Ledger-Dispatch

By Jerry Budrick (jbudrick@ledger-dispatch.com= )=20

The 125-ton Baldwin #10 locomotive, = seen here in=20 June, currently sits illegally on Union Pacific rails in = Ione.

Photo by: Jerry=20 Budrick
Months after taking what was = generally=20 considered its last run down the Amador Central tracks, the 125-ton = Baldwin #10=20 locomotive sits illegally on rails belonging to the Union Pacific=20 Railroad.

Old #10 is parked in front of the Ione Depot, which = itself sits=20 abandoned in the south part of the city near Ione Junior High=20 School.

Officials of the rail line have threatened to remove the = massive=20 antique by crane Saturday, an action under appeal by members of the = Amador=20 County Historic Railroad Foundation. ACHRRF president Colin Frost hopes = to=20 prevent removal at least until he has an opportunity to meet with City = Manager=20 Kim Kerr on Monday.

Ownership of the locomotive is unclear. It = was taken=20 from its former home on property belonging to Sierra Pacific Industries = in=20 Martell by railroad preservationist Doug Morgan of Portola in June, who = said=20 then that his desire was only to save the machine from dismantlers. At = that=20 time, there was no clear plan for the locomotive's disposition, beyond = the=20 suggestion that it might find a permanent home at the Railroad Museum in = Portola. Morgan didn't return requests for comment before = deadline.

At=20 Tuesday night's Ione City Council meeting, Kerr described the situation = at the=20 depot, where the locomotive is parked. The city, Union Pacific and Larry = Bowler,=20 representing the Recreational Railroad Coalition, have been in = negotiations to=20 have ownership and responsibility for the depot placed in the hands of = the city=20 of Ione.

"The city told Union Pacific that they would like to see = the=20 trains running through town again," Kerr told the council. "They could = get=20 trains running if they replace a couple of ties and remove the=20 bumpers."

The bumpers have been emplaced at a point approximately = 2 miles=20 north of the city, preventing rail travel past that point from either = direction.=20 Union Pacific runs trains twice a week to ISP, an industrial plant north = of the=20 UP bumpers, producing granular products that are economically shipped by = rail.=20 The rail line goes to Galt, where it connects to the main UP=20 system.

Complications arise in that existing tracks belonging to = Union=20 Pacific come together with tracks belonging to SPI at the Ione=20 Depot.

"The recreational people help Union Pacific maintain the = tracks,"=20 Kerr said. The reason for recreational involvement lies in the fact that = the RRC=20 leases 9 miles of track between Ione and Martell from the owner, = SPI.

In=20 an e-mail to RRC members, Bowler said that it was the mutual desire of = both his=20 group and the city to insure "protection of the 135-year-old, unused = depot and=20 the similar yard tracks. It has been the desire of RRC and the city of = Ione that=20 these old resources be preserved either for recreation and education or = be=20 returned to revenue service."

Competition has developed between = the RRC=20 and the ACHRRF, with each group working toward its vision of historic=20 preservation. Both agree, however, that it would be best if Union = Pacific gives=20 the depot to the city.

It remains to be seen if the Baldwin #10 = is still=20 on the tracks when the city and ACHRRF meet Monday.

Jerry = Budrick