Union Pacific 5511 is a

2-10-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels, ten powered and coupled driving wheels, and two trailing wheels. In the United States and elsewhere the is known as th ...

“Santa Fe” type steam locomotive built by the

Baldwin Locomotive Works The Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) was an American manufacturer of railway locomotives from 1825 to 1951. Originally located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, it moved to nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania, Eddystone in the early 20th century. The com ...

in September 1923 as part of the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...

's TTT-6 class. While other railroads referred to this wheel arrangement as the “Santa Fe” type, Union Pacific simply categorized it by its wheel configuration—2-10-2—and class. It is the last surviving 2-10-2 of 144 units operated by the UP from 1917 to the end of steam in 1959, and the only complete UP steam locomotive equipped with Young valve gear. The locomotive ran in revenue service until being withdrawn in 1956. Afterwards, it remained in storage in the UP's roundhouse in

Cheyenne, Wyoming Cheyenne ( or ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Wyoming, most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming. It is the county seat of Laramie County, Wyoming, Laramie County, with 65,132 reside ...

. In April 2022, Union Pacific announced that No. 5511 was among several pieces of equipment to be donated to Railroad Heritage of Midwest America (RRHMA) in

Silvis, Illinois Silvis is a city in Rock Island County, Illinois, Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. It is part of a larger metropolitan area known as the Quad Cities. The Quad Cities Metropolitan Area is situated across four counties in Illinois and Io ...

, with plans to rebuild No. 5511 for operational purposes once Challenger No. 3985 is rebuilt. As of 2025, both Nos. 3985 and 5511 are still undergoing operational restoration.

History

Revenue service

Between 1917 and 1924, the Union Pacific Railroad was facing new operational challenges. As freight traffic increased and the railroad expanded across the rugged terrain of the American West especially through the Wasatch Mountain and Sherman Hill, UP needed more powerful locomotives capable of handling long, heavy trains over steep grades. By the 1910s, the Mallet compound articulateds were powerful but complex, and the traditional 2-8-0 “Consolidation” types were becoming outdated. UP engineers, in collaboration with the Baldwin Locomotive Works, began looking for a solution that could provide strong tractive effort, reliable performance, and a simpler mechanical layout. Union Pacific purchased 144 2-10-2 "Santa Fe" types, divided into classes TTT-1 through TTT-7.

American Locomotive Company The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer that operated from 1901 to 1969, initially specializing in the production of locomotives but later diversifying and fabricating at various time ...

(ALCO) built 18,

built 88 and

Lima Locomotive Works Lima Locomotive Works (LLW) was an American firm that manufactured railroad locomotives from the 1870s through the 1950s. The company's name is derived from the location of its main manufacturing plant in Lima, Ohio ( ). The shops were located be ...

built 37. Despite the divided classes, all of the UP 2-10-2s had the same cylinder dimensions, driving wheel diameter and boiler pressure. As traffic grew, these locomotives became workhorses for UP’s freight division. No. 5511 was the twelfth member of twenty-five TTT-6's to be built in 1923. It was initially assigned to pull heavy freight trains over the steep grades of the Wasatch Mountain Range between

Ogden Ogden may refer to: Places Canada *Ogden, Calgary, in Calgary, Alberta *Ogden, Quebec, a small municipality in the Eastern Townships * Ogdensville, British Columbia or Ogden City, alternate names for gold rush-era Seymour Arm, British Columbia *Og ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

and Green River,

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

. With the eventual introduction of the

4-6-6-4 In the Whyte notation for classifying steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, a 4-6-6-4 is a railroad steam locomotive that has four leading wheels followed by two sets of six coupled driving wheels and four trailing wheels. 4-6-6-4's are comm ...

"Challengers", which would be more capable of climbing steep grades than the 2-10-2s, No. 5511 was reassigned to pull long freight trains across the

Great Plains The Great Plains is a broad expanse of plain, flatland in North America. The region stretches east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. They are the western part of the Interior Plains, which include th ...

in Wyoming,

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

and

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

. Sometimes, the locomotive would also be used to help push other freight trains up Sherman Hill. By the end of 1956, No. 5511 was removed from the UP's active list before it was used as a stationary boiler in Ogden and then Green River. In December 1958, No. 5511 was filmed to appear in ''Last of the Giants'', a UP film that mostly featured the railroad's

4-8-8-4 A 4-8-8-4 in the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, is a locomotive with a four-wheel leading truck, two sets of eight driving wheels, and a four-wheel trailing truck. Only one model of locomotives ha ...

" Big Boys". During filming, because the locomotive was no longer operational, it was coupled to a string of freight cars with an EMD diesel locomotive coupled to the other side to push, while No. 5511 would have

burning tires Tire fires are events that involve the combustion of large quantities of tires, usually waste tires, typically in locations where they are stored, dumped, or processed. They exist in two forms: as fast-burning events, leading to almost immediat ...

inside the

smokebox A smokebox is one of the major basic parts of a steam locomotive exhaust system. Smoke and hot gases pass from the firebox through tubes where they pass heat to the surrounding water in the boiler. The smoke then enters the smokebox, and is ...

. After filming was finished, the locomotive was sent to

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...

, where its piston rods were cut and it was scheduled to be scrapped with the rest of the UP's 2-10-2s. However, an unknown employee had ordered the locomotive to be held for preservation due to its movie appearance. As a result, the locomotive was moved from Green River to Cheyenne Wy and stored inside the UP's roundhouse in Cheyenne.

Preservation

By the end of the 1960s, No. 5511 became the only

locomotive from the UP to be preserved. The locomotive was repainted for a cleaner appearance and stored inside the UP's Cheyenne Roundhouse for the next six decades. During that time, the locomotive was repainted and moved onto a turntable to be displayed for a

National Railway Historical Society The National Railway Historical Society (NRHS) is a non-profit organization established in 1935 in the United States to promote interest in, and appreciation for the historical development of Rail transport, railroads. It is headquartered in Phila ...

(NRHS) convention. Subsequently, the locomotive was stored without boiler jacketing. Over the years, there was debate about 5511’s condition. Some claimed it was in poor shape, stripped of cab components and lacking a boiler inspection. Others reported that UP’s steam team had evaluated the boiler and found it to be in surprisingly restorable condition. Still, many considered 5511 a poor candidate for operation. It was designed for slow, heavy freight—its large cylinders and small drivers limiting it to about 45 mph. It had a long wheelbase, friction bearings, and a small tender, all seen as disadvantages. Some hoped it would be sent to a museum; others believed it missed its chance when UP traded Big Boy 4014 to Cheyenne and gave RailGiants an operational diesel in return. Many felt 5511 would have been the perfect trade—a rare, one-of-a-kind engine with Young valve gear, ideal for display and preservation.

Restoration

In April 2022, the UP announced that No. 5511 would be among four locomotives to be donated to the Railroading Heritage of Midwest America (RRHMA), with the others being

No. 3985,

EMD DDA40X The EMD DDA40X is a 6,600 hp (4,943 kW) D-D locomotive, built by EMD from 1969 to 1971 exclusively for the Union Pacific Railroad. It is the most powerful diesel–electric locomotive model ever built on a single frame, having two 1 ...

"Centennial" No. 6936 and an

EMD E9 The E9 is a , A1A-A1A passenger train-hauling diesel locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division of La Grange, Illinois, between April 1954 and January 1964. 100 cab-equipped A units were produced and 44 cabless booster B unit ...

B unit A B-unit, in railroad terminology, is a locomotive unit (generally a diesel locomotive) which does not have a control cab or crew compartment, and must therefore be operated in tandem with another coupled locomotive with a cab (an A-unit) ...

. Several other pieces of

rolling stock The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, Railroad car#Freight cars, freight and Passenger railroad car, passenger cars (or coaches) ...

from the

heritage fleet Amtrak's Heritage Fleet consisted of the rolling stock provided to it when it assumed passenger service on commercial railroads. The name was applied to a 1977–1983 program that converted the older, mainly streamliner cars (rail), streamlined ...

were also included in the donation. The RRHMA has plans to rebuild both 5511 and 3985 back to operation. On May 13, 2022, RRHMA launched a

fundraiser Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

to raise enough money for the restoration of the Nos. 5511 and 3985 steam locomotives. On September 14, 2022, No. 5511 was moved from the Cheyenne roundhouse and around the yard for testing, behind Big Boy No. 4014. This marked the first time 5511 was moved out of the roundhouse since 1970. In November of that same year, UP moved No. 5511 and the rest of the donated equipment to the RRHMA's large shop facility in Silvis,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. No. 5511 is undergoing operational restoration alongside 3985. In January 2023, 5511's smokebox was opened for the first time since storage, and crews began drying out the boiler in preparation for tube removal. In February 2023, RRHMA removed petticoat pipe and stack tops to access internal boiler components. In March 2023, RRHMA Crews removed the superheaters and began milling the boiler pipes. In April 2023, all boiler tubes were removed, and the interior was marked for cleaning and inspection. In July 2023, the firebrick and safety valves were removed for cleaning and refurbishment. In September 2023 the pistons, valves, rings, and piston rods were removed from the cylinders. Needle-scaling prep began to clean out heavy carbon and tire residue from filming Last of the Giants. In December 2023, the crossheads, crosshead guides, and rods were removed and sent to Alex Beams’ shop in Newton for restoration. New firebox sheets, piping, and decking arrived and were staged for installation. In February of 2024, the stacks, dry riser pipes, branch pipes, T-pipes, and superheater headers were removed. The boiler was washed ahead of planned flue sheet removal. The heavily corroded dome was shipped to Strasburg for patterning a replacement. In July 2024, RRHMA received a brand-new steam dome fabricated in Strasburg and was installed on 5511. The next phase focused on removing the flue sheets and beginning the replacement of deteriorated boiler sheets. In February 2025, RRHMA began cleaning the mud ring and drilling out defective stay bolts in the firebox. The original firebox sheets were marked to create accurate patterns and address design flaws in the staybolt layout. The mud ring, remaining stay bolts, and damaged firebox and flue sheets were prepped for removal. Meanwhile, damaged piston and valve rods—originally cut in 1959 when the engine was marked for scrapping—were sent to Newton to have new castings made. In April 2025, 5511's whistle, along with 3985's, was returned from Rizzoli Locomotive Works and tested on Jeddo Coal Company No. 85 during a public shop tour. In June 2025, the superheater header plate and dry riser pipe were reinstalled following complete rebuilds. Next, crews will replace the throttle assembly and reattach boiler piping in preparation for steam testing.

References

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External links