Grand Trunk Western 5629

5629 was built by the American Locomotive Company's (ALCO) Schenectady, New York plant in February 1924, and it was delivered via the New York Central to the Grand Trunk Western Railroad (GTW) that same month.[1] It was the third member of the GTW's K-4a class locomotives, numbered 5627-5631, which were copies of the United States Railroad Administration's (USRA) "Light Pacific" design.[1][2][3] They were followed by 3 K-4b's, numbered 5632-5634. The only differences were that they had an all-weather cab, and they were built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works. No. 5629 went through a mostly-uneventful career with the GTW, pulling commuter trains throughout the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and Northern Indiana, as well as freight trains in later years, until the GTW completely dieselized their locomotive fleet.[1]

Shortly before it was scheduled to be retired and sold for scrap, No. 5629 became one of a few steam locomotives on the GTW to be used to pull fan trips that were sponsored by the Michigan Railroad Club.[4][1] The fantrip No. 5629 pulled took place on September 27, 1959, between Detroit and Bay City, Michigan.[1] Around the same time, Richard "Dick" Jensen, a railfan from the Chicago area, was looking for a steam locomotive to purchase with the desire operate his own steam-powered excursion trains, and as a passenger on board the September 27th trip, he felt the No. 5629 locomotive was a perfect candidate for its pulling power and high speed.[1] After saving up money from his job as a bread delivery man for the Catherine-Clark Baking Company, Jensen purchased No. 5629 in March 1960 for its scrap value of $9,540.40.[1]

The locomotive was subsequently moved on its own wheels to a rented sideline at a Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) yard in Hammond, Indiana to be rebuilt.[1] Jensen, with the help of Illinois Central roundhouse foreman Irv Kaufran, worked up to fifty hours a week on getting the locomotive running again, having to drive a two-hour round trip between his home near Chicago and Hammond.[1] One night, he fell a sleep while repairing No. 5629 from underneath, and he woke up at 3:30 AM before returning to his home to receive three hours of sleep in his bed.[1] Jensen also acquired multiple spare parts from scrap dealers for use on No. 5629, and some of them cosmetically altered the locomotive's appearance to a typical USRA locomotive, including a visor headlight from Illinois Central 2-8-4 No. 8049.[5]

In early October 1961, No. 5629 was fired up under private ownership for the first time.[1] It made a few test runs around the Hammond area before preparations were made for it to pull its first excursion run; a complete tour of the Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad (B&OCT) scheduled on October 22, but it was delayed until it took place on November 5.[1][4] Following the success of the tour, No. 5629 would pull another train on the B&OCT for the Railroad Club of Chicago's "Iron Horse Excursions" program.[4] As the excursion market in the midwest became saturated with company-operated fan trips on the GTW and the Burlington Route, No. 5629 sat idle at a roundhouse in Hammond after pulling only two excursions on the B&OCT.[6] Jensen went on to search for a more suitable location to store No. 5629.[1]

GTW No. 5629 at a Monon Railroad yard roundhouse in Hammond, Indiana, on March 31, 1964

In 1964, Jensen became close friends with president of the Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad (C&WI) Robert McMillan, who generously agreed to allow Jensen to store his equipment in a portion of the C&WI's roundhouse on 49th Street (nicknamed the 47th Street Roundhouse) in Chicago, including some of the stalls, the turntable, and the backshop.[1][6] The agreement was finallized on July 16, 1964, and McMillan, being a long-time steam fan, was occasionally allowed to run No. 5629 on break-in runs during the beginning of each excursion over the C&WI out of Dearborn Station.[1] Jensen subsequently founded a group called the Midwest Steam Railfans Association (MSRA), which was dedicated to operate and maintain No. 5629 and other locomotives he owned, as well as GTW USRA 2-8-2 No. 4070, which was owned by fellow steam fan and friend of Jensen, Lou Keller.[1]

After being moved to the 47th Street Roundhouse, No. 5629 was being repaired and prepped to haul several long-distance excursion trains; it was refitted with a six-axle tender formerly paired with Soo Line 4-8-2 No. 4013 to increase the locomotive's fuel and water capacity.[5][7] The locomotive's original four-axle tender was subsequently used for coal storage.[7][1] In March 1966, when it was announced that the Burlington steam program would shut down by August, Jensen sought an opportunity to resume his own operations to dominate the Midwest excursion market; he planned to operate No. 5629 on mainline trackage owned by the GTW, as well as former Wabash and Nickel Plate Road (NKP) trackage that was recently acquired by the Norfolk and Western Railway (N&W).[1][6][8] The first of the scheduled long-distance trips took place in May 1966, when No. 5629 travelled to Indianapolis, and to celebrate the Sesquicentennial of Indiana's statehood, the locomotive pulled a series of excursion trains between Indianapolis and Noblesville.[1][4] During one of the excursions, No. 5629's water injector suffered a malfunction, and the N&W ordered the crews to drop the locomotive's fire after stopping on the mainline as a safety precaution.[1] While two diesel locomotives pulled the excursion to Noblesville, No. 5629 was towed back to Indianapolis, and Jensen drove back to Chicago to grab some tools and spare parts to repair the locomotive's injector by the following day.[1]

Once the Sesquicentennial celebrations were over, No. 5629 moved via the N&W to Decatur, Illinois.[1] A tourist railroad operation on the Illinois Central between Decatur and Springfield was proposed, with No. 5629 planned to be loaned as their main motive power.[1] The locomotive spent several weeks in storage in Decatur and in Springfield before the tourist operation was cancelled, and No. 5629 was moved back to Chicago.[1] The locomotive spent the rest of the 1966 operating season pulling Railroad Club of Chicago-sponsored excursion trains on the GTW's mainline between Chicago, South Bend, Indiana, and Detroit.[1][4][7] During this time, former GTW road foreman Theodore “Bud” Young was tasked to drive No. 5629 during the excursion runs over the GTW mainline.[1] After he became friends with Jensen, Bud Young became No. 5629’s regular engineer for the remainder of the locomotive's excursion career.[1][7]

No. 5629 being stored inside the Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad 47th Street Roundhouse in 1966

In 1967, No. 5629 returned to the GTW to pull several more trips out of Chicago.[1] It was also tasked to pull the Schlitz Circus World Museum train from Baraboo to Milwaukee, Wisconsin on the Chicago and North Western (C&NW) mainline; the previous steam locomotive that pulled the train, Burlington Route 2-8-2 No. 4960, had been removed from service, and No. 5629 was selected as a replacement.[1][9] The locomotive returned to Baraboo to pull the train again in 1968, but that year's Circus parade was cancelled, despite the train's arrival in Milwaukee.[1][9] Around that time, the president of the Southern Railway, W. Graham Claytor Jr., and the Southern steam program's master mechanic, Bill Purdie, arranged a business meeting with Jensen in Chicago with the hopes of purchasing the No. 5629 locomotive for use to pull excursion trains for the Southern steam program while cosmetically altered as a Southern Railway Ps-4 class.[1] Jensen arrived at the meeting several hours late, nearly causing Claytor and Purdie to miss their train back home, and he was covered in soot and grease from working on his locomotive.[1] When Claytor and Purdie made a big offer to purchase No. 5629, Jensen declined, believing his locomotive was worth an unreasonably higher amount.[1]

In February 1969, No. 5629 moved to Detroit for an excursion run, but after the new owners of the C&WI ordered Jensen to vacate his belongings from the 47th Street Roundhouse, No. 5629 was kept in Detroit for temporary storage.[10] Jensen soon had the locomotive relocated to be stored in Penn Central’s yard outside of Chicago’s Union Station.[10] He later planned to use the locomotive to pull an excursion on April 25, 1971 over the Penn Central mainline between Chicago and Logansport, but it was cancelled due to insurance issues with the Rock Island Railroad over arranging passenger cars to be used for the trip.[10] Ticket buyers wanted refunds, but Jensen never gave most of the buyers their money back.[10] Because Jensen had paid for some passenger cars to be moved to Chicago which never came, as well as having gone through a legal battle with the C&WI over losing most of his equipment to an illegal sale, he was left with a heavy financial deficit.[10] Around the same time, some railroads in the Northern Midwest received newer management that had no interest in allowing private steam operations to take place on their trackage.[10] These factors led to Jensen losing interest in hosting steam excursion trips altogether.[10]

In 1977, Jensen broke his back from slipping and falling while helping a friend move a refrigerator to a third-floor apartment, landing him in the hospital for several weeks.[4] This crippled the rest of Jensen's finances, and he could no longer afford to pay rent to store his equipment.[10] Falling behind on rent to store No. 5629 in the Chicago Union Station yard, Jensen subsequently approached several railroads in the Chicago area for permission to store his locomotive on their property, but all of them denied his requests.[10] At one point, Jensen drove to the offices of the Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad, and after demanding they store No. 5629, he was nearly escorted from the premises.[10] As a final resort, Jensen reached an agreement with the Rock Island Railroad, which was also running into serious financial trouble, to store the locomotive in their deteriorating roundhouse in Blue Island, Illinois.[10] Jensen never paid the Rock Island to store his locomotive, and he later ended up owing thousands of dollars in rent.[10] In 1979, the Blue Island roundhouse was scheduled to be demolished, and No. 5629 was moved towards the middle of the Rock Island’s Burr Oak freight yard.[10]

After the Rock Island ceased operations in March 1980, Metra, Chicago's commuter railroad, acquired the Burr Oak yard, and they began planning to construct a new shop complex in the yard.[10] Although Metra was allowed to use the yard, they weren’t allowed to move No. 5629, because it was owned by Jensen.[10] After redevelopment plans were finalized, the commuter operator ordered Jensen to move No. 5629 150 yards to the nearby Iowa Interstate Railroad, but they initially informed him they wouldn't provide him any assistance in getting the locomotive there.[4] When Jensen inspected and prepared the locomotive to be moved, he discovered that his locomotive was vandalized during its time stored in the Burr Oak yard; it was stripped of some of its critical moving parts, including the bearings of the wheels, and it was landlocked with bits of trackage in front of it removed.[10] Jensen would have had to make arrangements to move No. 5629 via truck, but he couldn’t afford it.[10] It led to Jensen thinking that if he hadn’t done anything to move No. 5629, and if it were scrapped, he could file a lawsuit against Metra and win over a million dollars; enough money to solve his financial problems.[10] Consequently, instead of exploring ways to move his locomotive to another location, Jensen removed additional critical components from No. 5629, and he sold all of them to local railfans.[10]

Metra became annoyed by Jensen leaving No. 5629 where it was, and they negotiated with him while sending him bills for the locomotive's storage, but he never paid them back, and he was unwilling to work with the railroad or repair the locomotive.[10] By the end of 1986, Metra have had enough and went to court, and the ruling ordered that if Jensen didn’t remove the locomotive from Metra’s property, it would be destroyed.[10] Several groups subsequently made attempts to move No. 5629 without Jensen's approval, but to no avail; the Illinois Railway Museum offered to purchase No. 5629 for its scrap value of $15,000 from Jensen, but it was declined, as was a subsequent offer from the Mid-Continent Railway Museum.[10] Metra requested to court that they assume ownership of the locomotive and donate it to a museum that would be able to move it, but court said they couldn’t legally claim ownership of Jensen’s property.[10] By June 1987, Metra, fearing the locomotive would become a safety hazard after being stripped of critical parts, banned Jensen from entering the Burr Oak yard.[10] On July 1, 1987, a relieved Metra, while sad to see No. 5629 go, received a court order to scrap the locomotive on sight, but for reasons unknown, Jensen appealed the order.[10] Court declined Jensen’s appeal nine days later, and Metra contracted the Erman-Howell division of the Luria Brothers Scrap Company to dispose of No. 5629 right where it stood. Scrapping began on July 14, it was completed on July 17, and No. 5629’s remains were trucked away by July 20.[10] So many people showed up to witness the scrapping that Metra Police officers began kicking people out of Burr Oak yard.[10]

Following the scrapping, Jensen filed a lawsuit against Metra and requested compensation money as planned, but court did not rule in his favor.[4] Metra subsequently discovered that much of the vandalism done to the locomotive prior to the legal battle had been done by Metra employees, several of which were laid off after a thorough investigation took place in 1988 and 1989.[10] Jensen passed away from failing health on March 16, 1991 at the age of 59.[4] As of 2023, the history of No. 5629 is remembered as a tragedy of North American railroad preservation, but the locomotive's class is currently well represented by GTW No. 5632, a K-4b class 4-6-2, which is on static display in Durand, Michigan, and GTW No. 5030, a J-3b class 4-6-2, which is on static display in Jackson, Michigan while waiting to be moved to the Colebrookdale Railroad in Pennsylvania for restoration.[7][11][12]