Crossing Butternut Creek. The recently restored US 152 charges across the high trestle over Butternut Creek en route back to Crossroads Village with a short passenger train. The 152 is a 1920-vintage, Baldwin 10-wheeler with a bit of an odd history. It was built for the U.S. Government for use on the Tanana Valley Railroad in Alaska. It was then acquired by the Alaska Engineering Commission and was used in the construction of the Alaska Railroad. It operated on the Alaska Railroad's Chatanika Branch until that line was shut down about 1930. It was then transferred to the U.S. Army and was shipped to Skagway, Alaska for use on the White Pass & Yukon during World War II, but there is no record of it having been used there. Certainly, it would have been a little light for the steep grades out of Skagway. After the war, it was repatriated to the lower 48 and went through at least 3 owners before being acquired in 1975 by the newly built Huckleberry Railroad in Michigan, where it has been ever since.
This locomotive was out of service from about 2009 until mid-2018, as it needed a 1,472 Service Day Inspection as well as a lot of other repairs. This work was finally completed in the summer of 2018 and she's been back in service since. Expect her to alternate with DRGW 464 over the course of the 2019 season, until the latter engine's 1,472 SDI runs out. After that, she'll be the "lone ranger" for a while.
