The Ghost Town & Calico Railroad locomotives 340 and 41 that have spent nearly 75 years together at Knott’s Berry Farm have been reunited after several years apart while the twin steam engines each underwent complete overhauls.
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Locomotive 340 returned to the Buena Park theme park in late June after a two-year restoration at the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad in Colorado. Locomotive 41 underwent a similar two-year rebuild in Durango before the 340.
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“We did it in phases because we didn’t want to completely close our Calico Railroad,” Knott’s senior mechanic Mike Arseniga said during an interview in the private business car behind Locomotive 41.
Knott’s engineer, fireman and mechanic Jacob Kern said Locomotives 340 and 41 each have their own distinct personalities.
“They have their own quirks,” Kern said. “They have their own unique sounds, whether it’s the whistles, bells or even just the sound of the engine running.”
Before the tandem rebuilds, Locomotive 340 was a cantankerous hot rod while Locomotive 41 was an old reliable family station wagon, according to Kern.
“The 340 still rumbles and roars the way she used to, but she’s been playing nice,” Kern said.
Locomotive 340 (nicknamed Green River) and Locomotive 41 (known as Red Cliff) were both built in 1881 at Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia.
Locomotives 340 and 41 arrived around the same time in 1952 after Walter Knott purchased the two steam engines, rolling stock and even the rail track from the Denver Rio Grande Western Railroad in Durango, Colorado.
Walter Knott asked the Rio Grande for its nicest locomotive and they gave him Locomotive 340 — a poor steamer with a bad reputation.
The 340’s infamy likely insured her longevity because she was the least run locomotive in the Rio Grande fleet and the nicest engine as a result.
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Locomotive 340 and her Rio Grande tender traveled on separate lowboy big rig trucks in April 2024 because there isn’t a direct narrow gauge railroad track between Knott’s and Durango.
Knott’s engineers used Locomotive 41 to push Locomotive 340 onto the flatbed trailer.
“That was quite the sight to see,” Kern said.
Durango was the natural place for the twin restorations since both locomotives had come from the Denver Rio Grande Western Railroad, which today serves as the home base for the Durango & Silverton tourist railroad.
“Their shop was largely set up to work on old Rio Grande steam locomotives because they still run a fleet of Rio Grande steam engines to this day,” Kern said.
Durango & Silverton Chief Mechanical Officer Randy Babcock worked as a Knott’s train engineer and mechanic in the late 1990s and early 2000s — as did other members of the Durango & Silverton crew.
“The restoration took on the feel of something personal and special for many of our staff instead of just a job,” Babcock said via email. “There was a real interest and desire to put extra touches, time and details into the project that were not necessarily spelled out or part of the bottom line.”
The Durango & Silverton crew treated the full-circle journey like a homecoming for Locomotive 340, according to Babcock.
“It had the feel of a reunion of an old friend coming back home for a visit,” Babcock said via email.
Following an initial assessment, the two-year restoration of Locomotive 340 started with the boiler that needed to be updated to modern standards.
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“The boiler needed significant work, so it was decided the boiler needed to be removed from the frame, which is extremely rare for locomotive work,” Arseniga said. “You don’t take the boiler off the frame, that’s like the heart of a steam engine.”
Parts of the running gear, axles, bearings and valves were overhauled. The original Westinghouse air brakes were refurbished. Newly cast driver wheels were installed.
“They’re beautiful,” Arseniga said of the wheels. “You can’t tell just by looking at them. They look like the original castings.”
Original parts were repaired and restored whenever possible.
“It’s not off-the-shelf parts,” Arseniga said. “A lot of the stuff has to be made. The manufacturer for these locomotives no longer exists.”
A new smoke box was installed with the front of the original salvaged and reused.
“Unfortunately, the old smoke box was way too thin and suffered a lot of corrosion over the years at the base,” Arseniga said.
The Rio Grande tender car that travels behind the locomotive and carries water for the steam engine needed a lot of work. The tank was removed from the wood frame and sandblasted.
“They made an entire new tank that’s underneath what you see,” Arseniga said. “The outer historical riveted skin is just sitting over a brand new tank that’s inside.”
A fine tuning of all the new and refurbished parts was the last step of the two-year restoration process.
“It’s not necessarily take a piece out, put a piece in,” Kern said. “It’s you take the old one out and then you adjust the new one as you put it in to make things sit correctly.”
After the restoration, Durango & Silverton hosted public excursions on a passenger train pulled by Locomotive 340 during a three-day event in a once-in-a-lifetime event — since it had been nearly 75 years since the 340 was in Colorado and it might be another 75 before she is again.
“It’s just awesome scenery,” Arseniga said. “You spent the day riding behind the train, going out to some really cool spots on the right-of-way that travels through the national forest and the mountains.”
An hour-long YouTube video by Big Diehl shows scenic highlights from the Durango & Silverton public runs pulled by Locomotive 340.
Locomotive 340 made the return trip to Knott’s by flatbed trailer and rejoined Locomotive 41 — which underwent a similar overhaul process starting in 2022.
After separate trips to Colorado, Locomotives 340 and 41 are back together again running clockwise on an eight-minute route around the five-eighths-mile track at Knott’s Berry Farm.
“It’s a small little railroad stuck in an amusement park that only goes around in circles,” Arseniga said. “Sometimes we have to stop and look at it and go, ‘You know what, this is really cool.’ We like to think we have the most fun job in the park.”
It feels good to have the 340 and 41 reunited at Knott’s after four years of restoration work in Colorado, Arseniga said.
“It’s nice to have both engines back, available and running in good condition,” Arseniga said. “Steam locomotives constantly need work. There’s constant upkeep, but this level of a rebuild should not be necessary for a long time.”
Next up for the two locomotives is the 75th anniversary of the commissioning of the Ghost Town & Calico Railroad on Jan. 12.
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