UP Railyards and Steam Shop -- Cheyenne WY - American Guide Series on Waymarking.com

Cheyenne was always a major hub on the Union Pacific Railroad. The massive railyards and shops are still a hive of activity on the western side of Cheyenne, along the US 30/Lincolnway/Lincoln Highway.

Since the 1980s, the old UP Machine Shops referenced in the WPA Guide have been the home of the UP Steam program, which runs restored UP steam locomotives 844 (4-8-4 Northern type) and 3985 (4-6-6-4 Challenger type) throughout the western US.

The UP Steam Shop are open to visitors on certain days. Call the shop for more information about when they will be open for a visit close to the time you will be in Cheyenne.

These shops, which drove the early development of Cheyenne and still powered its economy in the 1930s, earned a mention in the WPA Guide to Wyoming, as follows:

"CHEYENNE
. . .

[Page 190] 3. THE UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD SHOPS AND YARDS (open by permission of the shop superintendent), Capitol Ave. between 12th and 15th Sts., occupy a 470 acre tract in downtown Cheyenne. Many of the buildings date back to 1889. The machine shop built in 1919 houses a 250-ton crane that hoists 140-ton locomotives for overhauling."

Book: Wyoming Page Number(s) of Excerpt: 190 Year Originally Published: 1941

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Date Logged Log User Rating   07/24/2004 Benchmark Blasterz visited it