Union Station is located on Wall Ave in downtown Ogden, UT. The building houses four museums and two galleries with the aim of promoting the historic heritage of Utah and the American West. The museums include the Utah State Railroad Museum, which has a variety of displays illustrating construction of the transcontinental railroad, the John M. Browning Firearms Museum and the Browning-Kimball Classic Car Museum, as well as a gift shop, restaurant, train shop, gallery and the Union Station Research Library.
There are also several locomotives and other rolling stock on open air display at the Spencer S. and Hope Fox Eccles Pavilion just to the south of the depot.
The pavilion is built on the site of the Ogden Union Railway & Depot Company Commissary building. The depot company was formed in 1888 to operate as a terminal railroad overseeing operations of the various companies that provided freight and passenger services in Ogden. The company allowed the member railroads to share facilities and avoid conflicts in operations.
Above, the Spencer S. and Hope Fox Pavilion. David Eccles, father of Spencer Stoddard Eccles, after whom the Center is partly named, was a 19th century banker and industrialist involved in lumber milling and railroad construction. He and his associates built part of the Western Pacific’s Los Angeles & Salt Lake line, as well as the Mount Hood Railroad and Sumpter Valley Railroad, which still operates as a heritage railroad (there is a Sumpter Valley Railroad page on this website).
During WWI, Spencer Eccles ran the US "40 & 8" transports, named after the box cars that were used to transport troops to the French front. After the war Spencer Eccles and his wife, Hope, settled in Ogden. They and their family members have continued to be active in local business and philanthropic interests.
The Union Pacific Railroad passed through Ogden in 1869 constructing its line west from Omaha, NE, to meet the Central Pacific and complete the transcontinental railway. The meeting place of Promontory, north of Great Salt Lake, was determined by the US Congress on 10th April 1869 (you can see the location
on the Golden Spike NHS page of this website). However, the area was not a hub for local trade like Salt Lake City or Ogden and, in 1870, the junction of the two railroads was moved to Ogden.
The first station depot was built there in 1889 and operated until 1923, when a hotel room caught fire and it was burned to the ground.
The current depot opened in 1924, laid out on the footprint of the earlier building.
The depot was designed by architects John and Donald B. Parkinson in the Spanish Colonial Revival style.
Freight and passenger services at Ogden were provided by the Union Pacific, Utah Central, Utah Northern and the Oregon Short Line & Utah Northern railroads. Name trains that served Ogden included the CB&Q's Denver Zephyr, the D&RGW Rio Grande Zephyr and Amtrak's Pioneer and Desert Wind. The depot no longer serves transcontinental rail passengers, although the California Zephyr still calls at Salt Lake City on its run from Chicago, IL, to San Francisco, CA. Greyhound intercity buses stop at the Ogden depot, as do local buses.
Middle right above, the water tower outside the depot. Lower view, inside the depot.
On the north wall, the painting depicts the Irish immigrants who helped build the Union Pacific rails westward.
The south wall depicts the Chinese immigrants, "Crocker's Pets", who helped build the Southern Pacific railroad from California eastward.
Above, the drinking fountain is dedicated to Hubert Lloyd Bell.
The Union Pacific bought forty-five Northern type (4-8-4) locomotives in three orders from Alco. The first twenty, #800-#819, were delivered in 1937 and designated Class FEF-1 ("FEF" stood for "Four-Eight-Four"). The second fifteen, #820-#834, were delivered in 1939 and designated Class FEF-2. The last ten, #835-#844, were delivered in 1944 and designated Class FEF-3.
FEF-2 #833 is one of three survivors. A second FEF-2, #838, is in the UP's Cheyenne, WY,
shops and is apparently used to provide spare parts for FEF-3 #844, the last steam locomotive delivered to the Union Pacific in 1944. #844 is the only steam locomotive never retired by a US Class I railroad.
You can see the sole surviving FEF-1, #814, on the RailsWest Railway Museum page of this website, and FEF-3 #844 on the Cheyenne Roundhouse page.
#833 has an engine wheelbase of 50' 11", driver wheelbase of 22' and weighs 478,640 lbs, 265,200 lbs on its 80" drivers.
The locomotive is equipped with Walschaert valve gear and 25" x 32" cylinders. The grate is 100.2
sq ft and the firebox 442 sq ft. The total heating surface is 6,313 sq ft, including 1,900 sq ft provided by a Type E superheater. Operating at a boiler pressure of 300 psi, it delivered 63,750 lbs tractive effort. All the FEF-2s had roller bearings on all axles. #820-#829 had Timken bearings, #830-#834 SKFs.
The tender weighs 416,320 lbs light and has a capacity of 23,500 gallons of water and 6,000 gallons of oil.
Initially assigned to passenger trains, including the Overland Limited, Portland Rose and Pacific Limited, as diesels took over, the 4-8-4s were reassigned to freight service.
Above, the noses of UP DD40X #6916, the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics Torch Car, SP SD45 #7457, and UP GTE 8500 #26 protrude past #833's in the Pavilion. DRGW SD40 #5371 is on the right.
Retirements of the FEFs started in 1957 and, except for #844, all had left service by 1962. #833 was retired in January 1962 and was then held for historic purposes until it was donated to Salt Lake City, UT, in 1972. It was originally on display at the City's Pioneer Park, but was moved to the Pavilion in February 1999 by truck. The move was funded by a grant of $100,000-$120,000 from the Utah Legislature.
#6916 is one of forty-seven DDA40X units built by EMD for the UP between 1969 and 1971. At 98', the are the longest and most powerful single-unit diesels ever built. The 'X' in DDA40X stood for Experimental, as the locomotives were to be used as testbeds for technology that would go into future EMD products.
The first DDA40X, #6900, was delivered in April 1969 in time for the centennial celebration of the driving of the Golden Spike at Promontory, UT. It hauled the "Gold Spike Limited", arriving in Salt Lake City on 10th May 1969.
As a result of its participation in the celebration, the class was nicknamed "Centennial".
#6916 entered service in 1969. It went into storage in 1980 due to a decrease in traffic, but was returned to service soon after. It was retired in May 1985 and internally gutted as a parts source for SD40 and SD40-2 diesels and was then donated to the Utah State Railroad. It was delivered in January 1986.
Thirteen DDA40Xs survive. You can see #6900 on the Kenefick Park page of this website. #6901 is on the UP #2005 page, #6913 is on the Museum of the American Railroad page, #6915 is on the Southern California Chapter RLHS, #6922 on the UP Challenger #3977, #6930 on the Illinois Railway Museum Yard and #6936 on the Cheyenne Roundhouse pages.
#7457 is one of one thousand, two hundred and sixty SD45s built by EMD from 1965 to 1971. Built in 1966 as #8800, the first of Southern Pacific's three hundred and fifty-seven SD45s, it worked out of Ogden hauling freight to the West Coast.
Weighing 368,000 lbs and 65' 9½" long, it has an EMD 645E3 prime mover powering an AR10 main generator to drive six D77 traction motors. Starting tractive effort is 92,000 at 25% and continuous tractive effort is 82,100 lbs at 11 mph.
Six SD45s have survived. The first production model, Great Northern #400, is on the Lake Superior Railroad Museum page of this website, WC #7525 and EL #3607 on the Illinois Railway Museum Yard page and NW #1776 on the Virginia Museum of Transportation page.
#7457 was donated to Utah State Railroad Museum in February 2002.
Retired in 1970, #26 was sold for scrap to Continental Leasing Group in 1971. Later shipped to Intercontinental Engineering Co., in Riverside, MO, it was gutted of electrical components, the turbine, traction motors and diesel engine for re-use. Donated to the Utah Railroad Museum in 1986, it was moved from Kansas City, MO, via Burlington Northern trackage and arrived at Ogden in July 1987.
Only one other UP GTE 8500, #18, has survived. It is on display at the Illinois Railroad Museum in Union, IL.
Delivered in in 1961, #26 was the twenty-sixth of thirty 8,500 hp third generation GTELs (gas turbine electric locomotives) built for the Union Pacific by General Electric from 1958 to 1961.
Powered by the same engines as jet airplanes,
they were the most powerful locomotives ever to run, and the UP calculated a single unit could haul seven hundred and thirty-four freight cars (a train over seven miles long) at a steady 12 mph. Once
in operation, they quickly earned the nickname
"Big Blows" because of the deafening noise they made.
The Union Pacific rostered the largest fleet of turbine-powered freight locomotives in the world.
The 8500s had a GE 15 Stage Turbine powering a GE GT576C1 generator to drive six GE 752 E3 traction motors. At one time, the UP claimed turbines hauled 10% of their entire freight. They were initially quite cost-effective, despite poor fuel economy, because they used residual fuel oils ("Bunker-C oils") from the petroleum industry. But, as other uses were found for these petroleum by-products, particularly plastics, the units became too expensive to operate.
The last gas turbine run was on 26th December 1969, and all the 8500s were out of service by 1970. #26 ran over one million miles during its nine year service life, hauling heavy freight between Council Bluffs, IA, and Ogden, UT.
You can see #18 on the Illinois Railroad Museum Yard page of this website.
#401 is parked inside the
pavilion, and the close proximity of other equipment makes it
quite difficult to get good photographs.
The unit was built in 1959 as AT&SF #823. Seventy-five
RSD-15s were built at Alco's Schenectady, NY, works from 1956 to 1960. Fifty were delivered to the AT&SF, the remainder to other US railroads.
With an Alco 4-cycle Model 251B 16 cylinder prime mover powering a GE-GT586 generator to drive six GE 752 traction motors, the RSD-15 weighs 335,000 lbs and is 66' 7" long. Delivering starting tractive effort of 95,600 lbs at 25% and 79,500 lbs continuous tractive effort at 12 mph, it had a top speed of 65 mph. The three-axle Trimount trucks had an asymmetrical axle spacing because of the positioning of the traction motors, but allowed higher tractive effort at lower speeds than a similar four-motor design. The units could be ordered with a high or low short hood and railfans dubbed the low short hood version "Alligators" because of their unusually long low noses.
#401 was retired in May 1975, and had several different owners, including Utah Railway, before it was donated to the museum. Six
RSD-15s have survived. You can see two of them on the Arkansas Railroad Museum page of this website, and the Illinois Railway Museum Shed page.
This 44-ton switcher is another difficult unit to photograph. #1216 was built by the Davenport Locomotive Works, of Davenport, IA, probably in 1953. Many of this type of small switcher were built for the US military. Their low profiles made them easy to be transported by ship for use in overseas service. Many were donated to museums by the military at the end of their operational lives.
Not much is known about the service history of #1216, other than that it worked at the US Army's Twin Cities Arsenal in New Brighton, MN, then at Hill Air Force Base near Ogden, UT, as well as at the Tooele Army Base in Tooele, UT. It weighs 91,270 lbs, is 33' 9¾" long, has a 400 hp engine and top speed of 42 mph. It was donated to the Utah Railroad Museum by the US Army.
The Davenport Locomotive Works began producing locomotives in 1902, starting with a range of small steam locomotives. It went on to produce the first gasoline-fuelled locomotive in 1924 and the first diesel locomotive in 1927, a 30-ton diesel-electric for the Northern Illinois Coal Company of Boonville, IN.
The Davenport Locomotive Works acquired the Pittsburgh, PA, based H. K. Porter Company in 1950 and then produced Porter locomotives in addition to its own range of diesel locomotives.
Davenport was bought by the Canadian Locomotive Works and its plant closed in 1956.
You can see another Davenport 44 tonner, Lincoln Sand & Gravel #44, on the Monticello Railway Museum page of this website.
#7277 is a 600 hp switcher built by Alco in 1941 for the US Army. It was later transferred to the Air Force and worked most of its life at the Hill Air Force Base in Utah.
The Alco S-1 is 44' 5" in length and weighs
210,000 lbs. It is equipped with an Alco 4-cycle Model 539 6L prime mover powering a GE-GT552A generator to drive six GE 731 traction motors, one on each axle. It delivers starting tractive effort of 57,500 lbs at 25% and 46,000 lbs continuous tractive effort at 5 mph with a top speed of
60 mph.
#7277 was donated to the museum by the US military in 1990.
Five hundred and forty S-1s were built from 1940 to 1950, by both Alco and its Canadian subsidiary, the Montreal Locomotive Works. They were sold abroad, as well as in the US and Canada.
You can see EL #310 on the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum page of this website, USA #7374 on the Kentucky Railroad Museum page and WM #138T, a converted slug, on the B&O Museum Yard & Car Shop page.
Utah Central Railway's #1236 was built by General Electric for the US Air Force in 1953, along with UCRY #1237, shown next on this page. Originally numbered USAF #1236, this unit started work at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.
Three hundred and eighty-two of these switchers were built between 1940 and 1956, often replacing steam switchers. Many have survived, and you can see other GE 44-Ton switchers on the Savannah Roundhouse Railroad Museum page of this website, the National Railroad Museum page, the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum page and the Southeastern Railroad Museum page.
In the 1940s, dieselisation was just beginning in the US, and railroad unions sought to protect firemen's jobs that were increasingly threatened by the introduction of diesels, which did not require "firing". One agreement made with employers was that diesels weighing 90,000 lbs or more must roster a fireman as well as an engineer. The 44-ton locomotive neatly got around this requirement.
GE's one person operated
44-Ton switchers were sold extensively abroad, as far afield as Australia and
Sweden, as well as within the US. Most were built with two Caterpillar D17000 V8 180 hp motors.
#1236 was donated to the museum in 1990 and still bears its USAF livery.
#1236 is in very poor condition and is apparently now being used to supply spare parts for other units at the museum.
#1237 and #1236 were built by GE for the US Air Force in 1953 as #1237 and #1236.
#1237 was donated to the museum in 1990, at the same time as #1236. For technical information on this 44-Ton switcher, see the details about #1236.
Utah Central Railway is a shortline railroad that still serves Ogden and surrounding areas. It began operations in 1992 as a private switching railroad over lines owned by Westinghouse Electric Corporation in Utah. The UCRY became a common carrier in 1995 on trackage acquired from the City of Ogden, and expanded in 2001 and 2004 by acquiring additional ex-Union Pacific and D&RGW trackage.
This Denver & Rio Grande Western SD40T-2 was built in 1975 by EMD.
#5371 is one of three hundred and twelve of the type built between 1974 and 1980, the majority
(two hundred and thirty-nine) for the Southern Pacific and its subsidiary, the Cotton Belt. Seventy-three were also bought by the D&RGW (#5341-#5413). They were essentially SD40-2 units modified to be more effective when operating in tunnels.
The SD40T-2 and SD45T-2, a similarly modified EMD SD45-2 model, are popularly called "tunnel motors", but are officially referred to as SD40-2s and SD45-2s with cooling system modifications.
The major differences between the SD40T-2 and the SD40-2, are the radiator intakes and radiator fan grills located at the rear of the locomotive.
The radiator air intakes in the SD40T-2 were located along the deck to allow cooler air to enter the engine's body to reduce overheating and ensure fewer hot exhaust fumes lingered around the tunnel's ceiling.
The SD40T-2 weighs 368,000 lbs and is 70' 8"
long. It has an EMD 645E3 16 cylinder prime
mover powering a 3,600 hp AR10 generator to
drive six D77 traction motors, one on each axle.
It delivers 92,000 lbs starting tractive effort at 25% and 82,100 lbs at 11 mph with a top speed of
65 mph.
The D&RGW merged with the Southern Pacific in 1988, which was then bought by the Union Pacific in 1996. As the UP absorbed the D&RGW, the original livery was gradually replaced, and #5371 became the last D&RGW locomotive in full Rio Grande paint operating on the system. It was also the last SD40T-2 in active service on any US railroad. It last operated on 29th February 2008, on UP local train LDP45 between Helper and East Carbon City, UT.
#5371 was retired in December 2008 and donated to the museum the following year.
When I first visited, #5371 was standing at the station platform. Right, it has since moved into the pavilion between UP #6916 and SP #7457.
This unit was built for the Southern Pacific by EMD in 1957 as GP9 #5733. It was renumbered #3574 in 1965, remanufactured as SP GP9E #3769 in 1974 and retired on 28th May 1986.
Drive to the GP9's four GM D-37 traction motors, one on each axle, was provided by a 1,750 hp GM-D12B generator powered by a 16 cylinder EMD 567C prime mover. Weighing 240,000 lbs and 56.5' long, the units
delivered starting tractive effort of 62,750 lbs at 25% and continuous tractive effort of 40,000 lbs at 9.3 mph with a top speed of 65 mph.
The GP9 was enormously successful and outsold its predecessor, the GP7, becoming one of the most successful diesel locomotives ever built. Four thousand, one hundred and twelve were built between 1954 and 1963.
SP subsidiary, the Texas & New Orleans, received its first fourteen passenger equipped GP9s in May 1954 and eleven freight units in June of that year. The first four passenger GP9s arrived at the Southern Pacific in June 1954 as well, followed by the first eighteen freight units starting in January 1955.
#3769 was donated to Ogden Union Station by the Southern Pacific on 23rd July 1987.
Eventually, the two railroads rostered three hundred and twenty-eight GP9s, as well as another twelve on the Cotton Belt.
This SW1 unit was built by EMD in 1940 as #213 for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.
The unit was subsequently renumbered BO #8413. It was sold to Arco Petroleum at Carson,CA,
where it was renumbered #6971. It next went to
the locomotive leasing company General
American Transportation Corporation at Colton, CA. After the lease expired, the unit was stored at the GATX facility until it was sold through the dealer, Western Railway Supply, to Cargill. It moved to the Horizon Milling Company in Ogden in mid August 1993 and was repainted, lettered and renumbered #6751. It was replaced by a Trackmobile in 2010.
Donated to the Utah State Railroad Museum in April 2011, it was moved to Union Station on 21st May 2011.
EMD built two hundred and forty-eight of these F40PHR units between 1977 and 1988 at its La Grange, IL, shops for Amtrak. #231 was the second unit outshopped in 1977. It started work out of Chicago, IL, but spent most of its life working out of Los Angeles, CA, hauling the San Diegan, Pacific Surfliner, Coast Starlight, Cascades, Capitol Corridor, San Joaquin, Sunset Limited and Southwest Chief.
#231 also hauled the Empire Builder, Crescent and California Zephyr as well as Michigan and Missouri corridor trains.
The F40PH delivers starting tractive effort of 65,000 lbs at 25% and continuous tractive effort
of 38,240 lbs at 16.1 mph and has a top speed of
95 mph.
After buying new 4,000 hp GE Genesis series units in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Amtrak's fleet of F40PHs went into storage, were scrapped, sold or converted into non-powered control units. A number are still in service on tourist lines or have been preserved in museums. You can see AMTK EMD F40PH #307 on the North Carolina Transportation Museum page of this website.
#231 was retired in 2001 and, the following year, travelled to Portland, OR, as DLMX #231.
#231 stayed in storage at the Oregon Rail Heritage Center in Portland, OR, until it was moved as DYRX #231 to Ogden, UT. DYRX is the reporting mark for Dynamic Rail Preservation, Inc., which was established in 2013 by a small group of volunteers to save #231 and #644, shown next on this page, from imminent scrapping.
The EMD F40PH was built in several different variants by EMD between 1975 and 1992, of which #231 is just one example. The design was based on the EMD GP40 series freight units. The unit is 56’ 2” long and weighs 260,000 lbs. It has a GM 645E3 16 cylinder prime mover powering a 3,000 hp GM AR10 generator to drive four GM D77 traction motors, one on each axle.
There have been plans to return #231 to operation in its original AMTK livery.
#664 is another project being overseen by Dynamic Rail Preservation, Inc.
Like #231, there have been plans to return #664 to operation in its original AMTK livery.
The SDP40F was the first type of locomotive built new for Amtrak. Until then, most of its engines were EMD E and F units inherited from predecessor railroads that had been in service for many years. The design was based on EMD’s SD40-2 freight locomotive. One hundred and fifty were built by EMD from 1973 to 1974.
The SDP40F was mechanically reliable but experienced several high speed derailments, causing the railroads over which Amtrak ran to impose speed limits starting in 1976-77. Then, as the roster of Amtrak F40PHs grew from 1977, the SDP40Fs were progressively retired. The last revenue run of an Amtrak SDP40F was in 1985.
#644 was delivered in 1974 and was based in Washington, DC, during its entire service life with Amtrak, hauling the Floridian to Chicago, IL, when required. It was traded with the AT&SF in 1985 and moved to Barstow, CA, hauling freight for the Santa Fe and, later, BNSF. It was retired in 2002 and is the sole surviving SDP40F.
#664 weighs 265,000 lbs and is 72’ 4” long. A GM 645E3 16 cylinder prime mover powers a GM AR10 generator driving four GM D77 traction motors. It delivers 65,000 lbs starting tractive effort at 25% and continuous tractive effort of 38,240 lbs at 16.1 mph with a top speed of 95 mph.
Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad #223, a narrow gauge (36”) Consolidation type (2-8-0) locomotive is the sole surviving engine built by the Grant Locomotive Works in Paterson, NJ. It worked from 1881 when it was delivered until 1890, when the D&RGW tracks in Utah were changed from narrow to standard gauge. #223 then worked on the Rio Grande's other three foot gauge routes in Colorado until retired in 1940.
The D&RGW loaned the locomotive to the people of Salt Lake City, UT, as part of the city's Pioneer Day celebration on 24th July 1941.
It was paraded down Main Street mounted on a highway trailer.
#223 then went on display in Liberty Park and was formally donated to the city in 1952. In 1979, the city gave the engine to the State of Utah for display at the former D&RGW and Western Pacific Salt Lake City Union Station and planned home of the Utah State Division of History. On 27th March 1980 it was moved across town to its new location where it remained for twelve years unprotected and deteriorating due to weather and vandalism. During that time, various proposals were floated for restoration of the locomotive, none of which came to fruition.
In 1992, the locomotive was given to the Utah State Railroad Museum and moved to Ogden Union Station.
The first C-16 at the D&RGW was also the first 2-8-0 to operate on the railroad.
#223 has an engine wheelbase of 17' 4" and driver wheelbase of 11' 4". It weighs 60,000 lbs, 50,000 lbs on its 36" drivers and has Stephenson valve gear and 15" x 20" cylinders. The grate is 14 sq ft, the firebox 72 sq ft and total heating surface is
83 sq ft. Operating at a boiler pressure of 130 psi it delivered 13,813 lbs tractive effort. The original tender weighed 53,000 light and had a capacity of 2,500 gallons of water and 6 tons of coal. Right, volunteers have built a completely new tender.
Above, volunteers were working on #223's smokebox when we visited.
Efforts were started by the Golden Spike Chapter of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society as soon as #223 arrived at the museum to restore the locomotive, possibly to operating condition, and those efforts continue today.
The engine received a new steel boiler in 1914,
but her display outdoors with her stack uncapped had taken its toll on the boiler and smokebox. Wooden parts needed to be replaced, but the cab and tender were so badly corroded they both required replacing. Once the engine is done there are hopes of building a short 36" gauge demonstration track at the museum, and the engine could visit Durango or Chama once it is operational.
#4436, a Class S-5 0-6-0 switcher, was built as a coal burner for the Union Pacific by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, PA, in 1918. It worked at various locations in Nebraska until WWII, when it was moved to the Portland, OR, area. At that time, it was converted to an oil burner and its original slope back tender was replaced by a Vanderbilt tender.
Around 1947, #4436 was moved to Evanston, WY. It was still there as late as October 1957, and may have been the last steam locomotive assigned to Evanston.
#4436 weighs 156,000 lbs. It has 51” drivers and 21” x 26” cylinders. Operating at a boiler pressure of 180 psi, it delivered 34,400 lbs tractive effort.
#4436 was retired in 1958 and donated to City of Ogden, UT.
Both #4436 and #1297 were moved to Ogden Union
Station in 1993. #4436 is on display at the northern end of the station next to the
car park. It is coupled to Union Pacific Steel Cupola Caboose #25176.
#1297 was sold to the Bolack Electromechanical Museum in 2002 and is now on display in Farmington, NM.
#4436 went on display with Southern Pacific Class S-8 0-6-0 #1297 at Affleck Park.
Above, a view of #436's backhead.
The rotary is driven by a boiler inside the car body but did not have its own traction power. It was pushed from the rear by another locomotive.
Tender #907827 was built as 13-C-124 in 1923 and was last assigned to LA&SL Class TT-6 2-10-2 #5510. When #5510 retired in 1949, the tender was assigned to general service. It was renumbered #907827 in October 1962. Both were donated to the museum in September 1978. The original tender mated to #900061 was modified to be an auxiliary water tender but was not included with the donation.
This oil fired rotary snow plow was built at Alco’s Patterson, NJ, works in 1913 for the Union Pacific subsidiary, the Oregon, Washington Railway & Navigation Company, as #61.
Based in Pocatello, ID, #61 spent its entire
working life in the Pacific Northwest. It was heavily rebuilt over the years, receiving an elevated pilot cab and new silver steel carbody with black lettering (it was originally brown with white lettering) during a major overhaul in 1951. It was renumbered #900061 in 1959. When it was retired in 1978, it was one of the last pieces of steam powered equipment on the Union Pacific system. Donated to the museum that year, it then went into storage for several years.
While in storage, vandals and transients broke all #600091's windows and burned the cab.
The plow was subsequently restored to how it appeared at the end of its career.
This derrick was built for the Union Pacific by the Industrial Works in Bay City, MI, in 1910 as #02781. It weighs 222,440 lbs and has a maximum lifting capacity of 120 tons. It was initially assigned to Kansas City, KS, then Omaha, NE, and finally Salina, KS.
Built as a coal burner, it was later converted to burn oil. It was renumbered #03037 in May 1918
and then #903037 in May 1959 when the Union Pacific consolidated all its non-revenue equipment into a common number series, setting aside the 900000 series for its cranes. In early October 1974, it was moved with tender #902207 and boom car #909323 to Salt Lake City, UT, for annual inspection.
Tender #902207 was built as an extra tender in 1923 and was last assigned to OSL Class P-10 4-6-2 #3129. When #3129 retired in August 1952, the tender was removed and assigned to general service.
Renumbered OSL #902207 in October 1962, it was assigned to Derrick #903037. Instead of a drawbar on the locomotive end, it has a standard coupler
to allow it to be used with other equipment. It has
a small gasoline pump manufactured for
non-motive power use such as washing or
putting out fires.
The derrick and tender then spent a brief time in Las Vegas, NV.
Both #903037 and #902207 were donated to the museum on 16th October 1978.
This diesel powered wrecking derrick was built by Industrial Brownhoist in Bay City, MI, in 1967 as
X-250 for the Missouri Pacific Railroad. It weighs 379,000 lbs and has a 250 ton lifting capacity. Originally assigned to North Little Rock, AR, it was acquired by the Union Pacific when it and the Missouri Pacific merged. It moved to Salt Lake City after the merger, was retired in 1995, went into storage and was then sold to Durbano Metal Salvage in Ogden, UT. Dennis Durbano donated
X-250 to the museum.
Industrial Brownhoist began as Industrial Works in 1873. It built its first railroad crane for the Chicago & Western Illinois in 1883 and went on to become a major producer. At the height of production, it had the capacity to build as many as twenty cranes at any one time. After a hundred years of production and a number of changes of ownership, the plant finally shut down in 1983.
You can see other Industrial Brownhoist cranes on the B&O Museum Yard & Car Shop page of this website, the Nevada Northern Railroad Museum, Monticello Railway Museum, Orange Empire Railroad Museum and Lake Superior Railroad Museum pages.
These cranes were called “big hooks”, and were the mainstay of wrecking trains until more powerful and mobile truck cranes rendered them obsolete.
In the winter of 1947-48, the US began a relief effort to war-torn France and Italy: citizens donated more than seven hundred box cars of goods, food and clothes to an “American Friendship Train”.
In gratitude, a group of French citizens organised a private effort to thank the people of the US for their assistance in the two world wars and for the relief aid. The result was the forty-nine box car “Merci Train”.
Donations came from over six million French citizens. The train, weighing more than 250 tons, arrived in New York aboard the steamship Magellan on 3rd February 1949. One box car was for each of the states, and one was to be shared between the District of Columbia, Alaska and Hawaii.
They were called “40 et 8” (40 and 8) cars because the French military rated them to carry forty soldiers or eight horses.
The car arrived on 22nd February 1949 and was paraded through downtown Salt Lake City. It went on display in front of the Union Pacific Depot for a short time before moving to Memory Grove.
Most of the "40 et 8" cars have survived. You can see others on the Nevada State Railroad Museum page of this website, the Kentucky Railway Museum page and the B&O Railroad Museum Roundhouse page.
The "40 et 8" car was moved to Ogden's Union Station in 2001. It has been beautifully restored following damage sustained by a tornado in 1999.
