Utah Railway MK50-3 #5004
A special thank you to Genesee & Wyoming Inc. and the Kyle Railroad for their generous donation of this historic locomotive. Also a big thank you to the chapter members who were involved in making this acquisition possible.
Utah Railway 5004 was built by Morrison-Knudsen in August 1995 as MKCX 9901, the fourth of six MK5000C demonstrator locomotives. As the first member of the Phase II MK5000C series, it spent the first several years of its service life wearing the dark blue and gold-accented demonstrator paint scheme. As a demonstrator, it tested its 5,000-horsepower capabilities on the Union Pacific and Southern Pacific between 1994 and 1995, and later on BC Rail in Canada in 1998. It was subsequently tested by, and later sold to, Utah Railway in November 2000.
Due to drivetrain failures associated with the Caterpillar engine and Kato traction generator, 5004 was sent to Motive Power Industries in 2003 and converted into an MK50-3. The locomotive spent the next decade and a half hauling unit coal, unit oil, and mixed commodity trains over the famed Soldier Summit route and along Utah’s Wasatch Front. Following the decline in coal traffic on Utah Railway in 2017, 5004 and its siblings were relocated to the Kyle Railroad, a fellow Genesee & Wyoming property operating in Colorado and Kansas.
With this acquisition, 5004 will soon be on its way to Ogden, Utah, where it will have a safe home at the Utah State Railroad Museum. We will be evaluating options for the locomotive’s long-term future. Our goal is to preserve this important piece of Utah railroad history and explore opportunities for a permanent home where it can be appreciated by future generations. We are also interested in potential partnerships that could allow the locomotive to remain active and continue serving the railroad industry while retaining its Utah Railway heritage.
We are excited to share more information as plans develop and welcome ideas and suggestions from our members, supporters, and the railfan community. For now, No. 5004 will soon have a safe home with our partners in Ogden City.
Thank you to everyone who has supported our ongoing preservation efforts and helped make this acquisition possible. Together, we are ensuring that an important piece of Utah Railway history will be preserved for years to come.
Photos kindly provided by and credited to James Belmont.
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