From Altamont Press:
Historic locomotive to return to duty
An old locomotive that sat in an historic park in Breckenridge, Colorado for the past year-and-a-half will soon literally come back to life.
The 8,900-pound locomotive was hoisted by a crane onto a flatbed truck and hauled away Monday morning. It’s being taken to a place called Uhrich Locomotive Works in Strasburg, CO for refurbishing. After that, it will be returned to operating service on the Georgetown Loop Railroad.
The 1920s steam locomotive, also called Engine 111, has a rich history. It is a 280 Baldwin locomotive that used to run in Central America.
“The state’s historical society expressed some interest in using (Engine) 111 on the Georgetown Loop, and they’ll replace it with another one for us,” Town of Breckenridge spokesman Peter Grosshuesch said.
“The town purchased this engine at an auction about a year-and-a-half ago on the Front Range.”
Marlin Uhrich of Uhrich Locomotive Works told CBS4 that the act of restoring the locomotive for service is a thrill. He said the engine needs a few parts put back, something which will take a year or so.
“Tubes are out of it; the water’s out of it; the ash pan is out,” Uhrich said. “This is what we do. We’ve been doing it since 1948, and we just love working on locomotives.”
Uhrich and his crew of engineers will build all the missing parts for the locomotive in their shop.
After the work is done and the train is hauled back to the mountains, tourists who want to experience a piece of Colorado’s history in person will get to do so when they visit the Georgetown Loop Railroad. - Andrea Lopez, KCNC-TV4, Denver, CO, courtesy Larry W. Grant