Utah State Railroad Museum

David writes....

Recently, Katy and I visited Utah. Her company is based in Salt Lake City, and she was out there for a customer conference.  I followed, burning a voucher I had received from the unofficial Official Airline of the Hicks Car Works.  

One day, we visited the Utah State Railroad Museum, in Ogden.  The museum is located on the ground of Ogden Union Station, see in the image above.  Inside are three museums, the railroad museum, the John M. Browning Firearms Museum, and the Browning-Kimball Classic Car Museum.  One low admission price gets you in to all three museums.

Inside Union Station are some railroad-related exhibits, as well as the other two museums.  Here, we see a display from the firearms museum, two early test models of the famous Browning Automatic Rifle, called the BAR.  This rifle served the U.S. armed forces in World War I, World War II and Korea.  

Here, we see an old curved-dash Oldsmobile in the classic car museum.

Of course, the real attraction is the equipment!  All of the equipment is located outside, some of it under cover.  Here, we see a lineup of locomotives under the pavillion.  We see Union Pacific 833, a FEF-3 4-8-4 steam locomotive; a Union Pacific DD40AX Centennial Locomotive; a Rio Grande tunnel motor, a Southern Pacific SD-45 and a Union Pacific Turbine.  Quite an impressive display of motive power.  

At the other end of the station, a group is working to restore D&RG steam narrow gauge steam locomotive 233.  It is a 2-8-0, built by the Grant locomotive works.  Inside the former Trainman's building, they have a little workshop and have reconstructed the tender, seen here.  It is an entirely new tank, build using traditional methods, including hot riveting.  They have also beautifully reconstructed the wooden cab.  

Outside, the 233 sits, and you can see the extent of work the group has remaining.  This is what 40+ years of outdoor storage does to a piece of railway equipment.  

Overall the museum is worth visiting if you are in the Salt Lake City area.