Locomotive No. 5 was built for the U.S. Government in July 1910 by Baldwin Locomotive Works in Pennsylvania. She was part of a lot of three locomotives (No 4, No 5, and No 6) and brought north to start construction of the future Alaska Railroad about 1914.
In July 1923, President Warren Harding personally drove the final golden spike on the Mears Bridge crossing the Tanana River, completing the first railroad connection between Anchorage and Fairbanks. President Harding was the first president to visit Alaska, however, he became ill during his visit and died in California within days after leaving Alaska.
As part of the New Deal programs in 1935, the U.S. Government moved 203 farming families from Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan to this part of Alaska as colonists to grow fresh food for Alaska. The Matanuska Valley Colony gave each family 40 acres of uncleared land to turn into a farm around present-day Palmer. The colony project cost about $5,000,000 and the work to set up farms was so tough that after five years over half of the original colonists had left the valley. (You can watch a good video of the story and some actual historic video on YouTube.)
Locomotive No. 5 ended up hauling coal for the Eska, Premier, Wishbone Hill, and Buffalo Mines. In 1956, the engine was found abandoned at the Buffalo Mine. Local donations and manpower brought Engine No. 5 to downtown Palmer, where it was placed beside the rails it had used more than 30 years before.
There are (at least) two cache containers on the locomotive. One is small size and one is micro-size. You only need to find one of them, but if you are having fun looking, then look for the other one too!
Two previous geocaches were here: