Promontory Chapter, NRHS

08/04/2026

Welcome home!

Utah Railway 5004 has arrived home to it's new exhibit space at the Utah State Railroad Museum located at Ogden Union Station.

This locomotive joins fellow Promontory Chapter-owned locomotive No. D&RGW 133 and the rest of the fantastic museum collection. Please visit Union Station's website for admission & operating hours information. Check out this fantastic article written by the Standard-Examiner.

OGDEN — A rare locomotive is joining the collection at the Utah State Railroad Museum at Ogden Union Station for the next couple years. Earlier this week, Utah Railway No. 5004 — an MK50-3 — arrived at Ogden Union Station on a loan from the Promontory Chapter of the National Railway Historical...

06/24/2026

The Promontory Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society is excited to announce the acquisition of Utah Railway MK50-3 No. 5004!

A special thank you to Genesee & Wyoming Inc. and the Kyle Railroad for their generous donation of this historic locomotive. Also, a big thank you to the chapter members who were involved in making this acquisition possible.

Utah Railway 5004 was built by Morrison-Knudsen in August 1995 as MKCX 9901, the fourth of six MK5000C demonstrator locomotives. As the first member of the Phase II MK5000C series, it spent the first several years of its service life wearing the dark blue and gold-accented demonstrator paint scheme. As a demonstrator, it tested its 5,000-horsepower capabilities on the Union Pacific and Southern Pacific between 1994 and 1995, and later on BC Rail in Canada in 1998. It was subsequently tested by, and later sold to, Utah Railway in November 2000. Due to drivetrain failures associated with the Caterpillar engine and Kato traction generator, 5004 was sent to Motive Power Industries in 2003 and converted into an MK50-3. The locomotive spent the next decade and a half hauling unit coal, unit oil, and mixed commodity trains over the famed Soldier Summit route and along Utah's Wasatch Front. Following the decline in coal traffic on Utah Railway in 2017, 5004 and its siblings were relocated to the Kyle Railroad, a fellow Genesee & Wyoming property operating in Colorado and Kansas.

With this acquisition, 5004 will soon be on its way to Ogden, Utah, where it will have a safe home at the Utah State Railroad Museum. We will be evaluating options for the locomotive's long-term future. Our goal is to preserve this important piece of Utah railroad history and explore opportunities for a permanent home where it can be appreciated by future generations. We are also interested in potential partnerships that could allow the locomotive to remain active and continue serving the railroad industry while retaining its Utah Railway heritage.

We are excited to share more information as plans develop and welcome ideas and suggestions from our members, supporters, and the railfan community. For now, No. 5004 will soon have a safe home with our partners in Ogden City.

Thank you to everyone who has supported our ongoing preservation efforts and helped make this acquisition possible. Together, we are ensuring that an important piece of Utah Railway history will be preserved for years to come.

Photos kindly provided by and credited to James Belmont.

05/01/2026

Attention local railfans!

As you've probably seen, the Promontory Chapter is hosting the Spring 2026 NRHS Convention. We would like to reach out to you all for an opportunity to join us!

Thanks to the generosity of the Heber Valley Railroad, we have some open seating available on our scheduled trip on the HVRR on Friday May 29th (3:30 departure). These seats will have exclusive access on 1 - 3 of their first class cars, including a Dome and a Business Car. Seating is limited and is first come first serve. Tickets are available for $50 per seat/visitor, payable to the Promontory Chapter via cash, check, venmo, or PayPal.

If interested, please email one of the following:

[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]

04/09/2026

The Promontory Chapter is pleased to welcome the return of Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4014 to Ogden, UT, the weekend of April 18th and 19th, 2026. The locomotive will be on display at the historic Union Station located on 25th Street in Ogden.
Public display hours are:
Saturday: 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m
Sunday: 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

In collaboration with Union Pacific Railroad and the Utah Food Bank, help fight hunger in Utah! Bring non-perishable food items when you visit the Big Boy in Ogden or donate online. Please visit https://www.justgiving.com/page/therailfancommunity for more information.

03/18/2026

Exciting update! (4/16/26) - in collaboration with the Heber Valley Railroad, we are happy to announce that our trip on the Heber Valley Railroad has been upgraded from a single coach car, to a first class experience with exclusive access to 2-3 of the HVRR's premium cars; including one of their newly acquired Dome Cars, as well as one of their Business Cars (most likely former Rio Grande #100).... See added photos below. A tour of the HVRR is also in the works, prior to our trains departure.

In addition, we are making our best effort to move our newly acquired historic locomotive to the Utah State Railroad Museum, in time for our group visit. There has been no official announcement yet on this, so it will remain a surprise for now!

Hello and welcome to Salt Lake City, Utah, home of the Promontory Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society. We are celebrating our 60th anniversary and it is our honor to host the Spring 2026 NRHS Conference and hope that you join us for a great visit. The Conference will be held at the Little America Hotel May 29 - 31.

If you are traveling by plane or train you can get to the hotel by taking the light rail (TRAX). If you arrive at the airport, after you get your bags, head to the Trax station and take the Green Line to the courthouse stop. If you arrive by Amtrak (Salt Lake Central) take the TRAX Blue Line to the courthouse station. Then when you get off of the light-rail you go to the South end of the platform turn towards the parking lot (West). Once you cross the street you head south to the hotel. If you miss the stop don’t worry because you can go to the next stop and get off there and walk to the hotel.

On Thursday check in at the Cheyenne room from 4:00 pm through 9:00 pm.

A fee of $250.00 is required for each person for the following:

Friday (5/29) we will visit the Utah State Railroad Museum in Ogden to view the equipment, including the Chapter's current project - the restoration of a Rio Grande SW1200 #133, as well as recently repainted Western Pacific GP35 #3002, and several other unique pieces of equipment. The next stop is a ride on the Heber Valley Railroad, where we'll be riding to Decker Bay and returning to the station. After our ride on the HVRR, we will return to the hotel in SLC.

We are providing a box lunch during the above activities, which you can make your choice below.

The link below is now active for your attendees’ reservations. When sharing the link please copy from this email and not a browser window as the address changes when you go to it.

https://littleamerica.ihotelier.com/little-america-salt-lake-city/book/dates-of-stay?groupID=5151999

The attendees may also call our Reservations Team at 800-437-5288, select Little America and advise they are coming for the National Railway Historical Society in May 2026.

Saturday will be the meeting which is scheduled at the Arizona room from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm. Lunch will be on you. The banquet will be held at the Idaho room at 6:00 pm. If you have any culinary request please list them below.

Box Lunch: Each boxed lunch includes a sandwich (choice of Ham, Turkey, Roast Beef, Vegetarian or a Lettuce Wrap version of each one for a more Gluten Friendly option), a bag of chips, a cookie (Gluten Free cookie with the Lettuce Wrap) and a bottled water. The sandwiches have lettuce, tomato, cheese and a mustard-mayo sauce.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact our President, Ted Itchon: 801-259-8288 or email: [email protected]

01/29/2026

Stand on the platform at Ogden’s Union Station, and it’s easy to imagine a different era. A time when train horns echoed through the city, and railroads powered

12/02/2025

The Promontory Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society is reachin… Derrick Klarr needs your support for Support Promontory Chapter Restoration Work

03/07/2024

Northern Pacific 317* UPDATE: NP (KLIX) #317 is currently traveling along the CSX in Ohio and Indiana today, heading toward Chicago. It'll then be interchanged to BNSF to continue its journey home to the Inland Northwest Rail Museum. Hopefully BNSF will route it along the former NP route! (I'll provide updates when I find out more).

Until then, check out the 'NYS&W Railway (Now and Then)' page for some great photos shared on their page of its movement on the NYSW.

*NP 317 is currently owned be the Promontory Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society. We are currently collaborating with the Inland Northwest Rail Museum to get it moved to their museum in Reardan, WA for static display. This project has also had support from private donations, as well as a Grant from the Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association.

Photo from Honesdale, PA. Taken by Craig Snedeker and shared with permission.

01/21/2024

The Promontory Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society is excited to announce we are now the proud new owners of former Rio Grande SW1200 #133!

A special thank you to Southeast Farmers Coop for their generous donation of this historic locomotive. Also, a big thank you to the D&I Railroad for their support and continued assistance to help make this acquisition possible.

Rio Grande 133 was built new for the Rio Grande in Jan. 1965. It was acquired by UP during the merger, and retired in 1998. It found its way to South Dakota shortly after, and has been in that same area ever since. It spent much of its career on the Rio Grande working locals out of Roper Yard, as well as some time switching Rio Grande's Ogden Yard.

Now that we have ownership, we will explore options for a permanent home for it, or possibly look to partner with an industry (preferably in former Rio Grande territory) to return it to operation and allow it to continue to switch railcars around.... while still wearing its original Rio Grande paint! We are open to ideas and suggestions. For now, it is safely stored in Iowa, until we figure out where it's heading to.

Thank you to James Belmont for sharing the photos of 133 working around the Salt Lake area. Thank you to Tim Smith for the photo of how it currently looks.