The City's interest in and eventual purchase of a vintage steam locomotive goes back to 2001 during the design of the Heritage Center, when a portion of the facility's site that was once a spur track was intentionally left undeveloped, and of sufficient area to accommodate a locomotive.  Ten more years would pass until a small group of Heritage Guild members, namely Ken Byler, Jim Rushing and Ed Bryan, met with Parks and Recreation staff to plan for eventually acquiring a steam locomotive.  In due time this group was able to obtain the support of the Allen Community Development Corporation in contributing funds toward a purchase.

In September 2019, on a tip from Guild President Maureen Honeycutt, PARD staff found a 1910 Lake Superior & Ishpeming locomotive (locomotive and tender) for sale and located in Alamosa, Colorado.  After inspecting the locomotive on the 7th and 8th of October and making a formal offer for purchase on October 14, staff was informed that the owner, The Rio Grande Scenic Railroad, a subsidiary of the San Luis & Rio Grande Railroad was in federal bankruptcy court and that the purchase of the equipment would be delayed.

The purchase of LS&I Locomotive No. 20 was finalized on February 24, 2020. Staff then researched the basic and specific components and workings of the locomotive from historical documents and developed a scope of work to provide for limited cosmetic restoration and transport it to Allen for a permanent display at the Heritage Center.  A Request for Proposals was advertised in early April and on June 4, one proposal was received from Morton Locomotive & Machine, LLC., of Morton Washington.

The owner of Morton Locomotive & Machine, Steven Butler was formerly employed in Alamosa, with the San Luis & Rio Grande Railroad and has hands on experience working on Locomotive No. 20. Mr. Butler proposes to Perform the cleaning of the locomotive and most of its restoration at its current location, where he has adequate space and local resources familiar to him, for the work.  He will partially disassemble the equipment and load and transport it on four trucks, rather than as whole equipment.  This permits the use of smaller trucks, and less expense than a wide load/super load haul.  Once in Allen he will reassemble the locomotive with its attendant tender on tracks and a foundation that have been engineered to provide a solid, proper display along with the caboose moved to the Heritage Center in early 2020.