain that they were driving her through a thick black fog every time. The funnel was removed after a trial of three months.

3. Around the 1930s (same time as the ATSF's mass-rebuilding program), 121 was rebuilt with a modern piston valve set up by Baldwin and given a special assignment in winter, guiding trains through the snow of the Sierra Nevadas and aiding in rescue attempts. For this, she received a snowplough similar to No. 97's, a larger front headlamp, cab marker lights, and a whistle off a tugboat as an emergency klaxon. She served as pilot until the 1940s, then was reassigned intermittently through the years when a shortage of steeplecab electrics made pilot power come up short.

4. MDRR "Drab" livery, applied around 2011 to honor the MDRR's 100th anniversary along with 99, 97, and 97, which she now wears as a commuter engine in serving the MDRR's newest subsidiary, the Portland and Astoria Western in Oregon. 

Edit: Added counterweights and opposite valve gear