NAMPA, Idaho — After standing still in Lakeview Park for nearly 70 years, restoration of Union Pacific Number 616 is beginning to move forward.
The locomotive was built in 1907 and spent nearly 30 years working around Nampa before arriving at the park in 1958.
The Treasure Valley Historical Railroad Society ultimately hopes Number 616 can operate again, although that remains a long-term ambition requiring additional evaluations, resources and a new location with usable railroad track.
“[The ambition is] that we keep motoring along, pumping a lot of good into it, and keep inching our way towards, hopefully, an operational restoration where it would no longer live here,” society president CJ Vargas said.
WATCH: Restoration gets on track for Nampa’s historic Union Pacific Number 616
The first phase involved removing asbestos once used to insulate the locomotive’s boiler. Vargas said boilers were commonly wrapped in two to three inches of asbestos insulation, which was concealed between the boiler and its exterior metal jacket.
Pacific Technologies Incorporated of Boise tented the locomotive and used wet removal methods to contain asbestos dust. Vargas said the company completed the work in one week and the locomotive is now safe.
With the asbestos gone, the historical railroad society wants an engineering evaluation of the boiler. The proposed process would use ultrasonic readings to measure the thickness of the metal and document the locomotive’s current condition.
That information could help guide future restoration work, even if an attempt to make Number 616 operational remains decades away.
The locomotive’s eventual departure from Lakeview Park would reverse an extraordinary journey made in 1958.
Nampa Parks and Grounds Manager Tim Szofran said the nearest railroad spur was approximately three-quarters of a mile away. The National Guard used two tanks to drag the locomotive through Nampa while crews repeatedly moved short sections of track beneath it.
“Took them about three days to do that, working 24 hours a day and moving little sections of track as they went to drag it through town and get it sited here at the park,” Szofran said.
Number 616 has remained at that location ever since.
Vargas said longtime caretaker Mike McCoy has helped prevent further deterioration during the past 25 years by oiling mechanical components and periodically moving each valve. Vargas said none of the valves have seized, making Number 616 a promising candidate for continued restoration.
The society also sees the locomotive as a tangible connection to technology that younger generations may only encounter through books.
“It’s hard to appreciate the iPhone that I have in my pocket without recognizing that I probably wouldn’t have that iPhone if it wasn’t, in some way, shape or form, for this technology that then led to the internal combustion engine that we all drive around in our cars,” Vargas said. “It harks back to a time none of us never got to live. And we only ever read about in books.”
The asbestos removal marks the beginning of that work, but after nearly seven decades in Lakeview Park, there is still a long stretch of track ahead.
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