Oct. 26, 2023

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

From: Ellen Weist, public information officer, Utah Department of Cultural & Community Engagement; text: 503-490-4806

Utah Historical Society approves ownership transfer of Locomotive 223 to Ogden

The Utah Historical Society’s Board of State History has approved the transfer of ownership of Locomotive 223 to Ogden City. 

“With the 100th anniversary of Ogden’s Union Station in 2024, we hope that clarifying 223’s ownership will allow the city to move forward with efforts to restore 223 to its former glory,” said Kevin Fayles, assistant director of the Utah Historical Society. Paperwork for the transfer of ownership will be executed in the near future.

For more than 30 years, the locomotive has been housed at Ogden’s Union Station, which serves as the state’s dedicated railroad museum, but no official documentation of 223’s ownership had been executed. At the history board’s April meeting, a task force was established to determine the locomotive's future. 

Following discussions with Ogden City staff and UHS officials, the task force prioritized clarifying ownership. The task force then recommended transferring ownership of Locomotive 223 because it didn't fit within the mission of the state's collection.

A brief history of Locomotive 223

• The Grant Locomotive Works of Patterson, New Jersey, built Locomotive 223 in 1881. 
• It operated from 1881 until 1941 on various Rio Grande lines in Colorado. Locomotive 223 did not operate in Utah.
• In 1941, 223 was leased to Salt Lake City for display. In 1952, ownership was transferred to the city and displayed in Liberty Park. 
• In 1979, ownership was transferred to the Utah Division of State History, the agency now known as the Utah Historical Society.
•  In 1992, Locomotive 223 was moved to Ogden, where a volunteer restoration effort began.
• Locomotive 223 is the last surviving Grant-built locomotive that was not re-gauged, and is one of two Grant locomotives still in existence. It is currently in a disassembled state.

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For interviews or information, contact Ellen Weist, public information officer, Utah Department of Cultural & Community Engagement, at: 503-490-4806.

Photographs courtesy of the Utah Historical Society.