Steam & Excursion > CB&Q 5629

On a cloudy day in July, 1982 I visited the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden. This is Chicago Burlington & Quincy Class 05-A 4-8-4 5629, built at West Burlington, IA shops in June, 1940. She has 74 inch drivers, 28 x 30 inch Cylinders and operated with 250 lbs of boiler pressure. She was converted to an oil burner around 1950 and reclassified as a Class 05-B locomotive. She was retired by the Burlington Route in 1956 at Lincoln, NE.

As always, comments and corrections are welcome. Thanks for looking!

Jack Bejna
Los Angeles, CA

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boy, it would be nice to see this old girl doubleheading with the MILW RD 261 out on the high iron

I've seen this engine several times ... can't help it whenever I am anywhere near Denver. Even have an HO model of it on the layout ...

Regards & Everywhere West!
Burlington John

This is what Mr. Buffet should have pull his trains, rather than a bland GE.

Traingeek087

Wow What a beast !! If I had a million dollars !!

Well........a lot of you guys want to see MORE of 844, MORE of 4449, MORE of 700, MORE of 765, MORE of 261 etc, etc, etc. Wouldn't it make better sense to spend all that repair money on a completely NEW engine??? E V E R Y O N E would want to go out and see it.

Has there been an estimate of it's chance at running?

A SWAG would be a good thing.

Keystone1 Wrote:
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> Well........a lot of you guys want to see MORE of
> 844, MORE of 4449, MORE of 700, MORE of 765, MORE
> of 261 etc, etc, etc. Wouldn't it make better
> sense to spend all that repair money on a
> completely NEW engine??? E V E R Y O N E would
> want to go out and see it.

The crews of all the above locomotives are getting too old to take on a whole new project, and of course the UP folks are NOT ABOUT to start another locomotive. We ALL have more than enough to do maintaining our own projects, including the 15 year FRA inspections.

Mighty fine engine !!

I've got a number of pictures of her too from my CSRR visit a 4 years ago !

Keystone1 Wrote:
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> Well........a lot of you guys want to see MORE of
> 844, MORE of 4449, MORE of 700, MORE of 765, MORE
> of 261 etc, etc, etc. Wouldn't it make better
> sense to spend all that repair money on a
> completely NEW engine??? E V E R Y O N E would
> want to go out and see it.


Ah, Keystone... for a split second I thought you
were about to do an about face and suggest we put
our collective energies into keeping what we have
running rather then spread ourselves too thin.

Restoring #5629 might be like adding a new Home Depot
to the neighborhood. Still - it would be something!
There are still two Ace hardware stores within a
half an hour from me.

I don't think double heading with 261 would be
necessary - or accurate. Maybe neat, but I'd
sooner fly out to see her solo.

/Mitch

She is a beautiful engine, and as much as I'd like to see her restored to operate again, I'd like to say that it looks like she is beimg cared for cosmetically at least. That's a big plus! I just wish that there was still a Rio Grande 1700 or an 1800 4-8-4 around to look at in as good of a condition as the 5629 appears to be.
If I had been a computer geek like Bill Gates is, and if I had 8 Billion dollars to spend, I wouldn't have much trouble a way to spend a couple of Billion or so.........

If I were a Gazillionaire I'd restore 5629, build a new Rio Grande M64 1700 and/or M68 1800, maybe restore the Great Northern 4-8-4 (? number) that is currently stuffed and mounted in Havre Montana, and there's others of interest plus I'd genuinely be interested in helping out the programs that other guys have going on, who are more than just "dreamers and iffers."

Con

She really is a great engine. In the past two years much of 5629 has received a fresh coat of paint. We're working hard to maintain the great collection that we have. We've also been reworking the yard area of the museum where she sits. Once completed it will function better and give us more room. Now in my opinion, we just need to add a caboose behind her.

Thanks for the kind words.

Jim Barton

Yeah, let that '56 Chevy rust in a pasture and buy a 2011. Everybody will go see that.

I sure wish a Mo-Pac 4-8-4 were still around. I'd be robbing banks for that restoration money.

Pump

Keystone1 Wrote:
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> Well........a lot of you guys want to see MORE of
> 844, MORE of 4449, MORE of 700, MORE of 765, MORE
> of 261 etc, etc, etc. Wouldn't it make better
> sense to spend all that repair money on a
> completely NEW engine??? E V E R Y O N E would
> want to go out and see it.

Just hit the lottery!

Just have to say "Guitar Green" here in Ft. Wayne loves this class, and the photo!

Props to the good folks at Golden for taking such great care of 5629. Attached are shots from my last visit on 18 Jul 2004.

Regards,
Burlington John

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I believe this is an O5-B rather than an O5-A as it is an oil burner.

it would be great to see a couple 5600's restored, or 3 more UP 800's, maybe a few 2900's, or 3977

Or that sleek and powerful 2-10-2 that's in Cheyenne.

A GREAT SETTING--SHE LOOKS ALMOST ROAD READY STILL--WILL BE IN GOLDEN THIS SEPT-AND AS MANY OF US CANT HELP BEING IN AWE OF THIS CLASSIC BEAUTY--THANKS FOR THE GREAT PIC