No. 6060 was built in 1944 and was used in mainline excursion service in the 1970s and 1980s. Today, the locomotive is owned by the Rocky Mountain Rail Society and housed at the Alberta Prairie Railway in Stettler, about 50 miles east of Red Deer. The streamlined 4-8-2 last ran in 2011, when boiler issues sidelined the locomotive.
No. 6060 and its sisters were built for passenger service and were dubbed “Bullet Nosed Bettys” for their streamlined noses.
Rich Graydon, spokesperson for the Rocky Mountain Rail Society, says the group recently completed a complete evaluation of the locomotive and found that it needs both boiler and running gear work. The running gear work will happen at the Alberta Prairie and the boiler work will be contracted out. Graydon estimates the work will cost between $750,000 and $1 million.
“If we can raise that money we’ll be able to get her running again,” Graydon tells Trains News Wire.
For more information, go to 6060.org. To donate, visit the group’s GoFundMe page.
