| he Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia led the world in locomotive production for half a century. With 1,445 employees in 1870, Baldwin was building hundreds of locomotives each year, including this one built for the Virginia and Truckee Railroad in Nevada, where it hauled silver ore and bullion from the mines of the Comstock Lode. The ornately decorated “Tahoe” once featured brass trim, finished woodwork, gold leaf, and a bonnet style smokestack (an original feature that was restored) as part of the original Baldwin paint scheme, typical of the “Mogul” 2-6-0 locomotives of the 1870s. During its lifetime, No. 20’s fuel supply changed from wood (1875) to coal (1907) to oil (1911). |