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Western Pacific 805-A is a preserved
WP 805-A was purchased to power
The Zephyr Project
Feather River Rail Society website
{{Western Pacific Railroad 805-A Electro-Motive Division locomotives B-B locomotives Individual locomotives of the United States Railway locomotives introduced in 1950 Preserved diesel locomotives Standard gauge locomotives of the United States
EMD FP7
The EMD FP7 is a , B-B dual-service passenger and freight-hauling diesel locomotive produced between June 1949 and December 1953 by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division and General Motors Diesel. Final assembly was at GM-EMD's La Grange, Il ...
diesel-electric railroad locomotive
A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...
built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors. It was mainly used to pull passenger trains, specifically the ''California Zephyr
The ''California Zephyr'' is a passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area (at Emeryville), via Omaha, Denver, Salt Lake City, and Reno. At , it is Amtrak's longest daily route, and second-longest overal ...
'' (CZ), which was operated jointly by the Western Pacific, Denver and Rio Grande Western
The Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad , often shortened to ''Rio Grande'', D&RG or D&RGW, formerly the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, was an American Class I railroad company. The railroad started as a narrow-gauge line running south from De ...
, and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy
The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of Colorado, Illin ...
Railroads. It later worked for several short line railroad
:''Short Line is also one of the four railroads in the American version of the popular board game Monopoly, named after the Shore Fast Line, an interurban streetcar line.''
A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that opera ...
s before preservation at the Western Pacific Railroad Museum
The Western Pacific Railroad Museum (WPRM) in Portola, California, known as the Portola Railroad Museum until January 1, 2006, is a heritage railroad and archives that preserves and operates historic American railroad equipment and preserves docu ...
at Portola, California
Portola ( ) is the only incorporated city in Plumas County, California, United States. The population was 2,104 at the 2010 census, down from 2,227 at the 2000 census. Portola is located on the Middle Fork of the Feather River and was named afte ...
.
History
WP 805-A was purchased to power Western Pacific Railroad
The Western Pacific Railroad was a Class I railroad in the United States. It was formed in 1903 as an attempt to break the near-monopoly the Southern Pacific Railroad had on rail service into northern California. WP's Feather River Route dire ...
's portion of the California Zephyr run less than one year after the train began on March 20, 1949. The 805-A was built in 1950 as part of an order by WP for 6 new passenger locomotives: 4 cab equipped A unit
A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...
s numbered 804-A, 804-C, 805-A and 805-C, and 2 B unit
B, or b, is the second letter of the Latin-script alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' bee'' (pronounced ), plural ''bees''. It re ...
s numbered 804-B and 805-B. These locomotives supplemented WP's existing fleet of F3 models, which were the original power for the CZ train.
This cab unit, which would be joined by two cabless B units in a typical CZ motive power set, hauled the train from Oakland, California
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...
, to Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...
, from 1950 until March 22, 1970, when the CZ ended. The 805-A was then placed into freight service.
In 1972, WP purchased 15 General Electric
General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...
U23B locomotives and turned in the 805-A for credit toward their purchase. GE sold the unit to the Wellsville, Addison and Galeton Railroad
The Wellsville, Addison & Galeton Railroad was formed in 1954 to operate a section of Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O) trackage which had been isolated from the rest of the system by a 1942 flood. This trackage was acquired by the B&O as part of ...
in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. After that railroad was abandoned in 1977, the 805-A was transferred to the Louisiana and Northwestern Railroad in Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
. All other CZ engines from the Western Pacific were traded in to builder EMD and scrapped.
The Feather River Rail Society (FRRS) wanted this locomotive for its Western Pacific Railroad collection as it had become the last WP ''California Zephyr'' locomotive in existence. Arrangements were made to purchase the locomotive in 1987 with the cost shared between members Steve Habeck, Larry Hanlon, and John Ryczkowski. FRRS joined as the fourth partner in the purchase.
The 805-A was cosmetically restored by Bill Evans and David Dewey. With this work completed, a rededication ceremony was held on May 27, 1995.
In early 2000, the FRRS launched the Zephyr Project to raise money for a complete mechanical restoration of the 805-A and restoration of the CZ dome car ''Silver Hostel''. In 2004, the locomotive returned to limited operation. The 805-A is the last, intact locomotive built specifically for the CZ.
References
External links
The Zephyr Project
Feather River Rail Society website
{{Western Pacific Railroad 805-A Electro-Motive Division locomotives B-B locomotives Individual locomotives of the United States Railway locomotives introduced in 1950 Preserved diesel locomotives Standard gauge locomotives of the United States