Somewhere here there is a picture of the Dan Wesson locomotive, with no real info about it. At the time, I knew a little about it, now I have the full (and fascinating) story on it. Let me begin by introducing my new friend Dudley, who (among his many exploits and accomplishments in life) was one of 4 Members on the Board  of Directors of the original Dan Wesson Arms. More to come soon with much previously unpublished information about the early days of Dan Wesson Arms.

Dudley was in the railroad business, and was instrumental in the reorganization of a local rail line in Pennsylvania, the Pittsburg & Shawmut, a regional line devoted to transporting coal from several mines for eventual shipment throughout the North/Central East. The mine and railroad were failing financially, and the mines were determined to be the cause, they simply were not workable at a profit. The mine was sold, and the proceeds were used to renovate the eight very overworked and under maintained locomotives, so that they could be used to transport coal from other mines.

As part of the renovation, Dudley had each locomotive repainted Red/White/Blue. Given the strong firearms heritage of northeastern Pennsylvania, each locomotive was renamed and renumbered in honor of American Firearms manufacturers. The first was the Olivia Remington, numbered for the year Remington Arms was founded, there was a Smith & Wesson, etc. Eventually, a ninth locomotive was acquired, originally named the Betsy Ross. Since Dudley had just joined the Board at Dan Wesson Arms, he named this one the Dan Wesson, and numbered it 357.

At some point in time much later on the P & S failed, and the assets were liquidated. Dudley told me that once many years later he and a friend were fishing in New Hampshire, near a set of tracks, he looked up to see old #357, the Dan Wesson, go charging past, still in R/W/B!

Fully factual information from a fascinating man, with much to share about DWA and the American Firearms industry of the 70's and 80's. Here's a "teaser"-on the wall of his den is the original (un-numbered) Model 11, broken down and mounted presentation style on a large board. This was the Sales Model, used in the early days at gun shows and with distributors to build interest in Dan Wesson Arms.

Stay Tuned, More to Come. Dudley and I have talked a couple of times, he called me today, and I asked him to share the locomotive story.

Share on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on WhatsAppShare on LinkedInShare on Pinterest