Saving The Centennial
The story of UP 6925, our EMD DDA40X.
Our team is excited to be taking on our largest project to date (quite literally), the last surviving Union Pacific EMD DDA40X "Centennial" to enter preservation. Follow along for the incredible story of UP 6925, as we move him from Chamberlain, SD to our facility for cosmetic restoration into an iconic paint scheme.
UP 6925 leading a TOFC train at Cheyenne Wyoming
AUG 30 1976, slide by J. Ehernberger, John Biggs collection
Histrory of the DDA40X
Union Pacific's 47 EMD DDA40X's were built between 1969 and 1971, the product of a joint effort between EMD and UP to build the largest and most powerful diesel electric locomotive ever produced.
Weighing in at over half a million pounds, and stretching an impressive 98 feet long, the DDA40X was a pioneer of new technology and helped usher in a new era of motive power from EMD.
The big diesels served Union Pacific for nearly 15 years, and were retired after successful careers in the mid 1980's, with a dozen set aside for display in museum's throughout North America, and the rest auctioned off for scrap.
This is where 6925's next chapter begins.
UP 6925 - a Chamberlain Icon - 1987-2024
Following its final retirement from service, UP 6925 was sent to Council Bluff's IA, where it was auctioned for scrap along with a handful of its remaining sisters.
This is where a stroke of good luck befell the 6925, as the successful bidder's were not scrappers, but rather the owner's of the Dakota Southern Railroad, Dick and Alex Huff.
The Huff brothers initially brought 6925 to Chamberlain to supply spare parts to their operating locomotive fleet, and eventually sold its 645 heavy blocks to Morrison-Knudsen to be rebuilt for use in commuter locomotives.
Mindful of its significance as the only surviving DDA40X not yet in a museum's collection, the Huff brothers kept the locomotive around for the next twenty five years, eventually selling it to Mike Williams' Midwest Pacific along with the rest of the Dakota Southern in 2014.
Midwest Pacific also recognized the significance of the 6925, and sold it to a startup railroad museum in Nebraska the following year, who was slated to move it out for display. Sadly, these plans never came to fruition, and the unit was de-acquisitioned by the organization in 2022, having never left Chamberlain.
At this time, Railway Service Contractors of Kansas City purchased the unit from the museum to save it from scrap, with the eventual goal of finding a new organization to take over care of this historical locomotive.
Our organization is proud to have the 6925 joining our collection, and we look forward to sharing 6925's journey to restoration with you.
UP 6925 Over the Years
