GENESEE COUNTY, Mich. — The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation has granted the Genesee County Parks & Recreation Commission $1.3 million for restoration work on its narrow-gauge 2-8-2 No. 464, according to an M Live report.
The locomotive, built by Baldwin Locomotive Works for the Denver & Rio Grande in 1903, is one of two surviving from a class of 15 K-27s. It’s part of the roster for the county’s Crossroads Village Huckleberry Railroad in Flint, Mich. The other remaining K-27 can be found at the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad.
“Luckily, 464 is in pretty good shape,” Patrick Linihan, parks director, told M Live. “We’re doing some discretionary things,” including new boiler tubes and minor boiler repairs. Linihan says the work will be completed over the next two to three years using park staff and outside contractors.
No. 464 is one of three locomotives currently active on the Huckleberry Railroad. Another steam locomotive, No. 152, also built by Baldwin in 1920 for the Alaska Engineering Commission, began life working between Fairbanks the Nenana coal mines, and Chatanika, a gold rush town. The diesel on the roster is No. 12, a GE 45-ton unit that formerly worked for Bethlehem Steel Co.
Crossroads Village is a 32-acre historic site interpreting Midwestern life and community from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. In addition to the railroad, the village features 34 historic structures.
This is not the first time the Mott Foundation has assisted Crossroads Village. Significant previous grants have included:
- $175,000 in 1983 for the purchase of a carousel manufactured by amusement king Charles W. Parker. The ride still operates.
- $75,000 in 2023 to assist with No. 464’s 1,472-day Federal Railroad Administration inspection.
Charles Stewart Mott was a mechanical engineer and founder of the Weston Mott wheel and axle manufacturing company. He moved his firm from Utica, N.Y., to Flint, Mich., in 1907 on the invitation of William C. Durant, president of the Buick Motor Co. Soon Weston Mott and Buick were part of General Motors. Mott became a GM executive.
Crossroads Village and the Huckleberry Railroad generally operates May through September plus additional dates for Halloween and Christmas events.
For more information, please visit the Crossroads Village website.
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