Restoration effort backed by community donations

WASILLA — A labor of love by a group of local volunteers is on track to give a new future to a piece of the Alaska Railroad’s past.

The last time Engine No. 557 worked for the Alaska Railroad was in 1962 during flooding in Tanana when it steamed through water up to its firebox to help with the cleanup effort.

Patrick Durand, president of the Engine 557 Restoration Company, said the historic engine is striped down to the frame now and several pieces of the old iron horse still carry the marks of its last assignment.

“We found mud pies where there shouldn’t have been,” Durand said. “But we’re bringing her back.”

The engine was sold as scrap and shipped out of Alaska in 1965. But 46 years later the Jansen brothers, who own Lynden Transport, purchased the engine and returned to Alaska where its restoration is underway in Wasilla.

For many years, 557 was part of Monte Holm’s collection of train cars at the House of Poverty Museum in Moses Lake, Wash.

“His vision is what saved it,” Durand said.

The nonprofit formed to restore the engine received a $350,000 matching grant from the Rasmuson Foundation to lift the project toward its goal, he said. But not all donations are in the form of cash. Many priceless gifts have been received in the form of volunteer labor and in-kind donations.

How people get involved is individual, said Dick Morris, secretary treasurer of the Engine 557 Restoration Company. He was standing at the depot in Anchorage during Fur Rondy when a stranger struck up a conversation about Engine 557.

That man was Mark Stearns of Alaska Wood Molding Co. When he found out Morris was part of the 557 restoration effort, Stearns immediately asked what he could do to help, Morris said.

Look inside the restored cab of Engine 557 to see Stearns’ contribution. His company milled, cut, stained and sealed the pale green oak paneling in the engine’s cab.

The in-kind donation would have cost the nonprofit around $4,200 if they’d paid for the same work, Morris said. Thus far, the cost of liability insurance to cover volunteers working on the project has been the single largest cash outlay, he said.

The engine’s restored cab also features the handiwork of other local businesses, like Alaska Roteq Corp. in Wasilla, which sandblasted and sprayed the inside and out in primer donated by Rodda Paint in Wasilla. And the cab also has new glass thanks to Jay Berna of Glacier Glass.

These are just a few of the many businesses that have made cash or in-kind donations, he said.

“Without those people, this project wouldn’t happen,” Durand said.

A technical inspection of the train this summer determined that while most of the rest of the metal on the engine is structurally sound, the firebox will need to be replaced, he said.

Durand said this will be at least the second time since the engine was built in 1944 that the firebox has been replaced. He said no one knew if the firebox would require replacement until the engine was disassembled so ultrasound testing could be completed.

“To put the boiler back properly will cost about $300,000,” Durand said.

He described the timeline to raise the funds and complete the work as “aggressive.” To meet the terms of the agreement between the railroad and the Jansen brothers, the engine must be restored to operational condition in eight years. That means volunteers have until summer 2015 to wrap up work on the engine the tender car carrying water and oil that it needs to operate.

“Our job is to make it run and train a crew,” Durand said.

Of the 2,120 “Gypsy Rose Lee Locomotives” constructed, 12 were shipped to Alaska and two remain here — Engine 557 and its sister 556, which is undergoing a facelift where it sits in a static display on the Park Strip in downtown Anchorage.

If all goes as planned, Durand said 557 will be the only engine of its kind in the world restored to operational condition.

“It was our last operating steam engine,” he said.

The Alaska Railroad also holds a place in history as one of the last railroads to carry both passengers and freight, Durand said.

Alaska Railroad President and CEO Chris Aadnesen stopped by the Wasilla Engine House Thursday. He said the company plans to add Engine 557 to its fleet as a special passenger train.

“The Alaska Railroad brought 557 back to Alaska for a reason, to refurbish it and put it back into passenger service,” Aadnesen said.

He said the plan is for the train to have its own route and schedule. One possibility is to operate it as a historic dinner train, which would follow the tracks along Turnagain Arm to Portage before returning to Anchorage.

“It would be a real hit,” Durand said.

For more information or to volunteer, contact 350-4340; write to Engine 557 Restoration Company, P.O. Box 875360, Wasilla, AK 99687; send email to sewtrain557@gmail.com; or visit alaskarails.org.

Contact Heather A. Resz at 352-2268 or heather.resz@frontiersman.com.

• To volunteer, contact 350-4340 or sewtrain557@gmail.com.

• Mail donations to the Alaska Community Foundation, Engine 557 Fund and mailed to 3201 C Street, Suite 110, Anchorage, AK 99503.

• Donate online alaskarails.org.

Donations of $25 or more are matched by Rasmuson Foundation grant funds and all donations are tax deductible.