Cambria Powers the Trains

The 1888 discovery of coal at Cambria, eight miles north of Newcastle, provided the final key to railroad development through the northeast Wyoming Territory. The railroad’s main line stretched west from Newcastle, while a spur line built in 1889 to the flourishing town of Cambria transported coal and livestock. Two roundtrips ran daily from Newcastle to Cambria at 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. Train crews included brakemen, who rode on top of cars and turned iron wheels that engaged each car’s brakes; an engineer, who operated the train; a fireman, who kept the cylinders on the drive wheels oiled while the train was underway and shoveled coal into the engine’s firebox; a conductor, who was the boss of the train crew; and a wiper, who packed the engine’s internal moving parts with grease. Railroad workers worked their way up to become an engineer. Early engines burned 40-200 pounds of coal per mile. Few accidents occurred during the 39 years the Cambria train operated, but a 1917 wreck killed two people and injured three more when the train went off the rails and spilled three cars of coal. The coal mines closed in 1928, and in 1929 the Burlington Railroad officially abandoned the line from Newcastle to Cambria.

Newcastle, Wyoming · United States