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Pacific Northwest Museums to Swap Steam Locomotives

Great Northern 2-8-0 1246 will go to the Northwest Railway Museum and Union Pacific 2-8-0 529 will be sent to the Oregon Coast Scenic. GN 1246 is seen being loaded onto a truck this week in Oregon. Photo Courtesy of Northwest Railway Museum. 

Pacific Northwest Museums to Swap Steam Locomotives

By Justin Franz

Two railroad museums in the Pacific Northwest are swapping steam locomotives in a deal that will send a Union Pacific 2-8-0 to Oregon and a Great Northern 2-8-0 to Washington. 

The Northwest Railway Museum of Snoqualmie, Wash., announced this week that it was trading UP 529 for GN 1246, which until recently was part of the collection of the late Fred M. Kepner, who owned more than a dozen locomotives in southern Oregon. When Kepner passed away in late 2021, the entire collection was sold to OCSR, which decided to keep some and put others up for sale. Kepner’s was one of the largest collections of privately held steam locomotives in the country and it included many notable locomotives from the western United States.

The trade will result in a bit of a homecoming for both locomotives. UP 529 originally operated on the Oregon Short Line and GN 1246 worked in Washington for decades before being put on display at Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo. The 1246 was sold in 1980 to Kepner who moved the locomotive to Oregon where it has been ever since. 

The Northwest Railway Museum plans on moving the GN locomotive to Snoqualmie this month and the UP locomotive will head south later this year. The museum is currently raising $88,000 to help cover the costs of the move, although it got a big boost on Thursday when it was reported that BNSF Railway was making a $10,000 donation

Northwest Railway Museum Executive Director Richard Anderson tells Railfan & Railroad that the locomotive’s condition will be assessed once it arrives in Snoqualmie. The museum has an impressive collection of steam locomotives, including Northern Pacific 0-6-0 924.

This article was posted on: April 28, 2023