Grand Trunk Western No. 5629

Grand Trunk Western No. 5629 was a K-4-a class 4-6-2 "Pacific" type steam locomotive built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) in February 1924 for the Grand Trunk Western Railway. It was originally meant to be preserved for excursion service, but was tragically scrapped in July 1987 after a legal battle between Metra Commuter Rail and the locomotive's owner at the time, Richard Jensen.
==History==
Built as part of the K-4-a class of Pacific types for the GTW, No. 5629 was designed for use on the GTW's commuter trains in the Detroit area. In its later years of service on the GTW, the locomotive pulled numerous excursion trips hosted by local railroad clubs and the GTW.
=== Excursion Years===
Retired in 1959, No. 5629 was placed in storage at Durand, MI. In 1960, it was sold to Richard Jensen of Chicago, IL for approximately $9,540.40, the scrap value of the locomotive at the time. No. 5629 was subsequently moved to a spur track in Hammond, IN that Jensen had rented from the Grand Trunk. There, Jensen and a group of local railfans worked to restore No. 5629 to operating condition for use on fan trips around the area.
Steamed up for the first time in October 1961, No. 5629 made its debut pulling a trip over the Baltimore & Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad, for which it was painted in B&O colors. After pulling several more trips on the B&OCT, it was invited to run a trip over the GTW between Chicago and South Bend, IN in the summer of 1966. Shortly before the run, Richard Jensen traded its original tender to a local scrapyard in exchange for a larger tender from a Soo Line 4-8-2. The new tender allowed for more coal and water to be transported which meant the train did not have to stop as often to replenish its supply.
The first Grand Trunk Western trip proved to be a big success and over the next few years, No. 5629 lead many excursions over the GTW in Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. In 1967 and 1968, it traveled to Baraboo, WI to pull the Circus World Museum's Schlitz Circus Train.
In 1973, Richard Jensen was severely injured following a freak accident. Unable to run the locomotive, it was placed in storage at the Amtrak yard near Union Station in Chicago while Jensen was hospitalized. After he was released from the hospital, Jensen began planning another excursion trip, but it never happened due to financial troubles.
===Scrapping===
In the late 1970s, Jensen moved No. 5629 to the Rock Island Railroad's Burr Oak Yard in Blue Island, IL. Around this time, the Rock Island was on the verge of bankruptcy, and in March 1980, the railroad shut down for good. Burr Oak Yard was sold to Metra Commuter Rail of Chicago, who asked Jensen to relocate No. 5629 so they could build a new car shop where it stood. Metra told Jensen that he could move it to a nearby connection with the Iowa Interstate Railroad, but they would not assist him in moving it. Unfortunately, Jensen discovered that the locomotive had been vandalized over the years to the point where it was unsafe to move. He inconsiderately decided to let Metra scrap his locomotive right where it stood and planned to file a lawsuit against them. The judge ruled in favor of Metra and stated that if Jensen could not move it, Metra would be allowed to scrap it.
Word of No. 5629's endangerment spread through the local railroad community. Several groups, including the Illinois Railway Museum and the Mid-Continent Railway Museum, stepped in to try and save it, but soon realized it would be too costly since it could no longer move on its own wheels. Knowing that the locomotive was indeed going to be scrapped, Jensen and his friends took parts off of it and gave them to local railfans. Many of these pieces, including the bell and headlight, survive today in private collections around the country.
Eventually, Metra had finally had enough and took this issue to court, and in July 1987, Metra had received a court order that they were to scrap 5629 right where it stood, Jensen made an appeal to the court to try to save 5629, but the court had declined the appeal, and Metra contracted with the Erman-Howell Division of the Luria Brothers Scrap Company to dispose of No 5629. Scrapping process began on July 14th and it was done by July 20th. After the scrapping had occurred, it was discovered that some of the vandalism done to the locomotive was done by Metra's own employees. As a result of this, nine employees were fired from Metra and Jensen filed a lawsuit, but ultimately lost.
Today, the story of GTW No. 5629's ending stands as one of the biggest tragedies in steam locomotive preservation. However, two of No. 5629's sister locomotives, No. 5632 and fellow GTW 4-6-2 No. 5030 are both on static display in Michigan. However, in 2023, No. 5030 would be acquired by the Colebrookdale Railroad in Boyertown, PA for eventual restoration to operating condition for use in tourist excursion service.
==Trivia==
*The locomotive can be seen in Glory Machines Volume 2, Reflections of American Railroading, and Glory Machines of the Grand Trunk Western from Herron Rail Video.
==See also==
*Gallery
Category:Steam locomotives
Category:Tender locomotives
Category:4-6-2 steam locomotives
Category:Grand Trunk Western locomotives
Category:American locomotives
Category:4-6-2 locomotives
Category:Six-coupled locomotives
Category:ALCO locomotives
Category:Built in 1924
Category:Scrapped locomotives
Category:Baldwin locomotives
Category:Locomotives
Category:Excursion locomotives
Category:USRA locomotives
Category:Scrapped steam locomotives
Category:USRA Light Pacific
Category:USRA Copies
Category:Standard gauge locomotives
Category:Standard gauge locomotives of the United States
Category:Scrapped in 1987
Category:Scrapped during preservation