Rail Cars Now On Display Downtown Cheyenne

The $5 million train car project for downtown Cheyenne has arrived. You can see it on 15th Street, near the old Depot, behind the home of the Cheyenne Gunslingers.

There is now a caboose and three railcars on display, and you can walk up and look at them any time you want, for free.

Train restoration in Cheyenne, Wyoming, is anchored by the Union Pacific Steam Shop and the city’s 15th Street Railcar Experience, focusing on preserving both operating steam giants and static historical artifacts.

Below is a photo of one of the cars leaving the old nuclear missile silos where they were restored and down the highway to Cheyenne.

Passenger Car Cheyenne Photo By Tim Mandese

A local restoration company was used for this project.

Vintage Rail Restorations is a highly specialized commercial restoration and preservation firm headquartered in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Managed by Michael Pannell, the business operates out of unique, repurposed Cold War-era nuclear missile silos located in southeast Wyoming.

The company handles full and partial restorations of historic railroad rolling stock, including wooden-era passenger cars, cabooses, and locomotives.

Passenger Car Cheyenne Photo By Tim Mandese

Once the car is at the depot, it has to be removed from the wheels that got it there. Then placed on the metal wheels. The wheels on a train are collectively called a wheelset (two wheels pressed onto a single axle). These wheelsets are usually mounted in a swiveling frame underneath the train called a bogie (or a truck in North America).

Passenger Car Cheyenne Photo By Tim Mandese

The car is jacked up, and the swapout is made. The process is interesting to watch

Modern jacks and modern equipment make lifting this load a lot easier than it used to be.

Passenger Car Cheyenne Photo By Tim Mandese

Here is what the car looks like when there are no wheels, and one end is jacked up.

Passenger Car Cheyenne Photo By Tim Mandese

The wheelset is carefully moved into place, and the process of letting all this weight down is carried out slowly, with many inspections along the way.

Some of this process is done with old-fashioned manpower.

PUSH IT, BOYS!

Passenger Car Cheyenne Photo By Tim Mandese

Passenger Car Cheyenne Photo By Tim Mandese

Let's take a look at who was responsible for this restoration and moving these cars back to Cheyenne, where they will now rest on display.

Passenger Car Cheyenne Photo By Tim Mandese

There are many uses for old missile silos out in Wyoming. One such site, with several silos, is used to restore old trains, buses, and any other old history on wheels.

Let's go visit and see what is happening in southeast Wyoming, where work is being done at a place that was once meant for destruction.