Under the direction of board member Robert
Willis, volunteers have repaired damage to the pilot and other apparatus on the front of the locomotive, primed over the faded paint and graffiti, thoroughly cleaned the engine room, and planned the most appropriate way to restore and replace the car body. These cosmetic improvements have transformed the engine’s appearance. Viewed from the front it looks whole and complete. The team has also procured but not yet installed window glazing, two Leslie A200- 156 single chime horns, all three original number boards, a control stand, a Gyralite, and the headlight bezel. A few of the pieces contain samples of the red paint applied by the Santa Fe that are large enough to submit for color analysis. The restoration effort has not lacked for volunteers or donated materials, either. McCormack himself fabricated and donated a new door to replace the one stolen off of the 59L’s nose shortly after it reentered the United States, and the effort has attracted a number of younger people hoping to learn hands-on technical skills. After fundraising, the restoration effort’s biggest challenge was weather. North Texas saw a stunning amount of rainfall in 2015, and there were few days where the weather was conducive to welding or painting. The project managers have not focused on
the 59L’s appearance to the exclusion of the locomotive’s substantial mechanical needs. Two major developments arriving late in 2015 promise to move the restoration project along. First, the crew secured a full inspection
of the locomotive stating that, despite the damage to the car body, the frame is in good condition and does not have any defects that will prevent it from being restored to running condition. With the 59L’s structural integrity established, the museum managers located and approved purchase of an appropriate donor locomotive, pending the completion a fundraiser to secure $95,000 to cover the sale and the cost of moving the equipment from eastern Arkansas. The Alco 12-251 prime mover from Arkansas & Missouri MLW M420 No. 76 will be much more reliable than the troubled 244 prime movers that kept the PAs from living up to Alco’s vision as a contender in the streamlined passenger diesel market. The donor also has alignment control couplers
which make the 59L compatible with a much broader range of equipment, and will allow it to take part in events outside of the museum’s grounds. That the locomotive ended up in Texas
was unintended but entirely appropriate. Currently, the 59L sits less than a hundred feet from an active BNSF line. Volunteers sometimes exchange waves with curious engineers and conductors riding in modern General Electric locomotives, and the vibrations from their trains return a hint of life to the PA. The railroad’s corporate headquarters and GE’s largest locomotive manufacturing plant are located a stone’s throw away in Fort Worth, where the 59L served in one of its first revenue assignments on the Texas Chief. Knowing that the PAs played a role in two industries now essential to the local economy has infused the restoration with a extra gravitas. “It’s special to be able to restore a locomotive
in the area where it originally ran,” Willis says, “That changes the equation. We’re no longer just repairing a machine. We’re bringing back something that is deeply connected to the local history and to the technological development of modern locomotives.” Willis already has one successful restoration under his belt. He headed up the museum’s efforts to restore an ex-Canadian National Railways F7A to Santa Fe colors. Restoring the 59L, though, is about more
than polishing up the crown jewel in an existing collection, more even than preserving an exceptionally rare piece of equipment. The museum sees it as a physical bridge between the bygone age of passenger railroading and the many aspects of the modern railroad industry now based in Texas. “There a few other locomotives that have
this feeling of embodying the history of a certain area,” Willis says, “But most of them have never been owned by railroads outside of that district. This one is different. The 59L has traveled the world, and now it’s home.” You can learn more about the museums’s restoration efforts and make your donation by visiting
http://www.pa59.org.
Hayley Enoch is a railroad writer and historian who lives near Dallas, Texas. This is her first byline in RAILFAN & RAILROAD.
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A welder removes damaged portions of the pilot as restoration efforts begin at the Museum of the American Railroad in Frisco, Texas. The museum is raising funds to complete a full restoration to operation for Santa Fe No. 59L. ROBERT WILLIS PHOTO
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