The Santa Fe class 3450 consisted of ten 4-6-4 "Hudson" type steam locomotives built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1927. Built as coal-burners, they were later converted to oil-burning during the 1930s. At the same time, the locomotives were given 79-inch (2,007 mm) driving wheels instead of their original 73-inch (1,854 mm), and the boiler pressures increased from 220 to 230 lbf/in2 (1.52 to 1.59 MPa). Combined, these changes reduced the starting tractive effort from 44,250 to 43,300 lbf (196.8 to 192.6 kN), but increased the top speed and efficiency. Their early service was in the Midwest, between Chicago and Colorado; later, some were assigned to service in the San Joaquin Valley of California between Bakersfield and Oakland.
They were smaller and less powerful locomotives than the later 3460 class "Hudson" type, but were capable of equivalently high speeds.
The first locomotive built, No. 3450, was donated by the Santa Fe in 1955 to the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society's Southern California chapter, and is preserved at the Society's museum in the Los Angeles County Fair grounds at Pomona, California. The locomotive sits inside the RailGiants Train Museum. It is not operational, but preserved in good condition as a static exhibit. It received a cosmetic restoration between 2013-2021.
