Engine 557 Restoration Co. receives $10,000 in donations

WASILLA — On Monday, the Engine 557 Restoration Co. received two $5,000 checks to help further the refurbishment of their World War II era steam engine.

The money was presented to Patrick Durand, president of the restoration company by William Shell, CEO of Georgetown Rail Equipment Co. in Texas, and Phil Homan, CEO of Loram Maintenance of Way, Inc., in Minnesota.

Chris Aadnesen, Executive Chairman, and John Kinnear, Vice Chairman of the Board from Georgetown Rail Equipment were also present along with Wendy Lindskoog, Chief Administrative Officer of the Alaska Railroad.

Following the presentation, Durand gave a 40-minute tour of the project.

The donations by these two companies are vital to the progress of the restoration of Engine 557.

“It’s very important to us on several levels, it allows us to keep the project moving forward and it demonstrates that we have a national support network,” Durand said.

The money will go toward bringing up a mechanical engineer to provide restoration expertise to the 557 team. Durand plans to fly up Robert Franzen from Steam Services of America in the fall to inspect the project. Franzen will be there for two weeks, and because of the expense of bringing up an expert, they plan work 14-hour days until he leaves in order to maximize time.

Restoration for Engine 557 will not be finished for at least two more years. There are 22 volunteers signed up to work on the project, 12 of which come regularly, Durand said.

Restoring 557 is tedious work, according to volunteer Lynn Willis, but the steam engine is a machine that runs on a lost art of technology with no computer chips to be seen.

“I’ve gained a deep appreciation for these things. You can see why the railroads were so keen to get rid of them, because they’re so labor intensive,” he said.

Back in the day, the railroad employed thousands of people, it took a crew of five to seven workers just to run the engine.

The United States made 2,000 locomotives identical to 557 for the during the war, and most of them went to Europe to boost that economy. Each engine cost $56,000 to build.

“And we’re going to spend several million getting this thing back up on its feet,” Willis said.

The Engine 557 Restoration Co. is located in Wasilla and always welcomes visitors looking for tours as long as they call ahead and wear closed-toed shoes on site.

Katie Stark is a Frontiersman summer intern.