It was primarily used for various passenger trains across the Southwestern United States, including the record breaking 1905 Scott Special on the segment between Needles, California, and Seligman, Arizona, before it was reassigned to freight service in the 1940s.

1010 was the eleventh member of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway's 1000 class, being built and delivered by the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in October 1901.

[2] The 1000 class was a series of 2-6-2 "Prairie" type locomotives, and although most other American-built 2-6-2s had an average driver diameter of 45 to 50 inches and were designed to pull short-distance freight trains, the 1000 class locomotives had a driver diameter of 79 inches and were designed to pull mainline passenger trains.

The 1000 class locomotives often ran over the 3% grades between Trinidad, Colorado and Raton, New Mexico, which was part of the La Junta-Albuquerque route.

1010 became famous for taking part in the record-breaking Scott Special train from Los Angeles, California to Chicago, Illinois, and No.

[3] As the popularity of Vauclain compound locomotives declined in the 1910s, the Santa Fe rebuilt their 2-6-2s with conventional cylinders, 69 inch diameter driving wheels, oil tenders, and superheaters to decrease operation costs.

1010 in storage on the garden tracks at the Redondo Junction roundhouse in Los Angeles along with a few other steam locomotives they had withheld from scrapping, including 0-4-0 No.

In November 1979, the Santa Fe instead donated Numbers 1010 and 5, along with most of their other remaining vintage locomotives, to the California State Railroad Museum (CSRM) in Sacramento, which was in its development phase at the time.

1010 was brought out of storage and moved back inside the CSRM's main hall for a limited time exhibit dubbed the "Death Valley Scotty’s Race for Glory" as another commemoration for the Scott Special.