I don't know of any non functional steam locomotive that has logged in more mileage over the past couple of decades than ex Spokane, Portland and Seattle Locomotive #539. It has been moved around the Pacific Northwest, shipped to Arizona, ten ultimately returned to Washington where it resides today. I was lucky enough to see it back in 2019 while it was still owned by the Grand Canyon Railway.
Here is the story in a nutshell:
Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway No. 539 is the only preserved example of the class O-3 2-8-2 "Mikado" steam locomotive. It was built by the American Locomotive Company in 1917 for the Northern Pacific Railway as engine No. 1762. It was sold to the NP's subsidiary, the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway and renumbered 539, in 1944. The locomotive was retired in 1957, and it was displayed in Esther Short Park, Washington, until 1997. That year, it was moved to Battle Ground for a potential restoration that never came to fruition. In 2007, it was acquired by the Grand Canyon Railway and moved to Williams, Arizona for an operational restoration that also never came to fruition. In 2019, the 539 was purchased again by the Port of Kalama, who moved it back to Washington and put it on static display inside a visiting center that was constructed in 2014.
In 2007, the Grand Canyon Railway, a former Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe branch line that lied between Williams, Arizona and the south rim of the Grand Canyon National Park, was looking for a bigger and heavier locomotive to meet the demand for more tractive effort, since their loaded passenger trains were getting longer. The Fleming approached an agreement with the GCRY to trade the 539 in exchange for Ex-Lake Superior and Ishpeming 2-8-0 "Consolidations" 18 and 20. A train was made and tied on a skate of the main line at Battle Ground just before the Portland Vancouver Junction Railroad crew went off duty on April 5, and they expected to deliver the 539 to the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe (BNSF) the following day. The boiler was separated from the frame and running gear, and they were placed on separate flatcars. The locomotive finally arrived at Williams in May of that same year.[9] The initial plan was to give a thorough rebuild to the 539 to have it operate alongside Ex-Chicago, Burlington and Quincy 2-8-2 4960, and possibly replace Ex-LS&I 2-8-0 29. However, 2007 was also the year the GCRY first became a subsidiary of Xanterra Travel Collection, and they started growing concerns about steam locomotives over double diesel fuel costs and the affects to the environment. Thus, they ceased steam operations in late 2008. Beginning in 2009, however, they brought back steam operations with Nos 29 and 4960 now burn Vegetable oil fuel, and they are limited on when they could run. This was another planned project to restore No. 539 to operation that was cancelled, since Xanterra also deemed the restoration project on the locomotive to be too expensive. No. 539 sat idle by the GCRY's locomotive shops until early 2014, when the GCRY gave No. 539 a partial cosmetic restoration to improve its overall appearance as a static display, and then it was put on display the platform of Williams Depot. - Grand Canyon Railway
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