Southern Pacific No. 786

Southern Pacific No. 786 is a class Mk-5 2-8-2 "Mikado" type steam locomotive that operates on the Austin Steam Train Association.
==History==
The 786 was completed by the American Locomotive Company’s Brooks Works of Dunkirk, New York in August 1916. The locomotive was one of the group of 20 Southern Pacific Mk-5 class 2-8-2 Mikados (numbers 775 to 794). 786 was placed in service on the Houston & Texas Central subsidiary of the SP in September 1916.
The locomotive received several upgrades throughout its career, including: Original extended smokebox shortened in the 1920’s, boiler pressure upgraded from 200 to 210 psi at Houston in 193, and installation of a feedwater heater and superheaters at Houston in 1941.
786 was retired from service and donated to the City of Austin in March 1956. It was placed on display near the firehouse on Trinity between 4th and 5th streets. It would remain there for 34 years. In 1989 the 786 was leased to the newly-formed Austin Steam Train Association and was removed from display the following year.
Restoration of the locomotive began in June 1990 at the Westinghouse Motor Co. shops in Georgetown, Texas. A team of both professional and volunteer crews completed the intense restoration in a relatively brief amount of time. For three days in December 1991 the operational 786 and one coach car were at the center of a celebratory festival in downtown Austin. The first passenger excursion pulled by the restored 786 arrived in Burnet on July 25, 1992.
After seven years of reliable service, 786 was temporarily sidelined in July 1999 following the discovery of cracks in a key component of the locomotive. This discovery sidelined the 786 for a repair which turned into a complete rails-to-stack rebuild which continues to this day.
==Trivia==
*SP 786 was featured in the film, What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up? The Railroaders Edition
*The locomotive and some of the passenger cars used by Austin Steam Train Association were used in the movie "The Newton Boys" (1998). The locomotive and some of the cars were re-lettered to be from the Milwaukee Road.
Category:Steam locomotives
Category:Tender locomotives
Category:2-8-2 locomotives
Category:2-8-2 steam locomotives
Category:American locomotives
Category:Southern Pacific locomotives
Category:Built in 1916
Category:ALCO locomotives
Category:Locomotives
Category:Eight-coupled locomotives
Category:Locomotives featured in media
Category:Restored locomotives
Category:Excursion locomotives
Category:Preserved steam locomotives