There is news coming out of Heber that 618 will be converted to oil and receive the much needed care she deserves. As some one who has fed a lot of coal to her grates, I have mixed feelings but I am glad she will be running again. Here's the news:

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=30960927&nid=14 ... id=queue-3

Art

I can certainly relate (I spent three years firing 618). What hasn't been explained yet is why she's being converted. NIMBY problems?

Jeff Terry

grass fire hazard

I liked her appearance when they had the number plate on the smokebox front and the headlight up top. Very attractive. Pretty engine either way.
Oil conversion is a good idea in the dry climate, plus ease of support.

Quick reminder - how did the Union Pacific engine, formerly native to Oregon, end up in Utah? Was it just a case of "We want an engine for display /operation" - where can we get one?

Thanks for the heads up.

BTW - What's going on with GW #75? I thought the plan had always been to use that engine -while- #618 was being rebuilt?

/Mitch

Here's one snapshot of 618's journey. Photo captions read:



http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=362043

Thanks - RP is a great resource that goes well beyond "great pictures". Wish they took more of that kind of stuff.

Question I have is half answered - but to dig deeper - why did UP donate it to UT? Safe to assume it ran in UT and perhaps close to where it was originally put on display?

/Mitch

(and, still wondering... what's the status of Heber's ex-Great Western #75?)

Mitch,

The 618 was built for the Oregon Short Line Railroad ("OSL"), which for most of the company's life, was a subsidiary of the Union Pacific. The OSL operated in Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Montana and Oregon. I believe the OSL's headquarters, or at least some of their offices were located in the UP depot in downtown Salt Lake City. So, it is very appropriate that an OSL locomotive will soon be operating in Utah. The OSL, like the UP in the post-recievership era, was a Utah corporation.

The OSL was a separate company, operated under lease by the UP until the 1980s, when it was fully merged into the UP system.

The 75, last time I saw her, is still a parts kit. From what I've been told, the locomotive needed far more extensive work than anticipated (basically jack up the whistle and rebuilt everything else), and thus it is taking longer. I doubt the 75 has seen such an extensive overhaul since her days on the Great Western, if ever. When completed, the 75 will be a very reliable locomotive for years to come.

I was also told that the idea is that 618 needed far less work, so steam could return to the Heber Valley while the 75 project is finished.

I've checked Kratville's UP power book and cannot find an explanation as to why 618 was saved, other than it was probably around nearby when a donation was requested. From 1958 to 1970, it resided at the fairgrounds in Salt Lake City. In 1970, it went to Heber.

Thanks David!

I didn't realize the OSL covered so much territory.

And a quick double check - I'll not get it confused with the Oregon Railroad & Navigation Co. which also became part of UP and has a surviving 4-6-2 Pacific, #197 in Portland sharing a stable with SP&S #700 and SP #4449.

And, I'm sure you meant:

once again, at the Heber Valley!

/Mitch

The 618 was working in Northern Utah in the mid to late 1940’s and between Provo and Ironton at the steel mill in the 1950’s. When 618 was donated and placed on the State Fairgrounds in Salt Lake City it was very likely chosen because it was locally available and complete.

Shay Stark

David Wilkins wrote:

>> The 618 was built for the Oregon Short Line Railroad ("OSL"), which for most of the company's life, was a subsidiary of the Union Pacific. The OSL operated in Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Montana and Oregon. I believe the OSL's headquarters, or at least some of their offices were located in the UP depot in downtown Salt Lake City. So, it is very appropriate that an OSL locomotive will soon be operating in Utah. The OSL, like the UP in the post-recievership era, was a Utah corporation.

>> The OSL was a separate company, operated under lease by the UP until the 1980s, when it was fully merged into the UP system.

>> I've checked Kratville's UP power book and cannot find an explanation as to why 618 was saved, other than it was probably around nearby when a donation was requested. From 1958 to 1970, it resided at the fairgrounds in Salt Lake City. In 1970, it went to Heber. <<

Small clarification...OSL's corporate headquarters was always in Salt Lake City, even for the brief time in 1897-1898 when it was fully independent from UP. It was located at No. 10 South Main, at the corner of Main Street and South Temple, right in the very center of downtown. Like David mentioned, OSL was incorporated in Utah throughout its corporate existence, 1897-1987.

Likely more than you want to know:

http://www.utahrails.net/up/osl-1897-1936.php

Here is a Dave England photo of OSL 618 in the Provo, Utah roundhouse in 1955. It was shown as "Stored Serviceable" in a July 16, 1956 letter from Frank Acord, Master Mechanic at Provo at the time. It was retired in May 1958, and donated to State of Utah at about the same time. I don't yet have a date for when it was moved to the state fairgrounds, where it was displayed until November 1970.

http://donstrack.smugmug.com/UtahRails/ ... -dtppBXZ/A

Don Strack

I remembered after reading this thread that I had seen one picture of #618 at the Utah State Fairgrounds taken in fall of 1962-- in my mother's West High School yearbook from that year.

Are there any updates regarding the restoration of 618 or GW #75 to operation there? I may be headed out that way next year and was wondering if steam would be running by next year's operating season.

Best update I can find
http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/r ... 10,3582237

Lol...if you notice, I started that topic. Was hoping for a better answer here...