The Little Texas & Pacific Sunshine Special
Quarter-Mile Railroad Has Telegraph System
Complete even to the clatter of the telegraph, a Lilliputian railroad system in Texas uses a small scale version of the Texas and Pacific Railway's Sunshine Special for an engine.
The Pacific-type locomotive, with a 160-pound steam capacity, rolls around the quarter-mile track at speeds up to 30 miles an hour. To make the trip more realistic, there are a 53-foot tunnel, a 22-foot-long trestle and a 40-gallon water tower. One grade crossing gives the engineer a legitimate excuse for tooting the whistle.
Built for Burke Campbell, a retired veteran of 38 years of railroading, the 18-horsepower locomotive cost $9000. It required more than eight months to build. He uses it as an attraction at his amusement park near Longview, Texas.
L. C. Porter, Assistant to the President of the Texas & Pacific Railway, christening The Little Texas & Pacific Sunshine Special, June 13, 1947, Longview Amusement Park, Longview, Texas.
Burke Campbell's Little T&P Sunshine Special, J.B. Shores Director of Public Relations Texas & Pacific Ry. at Controls. Longview Amesement Park, Longview, Texas. Photo by Cody B. Culpepper.
