SWEPCO donated locomotive and crane time to club which restores and shows antique engines and machinery.

GENTRY -- Club members gathered on Tired Iron of the Ozarks' showgrounds on Thursday afternoon to wait for a train. Yes, you read it correctly, a train! They waited for the delivery of a 1943 switch-engine locomotive donated to the club by Southwestern Electric Power Co., a subsidiary of American Electric Power.

The small locomotive had been used to move train cars at the Flint Creek Power Plant but was no longer needed there, so SWEPCO donated it to the Tired Iron of the Ozarks, a club which refurbishes old engines, tractors and machines of yesteryear and shows them at its two annual shows, one in April and the other in September.

The switch locomotive, which stands 12 feet tall and weighs 25 tons, was loaded by crane onto a lowboy trailer and pulled by truck to the club showgrounds, where it was unloaded and set down on railroad ties. A large crane, owned and operated by Multi-Craft Contractors, Inc., lifted the switch engine from the lowboy equipment trailer, allowing the trailer to be pulled out from under the locomotive. The locomotive was then lowered down onto the ties which were put in place after the trailer was moved.

The Tired Iron of the Ozarks sign above the entrance to the show grounds had to be taken down to make room for the train to be brought into the grounds.

According to a plate on the side of the engine, it is a General Electric diesel-electric locomotive and was built in February of 1943.

Johnny Burger, a founding member of the Tired Iron club, said the locomotive was used to move grain cars in Louisiana and, when deemed too small for the job, was purchased by SWEPCO in 1974 and used since then to move rail cars at the Flint Creek Power Plant.

After purchasing the engine, SWEPCO spent $18,000 to repair and get the old engine in good working order again, Burger said.

The club is making plans to clean up the old engine and repaint it, restoring it as close as possible to its original condition, so they can show it at their annual shows.

Several club members want to work on it and restore it, Burger said, adding "it will be a nice show piece when it is done."

SWEPCO plans to return to the Tired Iron grounds when the work on the 71-year-old engine is complete and lift the locomotive onto some tracks which the club plans to put in place for the switch engine.

Numerous Tired Iron members expressed their gratitude for SWEPCO's donation of the engine and the added donation of time and expense to move the locomotive to the club's showgrounds in Gentry.

While visitors, too, may have to wait a while for the train, it won't be going anywhere and those attending the spring show in April will be able to view it and see the club's newest restoration project.