Katy Heritage Society to Celebrate The Katy Depot's 125th Anniversary
Today, the Katy Heritage Society will be celebrating the Katy Depot's 125 Birthday! The community is invited to come to the MKT Railroad Museum from 2:00 until 4:00 PM to honor Katy's history while enjoying MKT engineer hats for the kids, commemorative cookies, the unveiling of a new park addition, tours of the Depot, a G-Scale model train set up and more. Best of all, a special locomotive named The Katy, which arrived on Wednesday, January 11, is available for public viewing in honor of this 125th celebration.
This locomotive was not named after our city - we were named Katy for the same reason this engine is named Katy! No other railroad in this country has retained its historical equipment and honored its past like the Union Pacific. The preservation of its fleet speaks to the high value UP places on its heritage and its role in America's history. The fleet itself dates back to 1912, but most of the passenger cars are closer to a half-century old – built during the height of passenger train travel. Each car is unique and chronicles a different chapter of Union Pacific's past. For more than a century, they've transported iconic individuals – presidents and senators, generals and soldiers, artists and architects, singers and actors – people who influenced and transformed America.
A very rare honor, Union Pacific has created only 17 commemorative locomotives in its more than 150 year history. Some pay homage to the our predecessors that merged into today's Union Pacific, while others recognize important organizations in American society.
The Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, affectionately referred to as the Katy, was created in 1865. By the time it joined Union Pacific in 1988 (the number given to this locomotive), the Katy served six midwestern states with more than 3,377 miles of track. It was an important north-south link between the Midwest and Texas, especially for the growing coal business. The Katy had primary operating centers in Denison, Texas; Bellmead, Texas; and Parsons, Kan.; and was headquartered in Dallas.
She was commissioned in 2005 and has only made it into Katy, Texas a few times for display! Please note that visitors must remain 25 feet away from the engine.
