"Rambler" Wheel

Determined to witness the completion of the Overseas Railroad linking Key West to the mainland, Henry Morrison Flagler arrived in Key West at 10:43 a.m. on the morning of January 21, 1912 aboard a steam locomotive pulling several passenger cars. The train pulled into the newly finished terminal at Trumbo Point. Legend holds that this wheel was one of the original wheels of Flagler's personal passenger car "Rambler." Flagler was greeted by a cheering crowd of more than 1,000 Key West residents, and for many of them it was the first steam locomotive they had ever seen. As he listened to the cheers, he reportedly turned to one of his aides and said, "Now I can die happy. My dream is fulfilled."

Key West, Florida · United States