UP deal with RRHMA took over a year to complete

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.