‘The Iron Horse disease’

WASILLA — For the past five years, in a bright orange warehouse, near the middle of Wasilla, a historic steam engine is coming back to life through the efforts of a team of dedicated volunteers.

Engine 557 was created in 1944 as a workhorse for World War II. After moving to various locations following retirement, the engine was taken out of storage from the House of Poverty Museum in Moses Lake, Washington, to be restored.

Now, led by Engine 557 Restoration Company President Patrick Durand, a team mostly consisting of retirees works diligently to restore the engine back to its original glory. Some of the volunteers come from backgrounds in engineering or welding, while others with experience less suited to engine building learn these skills in the shop as they work.

Those involved in the engine restoration believe historic projects like this help bring communities together, and will contribute to the tourism industry in Alaska. After the restoration is finished, Durand hopes to have the engine running on track and carrying passengers.

“I think it’s a good thing economically, in the long run,” said volunteer Gene Augustine. “People come to Alaska to ride the Alaska Railroad; I bet even more people would be tickled to come up here and ride on a train that is a steam locomotive,”

The restoration team has quickly become close friends. No arguments about politics exist in their group, according to volunteer Thomas Walker.

“This is a great group of guys to work with; we’re all essentially greybeards,” he said. “It’s usually a discussion about trains, the work we’re doing. There’s not much argument.”

Durand calls the infatuation with locomotives “the iron horse disease.” Even though the age of steam engines might be over, there will always exist a curiosity of these mechanical beasts.

“It’s easy to transmit,” he joked. “There’s no rationale to it.”

With about two years left, restoration is moving fairly smoothly, except for the unexpected and necessary replacement of the firebox, which is the area where the fuel is burned. This added one year onto the project.

The project has an impressive list of benefactors. All the money and material comes from private business, however, more money means the project can be accomplished even faster.

“The more money we have, the faster the project could move forward because we could hire professionals to come and do some of these jobs,” Durand said.

The Engine 557 Restoration Company is happy to accommodate and give tours to anyone who is interested in learning about the project. They only ask that visitors call ahead and wear closed-toed shoes into the engine site. New volunteers are always welcome, as long as they are over 18.

For those interested in supporting the project in other ways, products such as fine art, Arkose Brewery beer, engine 557 hats and the book “Ol’ 557” by Shannon Cartwright are a few of the items available for purchase in support of the engine restoration.