Union Railroad No. 77

Category:Union Railroad
Category:Union Railroad locomotives
No. 77 is a 0-6-0 steam locomotive that was built for the Union Railroad by the American Locomotive Company in 1944.
== History ==
Ol' #77 was a USRA design that had actually been developed by LIMA, but was contracted to be built by the American Locomotive Company at its Schenectady, New York works in January 1944 (serial number 71323). It was later sold to the Morehead and North Fork Railroad in Morehead, KY as their #14. After the M&NF dieselized on April 1, 1963, #14 was purchased for the park from the M&NF and renumbered back to #77. #77 was moved by rail from Morehead to the Kentucky and Tennessee Railway yards at Stearns, Kentucky. From there it was trucked into the park where it was put into operation on the tourist railroad.
After Tombstone Junction ceased operation, the rail equipment was sold at auction. Harmon Taylor of Stearns, KY bought the 0-6-0 Alco "Old 77" so that it would stay in McCreary County. The two smaller locomotives were sold to other interests.
Number 77 as of 2023 is located in the old steam shop building of the Kentucky & Tennessee Railway in Stearns, KY. An attempt was made to restore the locomotive to operation for use on the Big South Fork Scenic Railway which operates over the K&T's tracks. Several years of restoration efforts ultimately failed to bring the locomotive back to operation. Major faults with project management ultimately led to the restoration effort being dropped after the expenditure of over 1.5 million dollars with a significant portion of that being provided by public funds.https://www.steamlocomotive.info/shownotes.cfm?Loco=531 The engine was placed in storage in the back of steam shop building in a disassembled state. The restoration also resulted in the loss of a lot of the engines "original fabric" from the park days as the original tender was completely scrapped save for the steel deck and rebuilt new, the original cab was scrapped, as well as the original smoke box and major portions of plumbing deemed unfit for service.
In 2022, the McCreary County Historical Society (operator's of the Big South Fork Scenic Railway) won a lawsuit against Wasatch Railroad Contractors of Cheyenne, WY (the company hired to restore #77 to operation) and were awarded an amount of $700,000. This lawsuit resulting from Wastasch's failure to get the locomotive operating for the agreed estimate and that the work that had been completed was found to be extremely shoddy by an independent inspector. However, the group was never able to collect the awarded amount as Wasatch Railroad Contractors went bankrupt and dissolved shortly thereafter in relation to several other lawsuits against them. In June 2022, the owner and founder of Wasatch Railroad Contractors, John Rimmasch, was found guilty of multiple counts of wire fraud and falsifying invoices to the Federal Park Service in a federal lawsuit in relation to the restoration of a passenger coach for the Steamtown Historic Site in Pennsylvania. Mr. Rimmasch was later sentenced to 30 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release.
==Gallery==
File:Union Railroad No. 77 before being moved to Tombstone Junction.jpeg
File:Union Railroad No. 77 with other locomotives.jpeg
Category:Steam locomotives
Category:0-6-0 locomotives
Category:0-6-0 steam locomotives
Category:Preserved locomotives
Category:Preserved steam locomotives
Category:Locomotives
Category:Tender locomotives
Category:Built in 1944
Category:ALCO locomotives
Category:American locomotives
Category:American steam locomotives
Category:Standard gauge locomotives
Category:Standard gauge locomotives of the United States