NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Union Pacific has unveiled its Abraham Lincoln commemorative locomotive, honoring the president who signed the bill creating Union Pacific as part of the transcontinental railroad.
“Union Pacific exists because President Abraham Lincoln wasn’t afraid to ask, ‘What’s Possible?’” Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena said at a ceremony in North Little Rock. “Our employees move the critical goods Americans use each day. We are proud of our heritage and look forward to sharing this special locomotive with the communities and people along the 23 states where we operate.”
Officials including Arkansas Lt. Governor Leslie Rutledge, North Little Rock Mayor Terry Hartwick and Lincoln Presidential Foundation Chairman Emeritus Sergio “Satch” Pecori were among those taking part in the event.
The color scheme of locomotive No. 1616 — numbered to reflect Lincoln’s service as the 16th president — is a nod to steam locomotive No. 119, one of two to take part in the Golden Spike ceremony at Promontory Summit, Utah, in 1869. The locomotive, painted at the railroad’s Downing B. Jenks Locomotive Shop in North Little Rock, will serve as a traveling ambassador, the railroad said. It will make its first public appearance on May 10 at the Oregon Rail Heritage Center in Portland, as part of National Train Day. The railroad will announce additional details on the trip on its website and on social media.
The railroad had announced plans for the locomotive in February [see “UP announces locomotive honoring Abraham Lincoln,” Trains News Wire, Feb. 17, 2025]. It becomes the railroad’s second presidential diesel, following No. 4141, honoring George H.W. Bush. That unit is now displayed at the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum in College Station, Texas.
