It’s nostalgia time for everyone who remembers the days when passenger trains made daily stops at the Katy Depot in Denison. On Friday evening, March 27, the Union Pacific’s “Katy Heritage” locomotive will arrive to kick off a weekend of events marking the Red River Railroad Museum’s grand re-opening.
Officially termed “Union Pacific 1988,” the Katy Heritage locomotive is painted in the colors of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad or “Katy.” It is one of several UP locomotives painted in the scheme of a railroad that existed prior to merging with Union Pacific. The year 1988 has special significance for Denison, as that was the year when UP acquired the MKT Railroad, marking the end of a long era in the town’s history.
Denison was founded by the MKT in 1872. That year, the railroad purchased land, laid out streets, sold lots, and sent the first Katy train into Texas on Christmas night. For the next fifty years, the railroad was the town’s largest employer.
In the Railroad Strike of 1922, as unions fought for better wages, the Texas National Guard was sent to Denison to maintain order. In the wake of the battle, many railroad functions moved elsewhere, and the town’s population declined. All railroads lost business during the Depression and subsequent decades, but MKT passenger trains ran through Denison until 1965. Today, UP freight trains still crisscross the city.
On Friday evening, the UP 1988 can be viewed on nearby tracks by those attending “Rockin’ at the Rails,” a major event with dinner, music, and live auction, benefiting the Red River Railroad Museum. The engine will also be on display at the depot during the many events of Spring Tour Weekend in Downtown Denison on Saturday, March 28, and Sunday, March 29.
Visitors cannot enter the engine but can view it free of charge and take photographs with it.
Union Pacific unveiled the “Katy Heritage” locomotive in early August, 2005, after which it entered regular revenue service pulling a train from Chicago to East St. Louis. The diesel-electric engine is an EMD SD70ACe locomotive, produced by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors (GM-EMD).
For more information about Spring Tour Weekend events, see http://www.destinationdenison.com/ or call (903) 463-KATY (5289).