Historic Glenbrook locomotive set to steam back to life

For 140 years, the Glenbrook locomotive has helped write the history of Nevada and Lake Tahoe.

Whether it was hauling lumber from the great lake's shores up the narrow-gauge line to Spooner Summit from 1875-1898, transporting passengers between Truckee and Tahoe City from 1898-1925, or serving as the largest artifact in the Nevada State Museum's collection from 1943-1982, the Glenbrook is a testament to resiliency.

For the past 33 years, it's been tucked away at the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City under the watchful eye and skilled hands of a crew of craftsmen who, when money and time allowed, set to restoring the steam-powered Glenbrook to working condition.

The fruition of that effort will come Saturday, when the fully restored Glenbrook will be unveiled to the public at a special ceremony at the railroad museum. The Glenbrook will be rolled out alongside, the Inyo, its standard-gauge sister for the public to view.

"Having the Glenbrook and the Inyo together – one narrow-gauge and one-standard gauge – is what sets this museum apart," said Peter Barton, administrator of the Nevada Division of Museums and History. "In the rail preservation world, it doesn't get any better than this."

The museum's shop crew — headed by chief maintenance officer Chris DeWitt — spent years restoring the locomotive, piece by piece, to get it back to operational condition. Other museum priorities and a lack of funds for materials stalled the project many times before a grant from the E.L. Weigand Foundation helped push the project toward completion.

DeWitt, who has been a part of the restoration for 32 years, said the delays have actually proven to be a blessing in disguise.

"What we've been able to do in finishing it is so much more advanced than what we could have done 20 years ago," he said.

The biggest hurdle was cleared this past November when the engine was fired for the first time since 1926, passing a key federal safety inspection. DeWitt and the crew had spent four years restoring the boiler alone.

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