At the TRHA we like to take a look at the efforts of other railway museums and historical societies across the country and around the world, especially now since our museum has been closed and many of our normal volunteer activities have to be put on hold.

The Rocky Mountain Rail Society is an organization made up of dedicated volunteers who preserve former Canadian National steam locomotive #6060, not too dissimilar to the work of the volunteers here at the TRHA. The 6060 locomotive is a 4-8-2 “Mountain” type, similar to the 4-8-4 #6213 that’s on display in Roundhouse Park. The particular class of 4-8-2’s that 6060 is a part of were nicknamed “Bullet-Nose Betties” for their cone-shaped smokebox door cover. They were built during the mid-1940’s, and were some of the last steam locomotives delivered to Canadian National as diesel engines became the dominant form of power. They most often pulled high-speed passenger trains on the busiest rail corridors across Canada. Towards the end of their lifetime in the late 1950’s, they were mostly relegated to freight service as the newer diesels took the high priority trains. After the vast majority of steam engines were retired in 1960, 6060 along with two other locomotives of the same type were selected for preservation (The others are 6069 on display in Sarnia, Ontario and 6077 in Capreol, Ontario). At first, 6060 was put on static display in Jasper, Alberta for 10 years between 1962 and 1972. At the time, Canadian National still operated an active steam program, in which a handful of steam engines were kept in operating condition to pull special excursion trains in various parts of the country. #6060 was selected by CN to replace 4-8-4 #6218 in excursion service, and became CN’s main excursion engine until it was retired in 1980.

For more photos of 6060 in excursion service, check out an older blog post highlighting some photos of it taken by a CRHA Niagara member!

6060 was then presented to the people of Alberta as a gift to commemorate the Province of Alberta’s 75th anniversary, where it was dubbed the “Spirit of Alberta”. After five years of retirement, the engine was restored to operating condition by the volunteers of the Rocky Mountain Rail Society. It ran under its own power along with Canadian Pacific 2860 during the 1986 World Exposition on Transportation and Communication, or simply Expo ’86. Afterwards, 6060 was moved to the Alberta Railway Museum and put into storage. In 1998 it was once more to Stettler, Alberta where it operated under regular excursion service for the Alberta Prairie Steam Tour. In 2011, 6060 was put back into storage where it has been ever since.

Now, almost 10 years later, the Rocky Mountain Rail Society is once again attempting to restore 6060 to operating condition. The cost of its restoration is estimated at $650,000. You can make a donation through the RMRS’s donation page on their website.