Beginning in 1868, it operated for 30 years in Madison, Indiana, pushing train cars up the steepest "standard-gauge main-track grade"[1] in the United States.

[4] The Reuben Wells was made specifically for Madison Hill, Indiana, a 1.3-mile (2.1 km) long stretch of track that is known for having the steepest regular incline in the United States.

[6] The Reuben Wells was completed in the railroad shops[7] in 1868, and quickly proved to be a success leading to the creation of a second locomotive in 1869 named M. G. Bright.

In 1886 Reuben Wells was shortened by 5 feet with the last pair of driving wheels removed and a new saddle tank placed atop of the boiler.

[3] In 1966, Tom Billings, head of the Children's Museum advisory board, learned that the Reuben Wells was being kept in storage in Pennsylvania.

The campaign was successful, and in May 1967, the Pennsylvania railroad president, Allen Greenough, announced that the Reuben Wells was coming to Indiana.

A parade was organized to escort the locomotive on the last leg of its journey, accompanied by the Central Indiana Council Boy Scout band and a motorcycle motorcade.