After spending 30 years in Ogden, Utah, Denver and Rio Grande Western locomotive #223 will be heading home to Colorado. The newly formed 223 Locomotive Foundation non-profit has taken ownership of the locomotive from the city of Ogden, with plans to restore it to operation.
In 2024 the city of Ogden, Utah took definitive ownership of the locomotive. City officials reviewed the many long-term options that would best tell the history and story of #223 and where it operated. To support their review, John Bush completed a comprehensive parts inventory and input was sought from various other historical organizations as well as the public.
After determining that an operational restoration was the best path forward, the city and C-16 Society supported the creation of a separate non-profit to acquire and restore #223. The 223 Locomotive Foundation was formed, with Jimmy Booth, Ray Bjerrum, and Jeff Taylor as the initial three board members. The foundation aims to have #223 operational within 3 years after which they hope to operate it on nearby narrow gauge railroads such as the Durango and Silverton and Cumbres and Toltec. The locomotive will be converted to burn oil and will be restored to how it looked when it last operated in Gunnison, Colorado. After 10 years, the permanent home of #223 will be at the Colorado Railroad Museum, where it will join 3 other colorado narrow-gauge engines.
223 is a 2-8-0 C-16/Class 60 locomotive built by in 1881 for the Denver and Rio Grande. Originally to built by Baldwin, it was ultimately constructed by Grant Locomotive Works in New Jersey. After its retirement in 1941, it traveled to Utah where it was put on display. Two other C-16 locomotives survive; #268 at the Gunnison Pioneer Museum and #278 at the Cimarron Creek Bridge near Black Canyon.
Image from the Colorado Railroad Museum Facebook announcement
Learn more
223 Locomotive Foundation website
C-16 Locomotive Society website
Colorado Railroad Museum website