AUGUST 1, 2025 – History was made on June 23 as Anniston Army Depot completed its first ever full locomotive overhaul, rolling out Locomotive Serial 1400 after years of hands-on work, dedication, and depot-wide collaboration. The milestone marks a major achievement not only for the Defense Non-Tactical Generator and Rail Equipment (DGRC) shop, the Army’s only locomotive repair facility, but also for the entire installation.
The 1959 locomotive brought to us from Hill Air Force Base underwent a full overhaul starting in 2020, that began with a vision and a team of mechanics eager to learn. The overhaul was no small task. It took years of extensive travel, and resourceful problem solving to bring it back to life.
“This wasn’t just about fixing a locomotive,” said Darryl Adams, supervisor of the DGRC overhaul and the program’s original leader. “It was about learning from the ground up, getting our hands dirty and making it move again.”
The DGRC shop is the Army’s only locomotive repair facility. Without technical data, restoring Locomotive Serial 1400 came with unique challenges, including part procurement and working without existing manuals.
“This is not a combat system. This is a locomotive with no tech data. That’s the biggest difference,” said Mark Baker, a maintenance management specialist on the program.
COVID-19 caused additional delays, with the engine itself taking nearly a year to arrive. Identifying and sourcing parts became a daily hurdle, but Adams and his team pushed through. At one point, six team members traveled to 32 locations on temporary duty to gain hands-on training with locomotives and support inspections mandated by the Department of Transportation.
Team members relied on support from across the Depot including welders, the plumbing shop for fittings, the machine shop and even the sign shop. Working tirelessly together to see that the mission got completed, that’s what I’m most proud of,” said Adams.
The overhaul adds roughly 50 years to the locomotive’s lifespan. Locomotive 1400 will remain at Anniston Army Depot to support operations and ensure its advanced electronic components can be quickly serviced if needed.
Safety standards such as brake inspections and load bank tests were critical to the process. One interesting feature includes a traction system that automatically releases sand to prevent wheel slippage.
Locomotives weigh an average of 120 tons and travel at about 35 mph at crossings. But as Adams noted with a smile, “A locomotive will go as fast as you allow it.”
For Adams, the completion of serial 1400 marks both a professional and personal milestone since he first began disassembly work on locomotives in 2015. “If you don’t want a difficult task to be substandard, being difficult means not everybody can do it,” said Baker.
As for Adams, his signature phrase, spoken in nearly every meeting, sums up the locomotive challenge best: “They’re all the same, but different.”
With serial 1400 in the rearview, the team is now full steam ahead working on serial 4630 for TACOM.
Story by Kayla Barrett
Anniston Army Depot