After spending over a decade on display at the Boulder County Railway Historical Society site near Boulder Colorado, former Union Pacific / Great Western Railway GP9 #296 departed Colorado via truck on December 18.

Locomotive is said to be going to the Heber Valley Railroad in Utah and is most likely somewhere on I80 in Wyoming right now. Former Burling Northern Caboose 12300 is also said to be on its way to the Heber Valley from the BCRHS site.

Photo shows 296 on a truck, east bound out of Boulder on Valmont Road. Photo is from my friend Mike Roswell who happened to be driving by.

Jason Midyette

For what it is worth here is some history on UP 296 as well as a photo from April;

History is something I wrote for the BCRHS in 2003, photo is mine from April 2015.

I'm glad to see that 296 has a new home.

Jason Midyette

Great Western Railway #296

History:

Great Western GP9 locomotive #296 was built by EMD in September of 1954 as Union Pacific #296. The locomotive was one of a group of five UP GP9's that were equipped with steam generators so that the locomotives could be used to power local passenger trains throughout the UP system. (Steam, originally from steam locomotives, was used to heat as well as power the air conditioners on passenger cars, so passenger diesel locomotives were equipped with small boilers to allow them heat and cool the cars)

Following the creation of Amtrak in 1971 and the demise of Union Pacific passenger trains, all five locomotives had their steam generators removed in 1972 and 1973. 296's steam generator was removed in December of 1972. Along with removal of the steam generators, the locomotives received 2,400 gallon fuel tanks in place of the 800 gallon fuel and 800 gallon water tanks that they were originally equipped with. The locomotives were then used strictly in freight and switching service.

#297 was the first of the UP's passenger GP9,ss to leave the roster, being sold for scrap in 1980. #298 and 299 followed in 1982 and #295 was scrapped in 1984. The sole survivor of the group, #296 was sold to the Great Western Railway on June 18 of 1985, after nearly 31 years of service on the UP.

At first, #296 retained its yellow and gray UP paint scheme, the GW merely painted out the "Union Pacific" and put a Great Western herald in front of the cab on each side of the locomotive. By 1987, 296 had been painted in the orange, black and silver Great Western scheme that it wears today.

Locomotive 296 was used to power freight trains all along the Great Western, and in the late 1980's even returned to leading passenger trains during the GW's brief attempt at offering excursion trains. The locomotive also spent several stints as the GW's Longmont switcher, where it was used to pull cars from the interchange with the Burlington Northern (later BNSF) up to Western Sugar Company's silos near the old Great Western Sugar plant. It closed out its 18 year career with the GW by serving as the Longmont switcher from 1999 to May of 2003, though it did not run for the last three years.

In late 2002, the GW, and its parent company Omnitrax, decided to retire and sell for scrap many of the older locomotives on the property, including 296. In May of 2003, the BCRHS was able to purchase the locomotive from the GW for $5,000.00. For a fee of $617.10, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe moved the locomotive from Longmont to the BCRHS display site on October 28, 2003.

With the exception of the removal of its steam generator, GW 296 remains today essentially the same as when it was built. The locomotive retains its original control stand and even still has green lenses for its class lights. (Green was used to indicate that a second section of a passenger train was following). The locomotive is nearly 100% complete and should be operational with some new batteries.

Word I have is Heber Valley is the new owner.

Robby

Interesting move for Heber Valley. They already have five diesels, a couple of NW2s, a 44 tonner, an MRS-1, and an RS4TC. I'm not sure what they're going to do with a GP9. They have probably a half-dozen cabeese as well.

296 was built to haul passenger traffic on Union Pacific branch lines. The Heber Valley operates on such a branch line between Heber City and formerly Provo (beautiful country). I don't think it is unusual to want a locomotive with its heritage and history to pull passenger trains on a former UP branch line.

Seems to me like a great fit.

Well done, Michael!

The Heber Valley operates on a former D&RGW branch line, not a former UP branch. Minor technicality, though.

Rob Gardner

An RS4TC, and a 44 tonner are to small to operate normal passenger trains on the steep grades that the HVRR has. Also the couple of NW2's are under rebuild so a second large diesel to help with large trains will probably help with operating and maintenance schedules. Those are just my thoughts...