Visitors attend New Mexico Railroad Days alongside historic locomotive

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – One of the largest steam locomotives in the world, valued at over $3.5 million, has been worked on for restoration by groups for decades. A local event highlighted the engine this weekend.

The Albuquerque Rail Yards hosted festivities for rail fans to attend the New Mexico Railroad Days. Restoration efforts began in 1999 when the New Mexico Heritage Rail organization negotiated the purchase of the soon-to-be scrapped historical Santa Fe 2926. It was later purchased for $1.

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“There’s a lot of rail fans a lot of history buffs and a lot of people are just interested and curious about what’s going on. You know, when people come up to this thing and see it for the first time it’s like, ‘Wow, that thing is huge,’” said John Roberts, NMHR president.

The locomotive ran under its power roughly three years ago. The restoration site is located on 8th Street.

The organization hopes the locomotive will gain exposure moving forward bringing in tourists and rail enthusiasts from all over.

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