How UP 618 Came to be Saved
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By Jeff Terry (November 15, 2005)
Post subject: More on Union Pacific 618
Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2005 10:49 pm
From Railway Preservation News:
In the past few years I've talked to many people who have worked for the now defunct Heber Creeper (Wasatch Mountain Railway) and the current Heber Valley Railroad, and their stories make for some great reading. Though I still have many, many more people on my list to cross off, thankfully, many have been happy to talk about their experiences on "the Heber." In fact, two regulars on this board, Kelly and Lynn at Strasburg, have contributed via phone interviews, as they worked at Heber in the 1970s; both had some great stories to share. The following is based mostly on information gathered from Ed McLaughlin, Stan Jennings, Charles "Chick" Nielson, and others. They have been good sources for early Heber history. Ed was the first GM and Stan was a member of the Promontory Chapter NRHS, while "Chick" was a regular Heber engineer.
The following is a small excerpt from the rough text of the book, from the chapter about how 618 was saved. When we enter the story, the Heber Creeper has been established and crews are working on track, restoring the Heber depot, and other small projects, but no train has run yet because very little equipment was then on site. All they had was a little Davenport diesel and some work cars before 618 came along, although they had been given three locomotives from the M. Davidson Scrap Yard in California that had not yet arrived.
By September 1970 the Wasatch Mountain Railway was busy rebuilding track, and most of its rolling stock either hadn't arrived in Utah yet or was scattered across the Salt Lake Valley in storage. But a twist of fate would make a local steam locomotive available - a locomotive which was in surprisingly good mechanical condition and in fact, would become the first steam engine to run on the WMRY. Union Pacific No. 618 had been donated to the State of Utah by the Union Pacific Railroad in 1958 after a long career of faithful service. Placed on display at the State Fairgrounds in Salt Lake City, No. 618 wore a sign dedicating it to "All of the railroad workers of the State of Utah." Behind its high fence, the 2-8-0 rested virtually undisturbed for eleven years. That is, until the management of the fairgrounds decided that the 105-ton engine was occupying space they needed for expansion, and decided to get rid of it. But under the provision of the original donation agreement, the locomotive could not be moved out of the state or sold. That left one option - they would dig a hole next to the engine and topple it over, then cover it up.
Fortunately, the engine was saved from this fate after Edward McLaughlin was alerted to the situation by Jim Berry, who happened to find out about the Fair's plans for the 2-8-0 by chance. Ed relates the tale:
During the summer of 1970, Jim Berry, Director of the Golden Spike Empire in northern Utah, stopped by to see the General Manager of the Utah State Fair on marketing business. While Jim was there, the General Manager happened to mention that he should try to come back and watch what was about to happen to the rusty old steam engine that sat in the middle of now prime State Fair property. Being a closet railfan, Jim's response was, "What are you talking about?" The General Manager replied, "We need the space for the fair in the fall, and so we plan to dig a deep hole and topple the old engine into it. Excavators and cement trucks will be here in two days to dig the hole, push the engine in, and cover it with concrete." Jim asked, "Could you hold off as I know some people trying to do something that might save the engine as a historic relic!" The contractor replied, "They don't have much time, we need to get moving and clear the space. I guess we could hold off for a few days, until possibly early next week. If they can move it, they can have it." Jim left the Fair's office and called me at the Heber depot to explain how grave the situation was and ask what should be done. I had to think fast once I heard the total story. I immediately suggested that the locomotive be donated to the National Railway Historical Society (NRHS), Promontory Chapter, and they could then loan the No. 618 to the Heber project. Jim Berry said he would coordinate the donation if I could handle the moving. In two days, the NRHS received donation of No. 618 and then loaned it to the Wasatch Mountain Railway for $1.00 and other considerations. At that moment the Heber group swung into action to move the locomotive out of its landlocked location in the middle of the fairgrounds. The main crew consisted of the late Dennis Spendlove, J. Rodney Edwards, the late Gordon Wheeler, Al LaFever, Charles "Chick" Nielson, and myself, along with others who came and went as the work progressed. Many people came to the rescue of the No. 618 once word got out about what we were doing. There was no time to waste. Since they couldn't purchase it outright, the WMRY suggested that the No. 618 be placed in the care of the Promontory Chapter, NRHS, which in turn agreed to lease it to the Wasatch Mountain Railway for use on the Heber Creeper. The State agreed, and the title was transferred to the Promontory Chapter in September, 1970.
When the NRHS received the No. 618 from the State Fair, they really had no place to run or take the engine for storage," remembers McLaughlin. "The locomotive more or less had to come Heber and we [WMRY management] knew this when it was suggested that it be donated to them. In those days, Heber was the only game in town when it came to preserving and operating steam trains. The [Utah State Railroad Museum at] Ogden was not formed in those days, and besides, no one wanted to see No. 618 go sit behind another fence." In September, 1970 the Wasatch Railway & Museum Foundation's steam locomotives from California had yet to arrive, so No. 618 was chosen to be the first engine restored and placed back into service. Although they had been told to move the 2-8-0 off the property before the State Fair opened, the Promontory Chapter had not been able to do so before gates opened in late September, 1970. Instead, they set up a booth alongside the engine and distributed information to the public about the Wasatch Mountain Railway project, and in the process gained several members.
As the Chapter and the Wasatch Mountain Railway geared up to get 618 running again, the locomotive was evaluated still sitting at its display site. Surprisingly, the inspections revealed it to be in remarkably good condition, considering it had been sitting outdoors exposed to the elements for nearly twelve years. Some missing and rusted-out parts, such as valves and gauges, were taken out of Heber stock and replaced -- many of these parts were acquired by Charles Nielson, who was employed by Kennecott Copper as an engineer on their Bingham & Garfield Railroad. "I got all of the equipment that we needed: gauges, automatic and independent brake valves, distributor valves, feed valves and more," he says. "They had that stuff off the Mallets that they hadn't scrapped yet, and they weren't going to use it because they'd been electrified since '48."
In short order No. 618's boiler was inspected and pronounced safe to operate by the State of Utah boiler inspector. Some plumbing and piping was renewed, but overall, the engine was in excellent mechanical condition and required very little work before it could be placed under steam. It was planned to move the locomotive out of the fairgrounds using compressed air, but first everything needed to be cleaned and lubricated first, and parts that had rusted beyond repair needed to be replaced. "Essentially the locomotive was prepared in one week to receive compressed air. Everything was oiled, greased, and made to work on compressed air as opposed to steam." remembers McLaughlin. "A 250-CFM air compressor was placed next to the locomotive and several track panels were built behind the engine's Vanderbilt tender. The work went on every day, all day, and late into the night. The fair grounds even left the lights on for us."
In late November 1970 the 2-8-0 was pumped up with compressed air and moved under its own power for the first time in over a decade. McLaughlin also remembers this well: "When air was first placed to the No. 618, her air pump came to life and we began to circulate light oil through her other systems. The missing brake valves were replaced out of Heber stock as were other missing valves and plugs to stop air and subsequent steam leaks. The air reservoirs were checked along with other tanks. Pressure gauges were installed in the cab. We even got the headlight working with a replacement dynamo from Heber (a former Bingham & Garfield acquired by Charles Nielson). "With a boiler air pressure at just over 150 PSI, we were ready to make the old girl go." "Chick" Nielson was given the honor to operate her backwards onto the first section of panel track. The first rush of air through the pistons caused a cloud of Coke cans, cigarette and marijuana butts along with other stuff to shoot skyward as the stack came to life with a deep "Chug." At that point, everyone cheered"
Details of how 618 was moved under its own power across North Temple to the Salt Lake, Garfield & Western have been omitted. We pick up the story after the engine was successfully taken out of the fairgrounds and after further work had been done at the SLG&W.
Once on live rails, No. 618 was prepared for the journey from Salt Lake City to Provo. It was picked up by a UP diesel at the Garfield's yard in mid December 1970 and then moved via the Provo Local for interchange with the D&RGW. Accompanying No. 618 was a wood caboose (former Union Pacific No. 3505, donated by Brigham Young University) and the four Army Medical Corps. Pullman coaches. On December 5, 1970 the train was handed over to the Rio Grande at Provo, and then towed up the Provo Canyon Branch to Olmstead by D&RGW GP-9 No. 5942.
A load of coal was ordered from a dealer in Provo, and arrangements were made to have water available for the locomotive; both were soon delivered to the mouth of the canyon and loaded into the 2-8-0. By this time not much else had to be done to get the engine ready to return to steam; the amount of work done by the WMRY and NRHS to get the 618 to move and operate using compressed air included repairing most of the rusted out appliances, and the engine was now basically ready to go.
Ed McLaughlin remembers the night before the big day -- the day that 618 would return to steam.
It was December 5, 1970: Dennis Spendlove, Gordon Wheeler and myself were the night crew that would stay with the locomotive as it sat at the base of Provo Canyon. Vandalism was a concern after we had gone to so much work. I turned in early in one of the Pullman compartments in the first hospital car anticipating a meeting with the FRA the next day. They wanted to see the 618 before we actually fired her up. The FRA wanted to give their blessing before we lit a match to her fire. We were ready, the boiler had a full head of water, the tender had been loaded with a full bunker of coal, and everything worked properly on the locomotive with compressed air. Gordon and Dennis said they would take first watch if I would take the second. The big day to storm up the canyon would begin early the next morning - or so I thought as I tossed off my boots and rolled up into a blanket. The moonlight shown into the compartment window and the night was very quiet. Looking it my watch it was 10:30 PM as I drifted off to sleep. Later I rolled over and the glowing hands on my wristwatch indicated it was 3:30 am. Why had I not been called to take my turn sitting on the locomotive to protect it from those infamous Marauding vandals -- wherever they were? It was then that I opened the door to the compartment and heard the unmistakable sound of a dynamo and air umps working in the night. I knew there was no 250 CFM compressor on the site, and I quickly realized something was up.
Pulling on my boots and coat, I went to look out of the vestibule of the car only to see a locomotive headlight streaming down the track and steam escaping from the injector lines into the cold night air. The 618 was sitting there with a full head of steam. I went to the cab and there sat Dennis and Gordon -- guilt covered their faces. I immediately asked, "Why was the engine fired up before the FRA had a chance to inspect her?" Dennis said, "We don't know how the fire started." Gordon continued the charade, "Yeah, must have been spontaneous combustion. This is real good coal you know." "Of course," I said, "Well, what are we going to do now?" It tried to conceal my excitement. Dennis knew how to handle such situations as he handled me a pair a gloves and said, "You want to be the first to take her up the canyon a ways? We have been working on the track and it's clear for a mile or so."
He took a long drag on the cigarette resting in the corner of his mouth. I took the gloves and said, "Why not," as I slid into the engineer's seat, "Here we go!" Gordon ran back to the coaches and set hand brakes on a couple of the hospital cars, then pulled the pin and wheel chains. Within a few moments we were gently steaming up the lower reaches of Provo Canyon. It felt good to feel her moving under steam and see that headlight glaring into the night. At that moment, for the three of us in the cab, 618 could just as well have been 844 on the high iron of the main line over Sherman Hill.
Early the next morning the FRA inspector and the State of Utah Public Utilities Commission PUC men came as scheduled. By then we had returned to the train and coupled back onto the cars. The engine sat there hot and looking proud. The FRA man pulled his overcoat closer and walked up to the engine. It was cloudy and a slight mist was falling. If it got colder, it would turn to snow. I walked over and offered my hand as I introduced myself to the FRA inspector. He said little as he looked the 618 over with the critical eye of a custom inspector at a border crossing looking for smuggled goods. "She is hot, isn't she", he said. Steam burst from the pop valve at that moment.
... and then they headed for Heber City, but that's another 4-5 page story! And I've got pages and pages (and pages) more of this stuff from early Heber Creeper days. Everything from the Heber shop crews cross-country "steal everything we can off of park locomotives" trips in the early 1970s up to the infamous "runaway Shay" incident.
In case someone takes exception with the way things were done "in the old days," it's important not to confuse what happened in the past with the current people running the Heber Valley Railroad. Of course, the new Heber Valley is also being covered with the same degree of detail. Perhaps someday I'll finish this project! Now if I only had a publisher.
Jeff Terry
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