By Guy Clifton, Reno Gazette-Journal

The Glenbrook – perhaps the most viewed locomotive in Nevada history – roared to life for the first time in 88 years last week in Carson City.

“This is, indeed, an important day in the annals of railroad preservation, for Nevada and the nation,” said Peter Barton, administrator of the Nevada Division of Museums and History, just before white steam rose above the boiler and black smoke from the stack of the historic engine.

Perhaps best known as the train that graced the front of the Nevada State Museum for four decades – a favorite artifact for thousands of school kids, railroad buffs and visitors – it has been at the Nevada State Railroad Museum since 1982.

The museum’s shop crew – headed by chief maintenance officer Chris DeWitt – spent years restoring the locomotive, piece by piece, to get it back to operational condition and on Nov. 19, the biggest hurdle to date was cleared as the engine was fired for the first time since 1926, passing a key safety inspection.

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