Pacific States Cast Iron Pipe Company (PSCIPCO) of Provo, Utah, donated its EMD NW2 plant switcher to the Heber Valley Historic Railroad Authority. The 251,000 lb. locomotive, former Union Pacific No. 1043, was built in 1946 and was purchased by PSCIPCO in 1985. Plant officials indicated that many of their long-time employees wanted to see the locomotive preserved at the Heber Valley Railroad, as opposed to being sold for other purposes. Although the locomotive needs minor work, it has been converted to roller bearings and is in operational condition. It will soon join sister NW2 No. 1011 and EMD MRS-1 No. 1813, in pulling excursion and work trains.

The locomotive was transported on September 13 from Provo to the railroad's Charleston siding by Intermountain Rigging & HeavyHaul of Salt Lake City, using the same rig as was used to move steam locomotive No. 833 from Pioneer Park in Salt Lake City, to the Ogden Union Station Museum. Other diesels and electric locomotives in the region have been moved in similar fashion. Transporting in this manner allowed the locomotive to remain fully assembled. Because of steep grades and lane closures for road construction and paving, the 25-mile trip took over four hours to complete. The rig uses two specialized tractors (pulling and pushing), has 132 wheels (total), is 16 feet tall, 17 feet wide and over 250 feet long.




Attached photos are by Ken McConnell.

Craig Lacey
Executive Director
Heber Valley Railroad

Craig:

Nice job. What photos?

Just curious - how much did the move cost? Was it really cheaper moving it that way (which is very impressive) rather than moving the locomotive and the trucks seperately with somewhat more conventional equipment?
How often does that rig get used? Seems like it would only be used for very specialized moves. Does the mover give the railroad a special deal on stuff like this?

Thanks,

Phil

When contemplating the move, we factored in the cost of disassembling and reassembling the locomotive on a short time fuse. With height and weight restrictions, it would have been necessary to remove trucks, fuel tank, air reservoirs, pilots, etc., in an off-site, plant-type environment. It would have been also necessary to employ two large cranes (150+ tons) and a 13-axle heavy-haul rig.

This operation called for a 90-ton crane for minimal time, to lift the forward end of the trailer (for locomotive ingress and egress). Given our current backlog of projects and shortage of manpower, we elected to spend the $25,000 or so to make the move this way. As things stand, we've been able to immediately start working on the locomotive, to remove 20+ years of mill-type filth and to address handrails, cut levers and other minor compliance issues. We would have otherwise spent weeks getting everything cleaned up and reassembled.

The jury is still out as to whether this was the best or cheapest way to make this move. Oversize loads are generally not allowed in Provo Canyon, so doing a single move (complete with a major Highway Patrol and UDOT contingent) was probably our best and least troublesome method.

Intermountain Rigging & HeavyHaul has brought in almost every piece of rolling stock at the Heber Valley Railroad using a variety of equipment, and has done a commendable job on every move. Surprisingly, this rig is in almost constant use. In addition to the suspension beams (used for cylinders, reactor vessels, etc.), the trailer utilizes a flat platform, to move transformers and even 200-ton rocket-motor segments. Additional "jeeps" can be added, for a capacity of over 1,000,000 lbs. The rig has served I.R.H. well for the past 15 years.

Craig

Wow, impressive. Having been involved with a moving company and numerous highway moves of rail equipment this is an amazing rig. Good to hear it gets well utilized as all too often equipment like that sits around a lot waiting for a job to perform.
GLRR, Inc. will be moving ex-Westside Lumber Co. Shay #8 from it's Georgetown display site to a new display site in Canon City, Colorado in the next few weeks. The logistics of a move such as this are imposing.
The property that included the original Georgetown depot and the GLRR, Inc. offices has been sold to Clear Creek County and the Royal Gorge Route Railroad will be purchasing an office building in Canon City where the #8 will be placed on display.
I'll try and post some pictures when this move occurs.

Phil

Thats quite a rig! Very interesting move.