The Ogden Union Station in Ogden, UT is one step closer to having a functioning diesel locomotive thanks to the efforts of Wasatch Railroad Contractors.
The Station is home to the largest railroad museum in Utah and contains a variety of railroad equipment sampling major eras of railroading history. Included in the collection is a variety of former Union Pacific equipment, including 4-8-4 No. 833, DD40 No. 6916, The Olympic Torch Car from the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, and Gas-Turbine Electric locomotive No. 26. Also housed in the “pavilion” is a variety of rolling stock and cabooses from Southern Pacific, Union Pacific, Denver & Rio Grande Western, Utah Central, and the Utah Railway.
As museum volunteers continue restoration efforts on the various equipment, it becomes necessary to move and rearrange the equipment between the yard tracks on which they are stored. In most cases this has been accomplished either by chaining a forklift or similar machine to the equipment, or enlisting the help of the Union Pacific to send a yard switch crew and locomotive.
No. 1216 was formerly a U.S. Army locomotive assigned to work at the Tooele Army Depot. At some point the locomotive was involved in a switching collision which damaged the rear coupler and associated draft gear. Aside from this, the locomotive is complete and intact.
WRC crews arrived on April 12, 2007 to work on the little locomotive. Immediately work began to remove the damaged draft gear. WRC had fabricated a replacement mounting plate to adapt to a slightly different style of draft gear.
After attaching new threaded studs, bolting the mounting plate and the appropriate castings, and welding everything together, all that was left was to apply some paint.
The next day, WRC went to work to get the locomotive running. While John Rimmasch and Brian Milota worked on the coupler, Mike Lewis, Brent Milota, and Union Station volunteer Daland Spiers looked over the diesel motors and made necessary preparations to get them running. Part of this process involved locating the appropriate batteries to install in the locomotive, and with the help of Union Station representative Mike Burdett, the team was able to secure the 6 needed batteries in brand-new condition.
Brent and Brian Milota installed the batteries and work began to fire up one of the two motors. After some coaxing, one motor was running, and later in the day both motors were running. An inspection of the locomotive found no serious problems, although there are a few minor repairs that need to be made. A few control handles will also need to be located in order to operate the locomotive.
