The (Preventable) Death of a Steam Engine | Grand Trunk Western 5629 | History in the Dark
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- Опубліковано 7 лип 2024
- Grand Trunk Western 5629, preserved Pacific 4-6-2 K-4a steam locomotive, fell victim to the law, finances, mismanagement, and betrayal by her owner: Richard Jenson. Railfans everywhere still mourn the loss of this piece of history.
Music credits:
🟢 Henry's Theme (Sad) -- www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9Khc...
🎵 Cover by Luke Pickman -- / instrumentmaniac
0:00 - Intro
1:28 - In Service
2:18 - Saved from Scrap
4:32 - The Excursion Trains
9:41 - Betrayal and Death
17:38 - The End
"Grand Trunk Western 5629 was a 4-6-2 K-4a steam locomotive built by American Locomotive Company (ALCO) in 1924, for the Grand Trunk Western Railroad. It was a copy of the USRA Light Pacific locomotives. It became famous after being purchased by Richard Jensen for use in pulling several excursion trains in the Chicago area throughout the 1960s. After Jensen ran into some financial trouble, No. 5629 was put into storage at the Rock Island Railroad's Blue Island, Illinois freight yard. No. 5629 was subsequently the subject to a legal battle between Jensen and Metra Commuter Rail in the mid-1980s, and it ultimately led to the locomotive's scrapping in July 1987."
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#trains #railfan #history
Hearing that whistle at the end is so sad, as if she was crying out for someone to help her. Poor engine did not deserve this.
That last whistle brought me to tears. Her last cry against the dying of the light.
To cheer up, I am going to share you a story of another locomotive that almost had a similar fate - an old narrow gauge diesel locomotive for a heritage railway in my country. She rusted for over 20 years on the train yard, but when the time came for her to be scrapped, something amazing happened.
You see, in my country, all of the railroads are nationalized, and therefore it was easier to safe her. A locomotion production and repair plant have opened recently, and the people working there are all huge railfans. They manage to buy her as if for scrap, but instead rolled her to the factory floor, removed all rusted components and replaced them with new ones. It took years of hard work and investment on behalf of everyone to make it happen.
Earlier this year, there was a huge ceremony where the factory doors opened, and the locomotive sounded her new whistle bringing cheer and joy to the thousands of people gathered around to witness the event. Then she rolled forward under her own power, shining in fresh red paint and with the roar of a mighty new engine.
Now she is serving again as a mainline locomotive, pulling rolling stock daily and with decades of service in front of her. A 70 yearold locomotive being treated as brand new one. And the factory that did this, now have a huge bucket list of new orders to restore many other aging heritage diesels, and they also expressed the desire to start refurbishing old steamers as well in the near future.
A story to make any railway fan happy.
yeah I hope Metra should go bankrupt for what they did to 5629
@@StephentrainboyRailfanbrony did you even watch the video? Cause if you did you would know that they weren’t really the bad guys in this situation.
Exactly! Totally understandable that Jenson was injured but there were two scenic Railway Museums that offered Jenson $15-20 Grand, which could have saved 5629 and his Medical Bills but he literally declined both of them. Metra even offered to do the same thing a couple years before 1987 and he also said No. So technically although Jensen reached it over 25 years earlier he technically became the Villain in the 80’s and neglected the Poor engine. If he wasn’t going to do anything with it, he didn’t deserve to have it. It appears he didn’t care about the Money that was offered to him, all he wanted was to sue Metra out of his Greed and then blame them for the loss of 5629.
He should have already offered it to a Museum or a Historical RR Society before 1975.
;-;
Imagine thinking he could sue them for acting on a court order, especially when he was given numerous alternatives to the locomotive being scrapped
What is missing from this story is that another engine that he owned CB&Q 4-8-4 #5632 which was actually a larger and nicer engine that he owned was actually scrapped in the 1970's under similar circumstances that was stored elsewhere. He eventually received a $1M+ judgement for it's illegal scrapping and many railfans think he deliberately let GTW #5629 get scrapped in hoping of getting another nice payday. It has been written that the reason it could not be moved was that he had removed it's driver bearings. B4 the scrapping happened and it was reaching a critical timeline it has been reported that both IRM and Mid Continent contacted him and he never returned the calls.
He just did it thank to you man
Sad that she wasn't preserved after all that effort 😢
Edit: also sad that Jensen was so caught up/blinded by his financial woes that he abandoned, used, and destroyed her.
Well we have a lot of pictures of 5629
@@amtrakproductions-mx9ib small comfort I suppose...
Probably the reason Metra's been the villain of this story for many years is because, like you said of them being unrealistic in the beginning and the employees stealing parts, plus the fact they wouldn't let anyone inspect her part, was very suspicious, and finally the story was half baked we didn't hear what Jensen done.
May 2023 Update: And finally the shop Metra was supposed to build where 5629 sat never got built, even all these years later.
Is there any remains in the way do they want to keep the memories un touched
This was reuploaded due to a questionable copyright claim regarding two of the pictures I used. I removed the issues to avoid a strike on the channel. Apologies for the confusion.
what images were those? how could images even incite a copyright claim?!
an IMAGE copyright claim?! who even made such a claim?? I swear they had nothing better to do, thinking "oh, Darkness used an image that belongs to me or my company without asking first, time to mess up his chances at keeping the video up by making a bogus copyright claim." or something along those lines. Some people, am I right? 😠
Rghhg….. they should have just _watched_ the video! Then they would have known why he used those pictures!
@@mechamax7919 Pictures are protected by copyright laws. It is recommended that you ask their permission before using them.
The copyright claim was filed by myself; you used one of my photos that has a very strict copyright protection because it has been published in magazines and other publications. This image cost me money, and unauthorized reuse of it will not be tolerated. If you had asked to use it, I probably would've said yes with some terms and conditions. Next time, ask first. It's the right thing to do.
Hands down, the most controversial event in American railroad preservation history
It’s a shame that Jensen didn’t just give the locomotive up, if he sold the engine she would’ve been here today
Rip 5629 - you deserved so much better than this
$15,000 back then is comparative to $54,250 today. If Jensen said yes to ICRR buying her, she could've been saved and he could've paid off his medical bills! But of course, greed got the better of him and we lost a beautiful locomotive. Such a shame. 😥
Greed might not be exactly the reason 5629 was lost. It's possible Mr. Jenson became so immersed and totally commited in the the effort he could only be satisfied if his desires held sway exclusively.
Maybe more like so obsessed he became blinded to any other options as the project and himself became one and the same.
@@kennethhanks6712 That happens a lot with classic cars as well, and I can see how someone can easily fall into the trap. They invest their time/money into the project and by the time they realize they'll never be able to adequately finish it mother nature has already rendered it inoperable and possibly beyond saving. If your heart is tied to something, you may not see that letting it go is the best option. Sad, but understandable if that's the situation here.
@@Griznant75 There's a video of a car channel tracking down this guy who had a big fleet of classics rotting in his front & back yard. The guy said that he just liked looking at the rotting cars and also admitted that he knew that he would never would get around to restoring them. He was asked what he planned on doing with the cars after he died and he said that he didn't care what his wife would do with them.
What the husband likely knows that when he dies she'll bring in the crusher and then move away to move near the kids.
@@kennethhanks6712He may also have been a manchild with the attitude of 'If I can't have 5629, no one can'
Jensen Didn’t Care About 5629.He Cared About The Money
At the very least Jensen didn't profit by his betrayal. But oof... Damn his blind plan, damn the Metra employees who initially vandalized 5629 (if she'd been in moving shape, maybe Jensen would never have had his stupid plan in the first place; the ripped-up rails would have been an easy thing to fix)...
Damn it all.
This is one of the most saddest stories of preservation losses I ever heard, and it always brings tears to my eyes every time I hear about it.
Fun fact: her whistle a grand trunk western 6 chime whistle actually did survive so was the bell one of the number plates and the headlight but her whistle was so beautiful every railfan loved that whistle but there is footage of the whistle
I never knee that the whistle bell and one of the numbers were preserved, where are these pieces located are they at a museum or something or are they in private hands?
Where are they now?
Who else thinks that whistle at the end is saying something like “Save me! Please help!” or “Don’t leave me here!!”
5629’s last words were “Screw it! Just put me out of my misery already.”
I think it's saying 'Somebody please save me' 😩
Dont cry 5632 is here with us but here's a fun fact, the six axle tender was from soo line 4013 a 4-8-2 locomotive and the headlight is from Illinois central 8049 a 2-8-4 Berkshire
@@amtrakproductions-mx9ib And 5630 is currently in the process of being restored
A slight correction needs to be spoken here, that being the Southern Steam Program leader is stated in this video as Bill Purd. Actually, his name was Bill Purdie.
Railfans should lobby for legislation similar to that protecting historic places to protect historic objects of national interest. There are plenty of eccentrics in the hobby, most being the GOOD kind of autspergie but the other sort exist and should be understood instead of trying to pretend them away. That may save some worthy hardware from the smelter.
In addition to the story of 5632, i will (in the near future) be trying to get a group together to raise funds to restore her to her former beauty, she is quite rough but I believe she could be a running locomotive again some day
Are you gonna talk about when new York central added jet engines that were made for nuclear bombers onto a locomotive
Your learning young man.. wish I could take you back to see all there still was in the 70’s and 80’s that’s gone today.. it’s a damn crime how much we lost from structures to E8’s
Next to my dads building were he use to work is a C&O Berkshire K-4 “Kanawha” steam engine. It’s #2756, she is apart of a set of originally 13(now 12) steam engines that were saved by the Lima Locomotive Works. #2756 is the reason why I have a passion for steam engines. My brother and I use to climb up on her and pretend to be in a western. This was the 90s when kids could still be kids. A lot of my fondest memories are on that train. It warms my heart knowing she is still around, despite the fact her boilers haven’t been fired up since the 60s.
Fun fact. Grand trunk western line still runs on a csx line in Michigan/Ohio and have been having frequent derailments and many highway crossing repairs. I hauled some of their mainline ballast from the toledo port to various crossings/locations
Its so 😔. 5629, you didn't deserve this. You will always be remembered
Couldn't he have sued for his property being vandalized while being stored by someone?
He was so obsessed with his project he wasn't thinking like that
Can we get a story of CB&Q 5632 please? It much like GTW 5629, shouldn't have been scrapped.
And like the 5629, her number lives on with another locomotive from the other railway.
And CB&Q 5632 was also owned by the GTW 5629 owner.
And 6315
a 2-10-4 broke it's valve gear while running at a fast speed on an excursion with 5632
Well 5629 should be rebuilt
@@amtrakproductions-mx9ib we already have a usra light pacific (ACL 1504) being restored to operation, so it would be pointless. If anything, someone should built a pacific that has never gotten as much attention lately, like the Missouri Kansas Texas H-3 class pacifics
That whistle sounds very sad
The ultimate heartbreak story of the preservation hobby. So close and yet so far...
Im happy I still have Herron Rail Video footage of GTW 5629 both in the 1950s and 1960s in Glory Machines of the Grand Trunk Western and in Reflections of American Railroading. The latter of which contains an interesting segment of GTW 5629 when she ran in July 1966 from Nobelsville, IN to Indianapolis, IN to celebrate the Indiana Centennial. However, her feedwater heater malfunctioned which caused the N&W Railway officials to have Jensen drop the fire on the main line. Thankfully, the feedwater heater was repaired and GTW 5629 came back the next day to finish the schedule. This footage is shown as an extra bonus segment at the end of the DVD where you also see 5629 do some street running.
Someone call up Victor Tanzig and see if he can make a story about this for his “Stories of Sodor” series.
LMAO
No probably won't it work for a story
Only if it was taken place in american
If it wasn’t for that horrible Richard Jensen dude, we could’ve seen Grand Trunk Western 5629 preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois along with Chicago, Burlington & Quincy 5632.
16:29 Thomas is sad
12:03 well to be fair, he could’ve just removed the engine from the yard by truck, but then again, I’m not sure if he would’ve been able to afford to borrow a heavy truck or a couple of heavyweight cranes.
ngl this guys content is so good
I wish 5629 was saved and I hope they will build a full scale replica of her.
(image of 5629 intact)He's quite a sweet fellow really, i think I'll call him bob
(5629 scrapped picture) moments later bob is dismembered
This made me cry so much
Sad to see, Grand Trunk Western 5629 sure didn’t deserve to be scrapped.
5629 will never be forgotten
Ah yes let me copyright a picture of a steam locomotive that’s been on the internet for most likely years. That’s like let me copyright a picture of a PRR Q1 despite it being on the internet for years.
Pictures are protected by copyright laws. It doesn't matter how long they've been on the internet (unless they've fallen into public domain), you need to ask the owner's permission before using their content.
This was easily the saddest moment in all of the steam preservation era! I am disgusted myself at the events of what happened with the engine and what Jensen had to go through! Really how hard is it for metra at the time to take one of their many F40PHs and couple up to 5629 and take the engine to where Jensen needed her at the Iowa Interstate and there system is small and only serves the Chicago area and Iowa interstate is not far from where she was sitting on that siding! I just don’t get it when I first heard of this incident I almost cried and I know there have been quite a few locomotives that have gone through this in the preservation era but being this so recent in 1987 that they scrapped her just make me so mad!
"Really how hard is it for metra at the time to take one of their many F40PHs and couple up to 5629 and take the engine to where Jensen needed her"
Very hard, given the vandalism - especially the fact that the smeghead yard workers *stole her wheel bearings.* With the wheel bearings gone she couldn't even be towed, she'd have had to be crane-lifted onto flatcars. And don't forget that after the initial discovery that she was unfit to roll, Jensen got his Bright Idea (TM) to let her be scrapped so he could then sue Metra
@@ZeldaTheSwordsmanThey probably commented before watching
Jensen should be sued and ashamed for betraying and scrapping poor 5629!
Well he is long gone now. He passed away from (heart failure I believe) in 1991.
Awesome video. Hey if you do a top 5 of famous locomitves look up Strasburg #31. It was a 1908 Baldwin built for grand trunk RR as i think 7212. It became strasburg #31 in sept 1960 and was America first returned service passenger loco. It went for its 1472 day inspection in 2009. and never returned to service agsin. the boiler shell and wheelset and undercarriage are all that remain. parts were used to repair and fix other locomotives that did run. But it was not neglect it was beacuse they found alot of expensive issue's they could not address financially at the time. So though its not technically lost to history she most likely will never run again. It sits rusting away in peices the next to the parking lot for the heritage line.
If you haven't done it yet, you should do a video about F. Nelson Blount "The man from Steamtown"
That first image is from the depot in my town (durand,mi) where the sister of 5629 lives on display
Girls with a time machine:
"I'm your great granddaughter!"
Her great grandmother: really?
Boys with a time machine:
"Richard Jensen, your plan to get the 5629 scrapped by metra in order to file a lawsuit to get the money to alleviate your financial problems is not going to work. You have to let her go, she'll be in better care of somebody else, and you won't have to deal with any rent bills if you sold the 5629 to somebody else".
Richard Jensen: Okay, I'll give her to someone else.
1:42 *WHAT!!!* no wonder why they looked so much like the usra light pacifics! At least we have usra light pacific P-5-a 1504, and that engine is being restored to operation for the U.S. Sugar railroad's sugar express
You clearly forgot about when 5629 was used to pull The Great Circus Train in the 1960s, from Baraboo, WI., to Milwaukee.
Richard Jensen Fridge Calamity
GTW 5632 should be restored
So the memory will never die....
Another GTW pacific, 5030, was bought by the Colebrookdale Railroad in Pennsylvania for an eventual operational restoration.
There is something that everyone in the railfan community (in all its various facets) should reflect on regarding this subject, especially regarding some comments.
It is often one thing to offer ideas, opinions, and comments but everyone should ask themselves how many rail heritage projects they have seriously invested in blood (money, equipment, etc donations or investment), sweat (actually performing work on or toward a rail heritage project), or tears (investing effort in a project at the expense of pursuing other, maybe even non-rail, interests).
Not to say Mr. Jenson may have ultimately erred and failed in his effort with 5629 but he did TRY.
Let me guess, u had to reuploaded because of UA-cam shit ?
The betrayal of 87
My heart will go on.
Can you make a video on the Harcourt Street line in Dublin? That line has a very interesting history in of itself.
You should make a video about the Duluth, south shore, and Atlantic railroad. 😊
Engine 5629 also has a connection to the NRRM in Green Bay because Mr. Jensen used the Larger Tender from the ex-SOO LINE 4-8-2 Mountain, but sadly in the early 1960s when facts were often confused, somebody wrote the small white guidebook that includes SOO LINE 2718 4-6-2 PACIFIC with the notation that 2718 has the larger tender from the SOO 4-8-2 which is clearly false because 2718 was donated in 1957 as the NRRM's 2nd steamer, and is clearly, and obviously equipped with the original regular tender with only 2 (two) 4-wheeled trucks !!!!!
Alright, first of all, THERE WERE TWENTY OF THOSE SOO LINE 4-8-2 ENGINES BUILT.
Secondly, they had 2 types of tenders. The first type being a small-ish 4-axle tender, some of which were actually handed down to some of the Soo Line 4-6-2’s, including 2718 AND 2719. SO IF ANYTHING, THE NRRM WAS CORRECT. Anyway, the second type was a larger 6-axle tender, which more so looked like those large Nickel Plate Road tenders, and one, indeed, was paired with 5629 in the 1960s, and another was eventually modified and paired with 4960 in Arizona.
And thirdly, LEARN SOME GRAMMAR, MAN!
If you want to criticize something, go to Jim van der Kolk’s final video and comment there.
It was the refrigerators fault, they should be outlawed.
LOL
Hey Darkness, where did you get the information of Jenson intentionally leaving 5629 to die?
*5 months later* I believe he got most of this info from the article A Passion For Steam on Trackside Photographer
That comment of mine is outdated because I too eventually found that article randomly in September of 2023
@@AndrewTheRocketCityRailfan4014 I sort of figured. I just thought I’d reply to it anyway just to be safe. Lol
Today is the anniversary of her scraping. May she continue to rest in peace.
so sad 😥
I swear, if a replica of 5632 and 5629 ever get built, then those replicas should doublehead!
I would like to see a video about Nickel Plate’s Berkshire 2-8-4 locomotives.
5629's last words were "screw it! Just scrap me already! goodbye world"
He tried to sue the heck out of the scrap company and metra and some railroad i don't remember but he literally didn't do anything about saving the loco he still could have made money by selling it but he decided to sue people instead of selling 5629 5632 and maybe 4960 luckily 4960 is still around
Reupload?
I'm currently working on GTW 5632
What's your opinion on ATSF 3751?
There should be a law against thsi historic vandalism!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
EI NO SCRAPPING AS OF 1964
OR AT LEAST 1969
Well considering 4 hunslet austerity locos lasted in industrial use in Britain till 1988
😭😭😭😭Poor 5629😰😥
5629 should of not get scrapped they should have put it in a railway museum not just scraping the train.
One of the more depressing stories of rail preservation....that being said; while we're on the subject of the GTW, you should do videos on GTW 6325 and GTW 4070
Jenson screwed himself. What he got was instant karma. How can you refuse 15 grand when your back is broke, and you're struggling financially?
Grand Trunk Western 5629 is basis as a Eevee Hanawalt.
My question is like you said why did the sell it and probably would have got more money than to sue them
There are instances of steam locos being cut up as late as 2011. Don't think for a moment that jurisdictions and scrappers will be partial to these iron beasts. Don't allow them to be in the wrong hands.
There was a steam locomotive scrapped in 2017 in Florida. 2-8-2t coos bay lumber company 10 was scrapped. From what i know she was up for sale for a few years and eventually was scrapped since no one bought it.
And ironically the Metra group out west sponsored excursions with 765 years later
i cant believe she's gone she could have been saved by CN 3254 and donated to steamtown and put next to CN 3254 and CB&Q 5632 and GTW 6325 and GTW 4070 so 5629 should be in the middle
what is it about seeing a steam loco getting scrapped (17:30) brings to mind those ghastly videos of carnivores taking their prey apart on safari?
So Jensen is the bad guy
Maybe but then again he should got a loan for his medical issues.
Breaks my heart hearing about this he should have just sold her to another group
Rip 5629 you well Steam again in too paradis 😔
Our legal system needs to be reworked in order to prevent people like Jensen from doing stupid stuff in order to make a buck. America's system is a joke.
It may not be so black & white as you suggest. A few years back I met a passenger on the Durango & Silverton who mounted a spirited defense of Jenson. I wish he would comment so we get a different perspective.
Well all go things come to a end just 5926 did
can you make the death of prr 7002 4-4-2 pls
it hasen't even been scrapped
@@penginator88 the real 7002
@@benjaminvaldez7163 yeah but she wasn't scrapped
@@penginator88the one in the museum isn’t 7002, it was renumbered. The og 7002 is gone
wait what@@backonpro5679
E
no.
Alfred E. Perlman: He finished, what I started. Now *I WANT THAT STEAM ENGINE!!!*
Wa-BASH???
It’s crazy how giant contraption of metal can make a person sad. Lol
its history
You are aware that he owned another locomotive that was scrapped in the 70's, and he sued and was awarded $1.5 million then right?
That was because they were illegally sold to a scrapper without his knowledge or consent. He was wronged in that case.
@History in the Dark true, but I bet that win seeded in his mind if it happens again, he'll make millions. And it would've been used in court to show that he had a pattern of not always good intentions to make money.
100th comment
First
Your mom.
@@FreedomLovingLoyalistOfficial You crack me up
Just another wastage of money
How so?
Came to find out why I was watching this a second time, read the reason (thank you & bugger the CC-ists)
So now I'll stay & comment....lol!
It's cruel to say, but at least ol' 5629 finally got put out of her missery & it came to an end.
And yes, there are PLENTY of trains abandoned & forgotten rotting back into the ground to become a future mineral-rich patch of soil for a while longer before being disbursed upon the winds....
But it's even sadder when iit is done DELIBERATELY by those who CLAIM to be 'preserving' them.
Whilst we spare a thought for trains now lost, lets keep in mind beautiful beheamoths that are still with us, yet continue to rot from neglect & selfishness.
Personally, I find NSWGR AD6042 just about the saddest case there must currently be, & NOT just because its a Garrett.
www.flickr.com/photos/53191724@N02/16465853893
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_South_Wales_AD60_class_locomotive
#letsliberate6042
Wtf is wrong with you to believe that engines that need cosmetic restoration to be scraped