This Consolidation type (2-8-0) locomotive was built as #975, one of thirty (#965-#979) delivered to the Union Pacific subsidiary the Oregon Short Line between 1901 and 1903 by Burnham, Williams & Co, one of the early incarnations of the Baldwin Locomotive Works.
Built as a Vauclain compound, #975 had 16” x 30” high pressure and 27” x 30” low pressure cylinders. Weighing 188,585 lbs, 162,7500 lbs on its 56” drivers, with a 33.8 sq ft grate, 202.4 sq ft firebox and 2,570 sq ft heating surface, it operated at a boiler pressure of 200 psi delivering 34,510 lbs tractive effort.
In 1915, #975 was renumbered #535 but, by this time, many
US railroads were no longer buying compounds and converting those they owned to simple expansion. In 1918,
the thirty OSL Vauclain compounds were simpled with
21½” x 30” cylinders.
When #535 was simpled, the original Stephenson valve gear was replaced by Walschaert. At some stage, it was also superheated, the rebuild increasing the weight to 197,300 lbs, although slightly reduced to 174,000 lbs on the drivers.
The grate increased to 49.5 sq ft with the rebuild and the firebox reduced to 174 sq ft. The boiler pressure was also reduced to 190 psi but, with a total heating surface of 2,810, including 464 sq ft superheating, they nevertheless delivered 39,291 lbs tractive effort, a 12% increase.
In 1936, #535 was leased to the UP. After conversion to oil in September 1952, #535 served on the UP Coalmont Branch between Laramie and Coalmont, CO, and in the Laramie area hauling freight, pulling excursion trains and working in the yards.
The following year, #535 was renumbered #6535.
It last operated in the Laramie area in 1957 and
was finally retired in 1958. It was donated to the City of Laramie in 1959 and placed on display in LaBonte Park. Wasatch Railroad Contractors and Black Hills Trucking moved it to its current
location in Railroad Heritage Park in February
2011.
It is on display as part of what was a typical snow train comprising a plow, locomotive, bunk car and caboose. However, there is no evidence that this particular combination ever operated on the UP.
UP #900015 is a Single-Track Wedge Snow Plow built by the Union Pacific in 1959 and originally numbered #015. It was built from Tender #12-C-115 in December 1953 in Pocatello, ID, and was used to clear lines over Sherman Summit and other places in the Rocky Mountains.
The plow was unmanned and had no cab. The tender was weighted with ballast to aid in moving large amounts of snow and to decrease the possibility of derailments. The crushed granite, scrap metal and lead used as ballast brought the total weight of the plow to 228,900 lbs.
In May 1959, the railroad renumbered the plow #900015 at which time it appears to have been working in western Nebraska. It was then stationed in Wyoming in early 1979. The Wyoming Colorado Railroad bought the UP's Coalmont Branch in November 1987 at which time it also acquired #900015.
On 8th January 1989 the plow derailed at Fox Park, WY, sustaining serious structural damage. It was not repaired and returned to Laramie to be stored in the railroad yard. The City of Laramie bought the plow in early 2011.
The bunk car on display started life as a class
A-50-12 automobile car #152456, built for the UP in 1929 by the Ralston Steel Car Company in Columbus, OH. In 1937, it was renumbered #176163.
#176163 served throughout the UP system, carrying a variety of freight in addition to vehicles. In 1955, it was converted to non-revenue, six-man bunk car #06778, including installing windows and a door and remodeling the interior with sleeping accommodation, a cooking area and restroom. In 1957, it was renumbered #906778.
The car was sold for scrap in October 1976 and was subsequently bought by the Wyoming Colorado Railroad. It stood in the Laramie yard until about 1987, when it was converted into the ticket office for the railroad's passenger excursion trains and received its present paint scheme, security grilles and decorative wood panels. WYCO's excursion trains ceased in 1996 and the car was sold for scrap in 2008.
The following year, a local campaign raised funds to buy the car from the salvager and donate it to the City of Laramie.
The Union Pacific shops in Omaha, Nebraska, built class CA-5 all-steel caboose #3936 in August 1952. In June 1959, it was renumbered #25232.
#25232 probably worked all over the UP system but, with the arrival of more modern stock, it ended its life in Marysville, KS, retired in May 1986.
It then became the Laramie Visitor Information Center for the Chamber of Commerce, with its interior remodeled for office purposes, until at least 2006. It was moved along with the other stock to Railroad Heritage Park in 2011.
