Union Pacific announced on President’s Day that it was painting a locomotive in tribute to President Abraham Lincoln. The locomotive, numbered 1616, will be officially unveiled later this spring. 

“America’s history is Union Pacific’s history,” said Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena. “By signing the Pacific Railway Act of 1862, President Lincoln created our railroad and ignited The Great Race to connect the country and fuel the economy – roles our industry still plays today.”

Locomotive 1616 will be the second unit UP has painted to honor a U.S. president, following 4141, which honored President George H.W. Bush. That unit led Bush’s funeral train in 2018 and is now on display at the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum in College Station, Tex.

This year marks President Lincoln’s 216th birthday. The locomotive is expected to tour the system this year. The engine is being painted red, brown and black, a nod to the colors worn by UP 4-4-0 119 at Promontory, Utah, when the First Transcontinental Railroad was completed in 1869. —Justin Franz