Don’t miss the Pueblo Parade of Lights on November 25, starting at 5:30 PM! The Pueblo Railway Museum is helping Santa ride in the parade on the Pueblo Downtown Express! For information on parking and the parade route, click here. Read the story below about how the Pueblo Downtown Association and the Pueblo Railway Museum are working together to bring this Christmas Train to the good citizens of Pueblo!
A few months ago, a gentleman named Mike came to visit us at the Pueblo Railway Museum’s D Street Shop, and asked if we knew the whereabouts of the so-called “Everett White” train. Mike Carlisle is with the Pueblo Downtown Association. I told Mike I knew where it was kept, and where Kathy White lived. Mike went to Kathy’s house east of Pueblo. The Association purchased the locomotive, the tender, and all the related train cars, and has named the train the “Pueblo Downtown Express”. An agreement has been made with the Pueblo Railway Foundation that we would store and operate the train and keep it running.
The locomotive is built on a 1942 airport tug and airport luggage cars. Our Museum volunteers have gone into this not being sure of what we were getting ourselves into! The locomotive and tender had sat for 12 years in a trailer without being moved or started. The last time any part of the train was out on display was at our Museum, for our “2912 days” in May of 2012.
When we went to get the locomotive and tender earlier this year, we found that Everett had taken mud and a paint brush and had put mud all over it for that Hillbilly Train display back in 2012. John washed the train twice with a power washer to get the mud off. We then found out that a lot of the paint had come off, so we got paint and painted the whole thing with black and silver. It looks great! The next big problem was to try to get that cranky engine running. That was a job and a half! We have had to change wiring, change oil, put in a new fuel pump, clean the fuel lines and the fuel tank, replace the back tires, and most of all learn to drive it! It was a three-month job, but we did it. Museum volunteer John McDowell and I have both worked very hard on this. After the repairs were done, it was time to roll it out for a test run. It ran like it should. It was then taken out behind the Union Depot for the Museum’s 4th of July train ride event, and then again in August, September, and Halloween with no problems. For Halloween, we took the Hillbilly Train and got it all made up as a haunted train that looked spooky!
Now it’s time for its next big project: Christmas. On Saturday, November 25, I will be driving this train in the Parade of Lights – the first time this train has been in the parade for twelve years. We’re working hard to get our train ready so that Santa and Mrs. Claus can ride it!
Ron Roach,
Pueblo Railway Museum Tour Guide
