I watched a documentary on Strasburg the other day and it said how they got their first steam locomotive (31) and I was just wondering how 90, who was all the way in colorado, and for that matter how did 475 ended up in Strasburg?

There's nothing magical or convoluted about 90. She was purchased outright by the Strasburg RR from its first and only owner, the Great Western, in March 1967, and shipped to Strasburg.
It should be noted that the existence of 90, as well as their 51 and 60, on the still-steam-using-at-the-time Great Western was no big secret to the well-connected railfans of the 1960s, of which many were Strasburg "vice presidents" or employees.

475 has a much more convoluted history which I'll let others recount in detail, but in included stints in a field near Holsopple, Pa. and at the Boone & Scenic Valley in Iowa from 1985 on before being sold and shipped to Strasburg in 1991.

Alex, was 90 shipped on its own wheels or on a flat car? I remember that the 475 was in
such bad shape it was shipped via flatcar.

Alan

FWIW, 60 was shipped from Colorado to BRW on her own wheels. IIRC Carl Conover rode the cab the whole way, babysitting the engine and keeping it lubed up. For this feat (and others), his name is inscribed in weld on the deck plate.

I don't know if 90 was shipped on her own wheels or on a flatcar.

With 475, the issue was not so much the condition of 475 but rather the unwillingness of American railroads to handle an unknown piece of rolling stock of probably questionable or dubious mechanical condition in a regular train. The loco and tender were on three TTX flatcars--running gear/frame, boiler, and tender/trucks. Three standard flat cars are a LOT less trouble and expense than a special movement all the way from Iowa to Strasburg.

Greetings:
I moved former N&W No.475 from Hosopple, PA to Union, IL in July 1980 on it's own wheels, in regular freight train service via B&O and C&NW. A few years later, it moved on it's own wheels to Boone, IA.
The trip was quite pleasant (at times) as I had a wooden B&O caboose to ride in (as opposed to the rather cramped cab of No.475). A few years later, I restored the caboose for "Strawtown Inn" at Pella, IA. It moved on it's own wheels too.
J.David

Since we are on the topic, when was 90's last in service at Great Western?

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