Grand Trunk Western 5629

Grand Trunk Western 5629

Grand Trunk Western 5629 was a K-4-a class 4-6-2 "Pacific" type steam locomotive, which was a copy of the United States Railroad Administration's (USRA) Light Pacific design, built by American Locomotive Company's (ALCO) Schenectady Works in February 1924, for the Grand Trunk Western Railroad (GTW). It was used to haul commuter passenger trains in Michigan until March 1960, when it was purchased by Chicago-based railfan Richard Jensen, who used No. 5629 to pull several excursion trains in the Chicago area throughout the 1960s. After Jensen ran into some financial trouble in the 1970s, he stored his locomotive at the Rock Island Railroad's (RI) freight yard in Blue Island, Illinois. In 1980, Metra Commuter Rail, acquired the Blue Island freight yard, wanted Jensen to remove the No. 5629 locomotive from it. But Jensen, knowing that his locomotive was in very poor condition, decided to have Metra scrap it and filed a lawsuit against them in order to recoup his financial trouble. Several preservation groups, including the Illinois Railway Museum, offered to purchase No. 5629 from Jensen, who declined. In July 1987, Metra, unable to seize ownership of the No. 5629 locomotive, reluctantly scrapped it under the court order. At first, the railfan community was upset with Metra's decision to scrap the No. 5629 locomotive, but Metra soon revealed that they tried to remove the locomotive intact from their Blue Island yard, but they had no way to do it due to legal issues and Jensen's negligence and uncooperativeness. On the other hand, Jensen filed a lawsuit against Metra as planned but eventually lost the case. His decision to let the No. 5629 locomotive getting scrapped was heavily controversial.

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Grand Trunk Western 5629

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