OC&E Tests Mystery Locomotive
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Inside the Published by the Colorado Model Railroad Museum OC&E 680 10th Street Spring 2018 Greeley, CO 80631 Volume 9 970-392-2934 Issue 2 OC&E Tests www.cmrm.org Mystery Locomotive Photos by Kirk Orndorff, story by Bill Kepner Several photos were recently uncovered from Gus Dobyns' were GP9s. The railroad didn't have a lot of money to invest estate that were in a folder labeled “GP10 Trial - 1977”. You in an all new locomotive fleet, so they decided to rebuild their might remember from the “revised history” of the OC&E GP9s to newer specifications. documented in the November 2010 through the March 2011 issues of this newsletter (available on the museum web- The Illinois Central Railroad (and its successor, the Illinois site), that Gus had Central Gulf) began obtained ownership rebuilding their worn of the railroad in the out GP9s at their 1920's and ran it for Paducah, Kentucky many years. shops in the early 1970's. Usually the No other descrip- high short hood tion of the photos of the GP9 was was found. This was chopped for better puzzling for OC&E visibility, a new air historians as no other cleaner system was records had ever installed, and the indicated that the diesel engine was railroad had a GP10. upgraded to 1800 HP. Later on, they would Several “old heads” purchase units from were visited and they outside sources and also had no recol- sell the rebuilds to lection of any units other railroads and that might have been industrial customers. leased or borrowed ADMX 0700 switches the Lakeview Yard. We believe this locomotive was during that time. originally the Southern Pacific 5837, although official Internet sources You may remember report this unit had been rebuilt as the IC 8107. that the 1970's were After several months a time of high inter- of chasing down leads, the story began to unfold. Because est rates and high inflation. The IC wasn't the only railroad there were apparently no official records retained by the rail- that wanted to rebuild their locomotives; several others had road, there is a suspicion that something wasn't completely on expressed interest, but lacked the resources to do the work the “up and up.” What follows is purely speculation, but given themselves. what is now known, is highly probable. At the time, the OC&E's shop crews in Lakeview and Klamath Electro Motive Division (EMD) GP9s were originally built Falls were experiencing a lull in activity. The majority of the between 1954 and 1959 and by the 1970's most were worn through OC&E trains were “run-throughs” using locomotives out. The Illinois Central Railroad had dieselized relatively late from connecting roads and rarely needed work performed by compared to most railroads, so the majority of their diesels the OC&E. The OC&E owned several GP40s and U18Bs for 1 Inside the OC&E Spring 2018 local service, and these were still fairly new and didn't require much mainte- nance. The Road Foreman of Engines, Dave Cimbura, called the U18Bs “Model T's” because they sounded like his Grandpa's 1925 Model T. They weren't requiring much maintenance, and the crews liked to use them for switching. Gus Dobyns was concerned about the idle shops and came up with a brilliant idea, at least so he thought. Maybe his shop crews could earn some extra money for the railroad by rebuilding GP9s in the railroad's shops. Now the story gets a little murky. As we know, the OC&E never had any of their own 1st generation EMD locomotives. Neighbor SP It just so happened Gus had taken one of his rare vacations to had a large number that they were considering rebuilding, go visit his daughter in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. In the but hadn't completely decided how they would do that. Gus time before cell phones, business executives could actually was trying to work out a deal where the OC&E crews would disappear for a while and let their subordinates make all the perform the work for the SP. decisions for once. One day an SP GP9 was set out at the Lakeview interchange The shop crews in Lakeview quickly got to work on the track. The shop foreman in Lakeview immediately assumed overhaul. They chopped the nose, upgraded the locomotive's this was a unit that SP wanted rebuilt. Gus had discussed the prime mover, and gave the engine a coat of gray primer paint. proposal with the shop crews on both ends of the railroad, so It was almost identical to the units rebuilt in Paducah. Once it was naturally assumed he had negotiated a deal to start the Gus got back, he was immediately preoccupied with some work. serious business matters; a large lumber forest products com- 2 Inside the OC&E Spring 2018 pany wanted to buy the railroad. For tax purposes, SP was thinking of selling the completed units to another entity and leasing them back; therefore the locomotive was lettered “ADMX 0700”. The work was quickly completed and OC&E crews used it in local service for a couple weeks to test out the modifica- tions. It performed extremely well. Then one day, Gus was asked, “When does SP want their new GP10?” That's the last anyone will say about this project. Use your imagination of what happened next! 3 Inside the OC&E Spring 2018 Update from the Museum Board of Directors By Tim McMahon April 1st marks the beginning of the Colorado Model Railroad Governance of CMRM Museum's Fiscal Year 2018, so we thought this would be a good time to update our members, supporters, and visitors on We are approaching our ninth anniversary as an IRS and State our progress over the past few months. I'd also like to share of Colorado registered non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Our some thoughts on challenges we face and a few of our priori- volunteer Board of Directors is comprised of six voting Direc- ties for moving forward. First, a quick review of key strengths tors and two non-voting (ex-officio) members, including our and positive trends. Director, Michelle Kempema. We manage CMRM under by- laws determined as legally sufficient by the State of Colorado. Thank You! The board meets eleven times per year to review work and Like many non-profit organizations, we are critically depen- to consider recommendations made by our seven standing dent on donors, supporters, and sponsors to keep our committees (Strategic Planning, Finance, Youth Programs, museum open and in good repair. We wish to publicly thank Marketing & Publicity, Expansion, Grant Writing, and Donor each of you who were able to provide us that support through Cultivation & Capital Campaign). Each board member serves this past year! We also want to assure you that donor funds on at least two committees and committee meetings are fre- are very strictly managed. When funds are designated for a quent. We welcome member, guest and volunteer questions specific purpose, every penny is applied to meet the donor's and suggestions regarding any aspect of CMRM operations, intent. management, and planning! CMRM is essentially a volunteer organization. Since we Financial Management opened to the public in 2009, our volunteers have contributed over 260,000 hours to all facets of museum operations, pro- Our financial processes are essential, strong, and evolving. grams, and support. That represents an “in-kind value” of Through ten months of FY 2017 we are performing within over $6,000,000! Most of our volunteers are from Northern our budget primarily by maintaining tight control on our Colorado communities, but we have supporters from all expenses. We completed our first full independent audit this over the country. The primary responsibility of each of our year and the accounting firm found that our financial transac- volunteers is the safety of our guests, and to ensure each tions, accounting methods, and documents are in accordance guest has an exceptional visitor experience. New volunteers with standard modified cash basis methods. We completed are always welcomed. While model railroading experience is this audit as both an internal governance matter, and, in order beneficial, it is not necessary. CMRM provides outstanding to provide our members, supporters, and potential donors the opportunities for volunteer service in support of the com- assurance that their fees and donations are properly managed. munity; and, we have critical needs for many skills including Along with the audit, the accounting firm also completed and electrical engineering, carpentry, youth programs, IT support, submitted our annual tax return (IRS Form 990). We are and artifact archiving. If you're interested, please stop by and current on our federal, state and local tax responsibilities. We speak with any volunteer or staff member, or call Michelle at fully expect to complete FY 2017 with the budget balanced. (970) 392-2934. The museum's Fiscal Year 2018 Budget (April 1, 2018 through March 31, 2019) is completed after three months of work and Mission and Vision was approved by our board on March 1st. It is also balanced and with critical donor support, we intend to remain debt free. Our mission is “to provide a model railroading experience that Continued development of our Youth Programs remains a educates, inspires, and brings joy to all ages.” This is why very high priority for us! we exist as a non-profit museum and it is what we seek to do. Every decision we make as a board is based on how it sup- As of March 1, CMRM has hosted over 138,000 visitors! Our ports our mission.