SILVIS, Ill. — Negotiations between Union Pacific and Railroading Heritage Of Midwest America took over a year to complete before the deal was inked that transferred two UP steam locomotives, including Challenger 3985, and other equipment to the preservation group.
The deal, which will see No. 3985 and 2-10-2 No. 5511 returned to steam, was announced last week [see “Railroad Heritage of Midwest America, Union Pacific agree …,” Trains News Wire, April 28, 2022].
Steve Sandberg, RRHMA president and chief operating officer, said the two organizations worked together to bring the deal to fruition, with UP seeking a way to preserve the equipment and make it available to be seen by the public. That wasn’t really an option available through the railroad’s current corporate structure, Sandberg said, so UP and its steam boss, Ed Dickens, looked to find other ways to do so.
While the equipment could have gone to other museums, one appealing part of the deal was Sandberg’s insistence that if UP ever wanted to repatriate the equipment in the future, it would have the chance to do so. “I insisted that be part of the deal,” Sandberg says. “I wanted to give UP the ability that if they wanted to get equipment back at some point in the future, they would have the ability to do so, so we wrote that into the agreement. UP would have to reimburse RRHMA for doing so, but it is an option.”
Also part of the agreement: UP will prepare and move the equipment to Silvis. With the recent postponement of Big Boy 4014’s western trip this year, the timeline has moved up, since Dickens and his UP steam team now has more time to get the equipment ready. Sandberg said the move will likely be this autumn and be well publicized, like UP’s move of Big Boy 4014 from Southern California to Cheyenne in 2014. It will move via UP to a point in Iowa for interchange with Iowa Interstate Railroad, which serves the Silvis facility.
The Silvis shop was recently cleaned, and RRHMA is working to get it ready for the equipment. “We are doing a deep clean, track work, and installing new LED lighting,” Sandberg says. Some specialized equipment needed to overhaul No. 3985 will be moved from the shop in Minneapolis to be available to the crew rebuilding 3985. That crew, like the one that rebuilt Milwaukee Road No. 261 in the early 1990s, will be made up of paid employees that can work five days a week on the rebuild. “We are currently hiring,” Sandberg says. In particular RRHMA is seeking steel fabricators, pipefitters and boilermakers. “If you have those or other steam skills and want to be part of the team, we’d like to hear from you,” he said.
Sandberg says Silvis is the perfect shop to handle steam locomotive rebuilds, since it was designed as a steam locomotive shop and has two 150-ton overhead cranes, drop tables, and inspection pits. “If you were trying to design a shop to overhaul steam locomotives, you’d incorporate the features that Silvis already has,” Sandberg says.
One of RRHMA’s goals is to establish Silvis as a warehouse for steam locomotive parts for other groups. “The idea is that we could get together and buy in bulk for things such as boiler tubes,” Sandberg says. “They could be inventoried at Silvis and shipped around the country when needed.”
While his organization is planning to open the facility for tours and open houses, Sandberg emphasizsd that the shop is not currently open. Some fans have already been stopping by, and while RRHMA appreciates the support, it is not currently set up to accommodate visitors and is discouraging the practice. Instead, RRHMA is asking for donations to support the overhaul of No. 3985 and 2-10-2 No. 5511 which can be made at the RRHMA website, 261.com, and Support RRHMA | Railroading Heritage of Midwest America.
Silvis was an imperssive place to pass when NRE had a ton of locomotives stored there… Easily visible from I-80 just before you hit the Mississippi River…
Silvis is the former Rock Island main backshop.
I wonder if UP was looking for a home for its heritage collection before the Hedge Funds made them auction it off.
Sounds like a good deal for all involved.
“It will move via UP to a point in Iowa for interchange with Iowa Interstate Railroad, which serves the Silvis facility.”
UP and IAIS interchange directly at two points in Iowa- in Council Bluffs via Pool Yard, and in Des Moines via Short Line Junction & Yard. I’d love to see the latter, because that would mean the move would go over the Kate Shelley bridge, and it would go slowly through Des Moines to negotiate the northeast leg of the wye at Short Line Junction. Logically, the interchange at Council Bluffs would make more sense, tho.
“UP’s Corporate Structure” really means the lawyers and their risk officer weren’t onboard with allowing an engine not in their care, not maintained by them on their tracks without some kind of liability waiver.
Amtrak maintains liability for their motive equipment when in use on Class 1 track. But an engine that is titled to a museum is a different animal. So the museum offered to transfer the title back to UP to meet the liability requirement is not something UP is probably used to.
If people recall, when a private passenger operator attempted to start service between LA and Las Vegas, they tried to use UP ROW and were unable to meet UP’s liability requirements. The proposal ended shortly thereafter.
At the Short Line and Regional RR trade show in St Louis on May 2 I spoke with someone who had worked at Silvis for the last owner and asked if the new guys could afford to maintain the building. He told me his previous employer had spent a lot redoing the roof, so that won’t be a problem for for them. And that is a huge roof area. Good news.
A bright future for the locomotives, looking forward to see them in steam again.
Hopefully Sandberg and the organization can be as successful with the U.P. equipment, as they were with 261, but this is a very different economic climate then existed when 261 was restored.
“That wasn’t really an option available through the railroad’s current corporate structure…” Translation: UP currently and in the foreseeable future has a full plate just keeping the railroad running, and can’t be distracted with any expansion of the heritage program. I agree, and this deal is a brilliant win-win for both sides.