The Challenger

Gazing out the back window of a luxury car

Virginia Templeton, right, of Alton, talks with the Challenger's conductor, Reed Jackson, left, about the days when her husband, Floyd Templeton, used to be an engineer on locomotives like this one. Engine No. 3985 stopped in Le Mars Wednesday for people to get a closer look.

The last of about 10 cars attached to the No. 3985 engine, the St. Louis car offered a rich dining area complete with heavy drapes, along with a back lounge and desk area where business people could watch the world fade away behind them.

Le Mars Mayor Dick Kirchoff was one of the lucky few who were invited to ride the train from its Le Mars stop to Sioux City, where it stayed overnight before heading toward Wyoming. Here Kirchoff watches the countryside from a seat at the dining table in the St. Louis car, a business car at the end of the train.

One of the locomotive's engineers watches out the side window. Along with three engineers, the locomotive is traveling from St. Paul, Minn., to Cheyenne, Wyo., with a crew of nine others, all residents of Wyoming.

Maintenance crew men tune up the locomotive after it traveled through Le Mars and stopped at Sioux City. The 1943 engine was retired in 1959, but Union Pacific employees volunteered their time and labor to restore it to running condition in 1981. Now it is used for special service like this tour.

SIDEBAR How Tax Increment Financing works: TIF generally works like this: 1. A community's government outlines an area of the community as a target for TIF. 2. The valuation of the property in that area is determined before the TIF is started. When the TIF is officially started, this valuation is the base valuation. 3. The city, county, schools and other taxing bodies continue to pull in taxes according to that base valuation. 4. If valuation in that district increases due to development, new tax dollars come in, and that increase in taxes can be used for TIF projects. (TIF equals new valuation tax dollars minus base valuation tax dollars.) 5. The governmental body completes a project that assists economic development and job growth in that designated area, incurring a debt. TIF dollars can be used to pay back that debt. In essence, TIF dollars paid for that project. SIDEBAR: Districts for TIF in Le Mars 1. Le Mars officials created the city's first district for TIF in 1992 in southern Le Mars. In 1994, it was expanded to include the northwest region of the city. "That (entire district) was created to assist commercial and industrial growth," said City Administrator Scott Langel. Since then the city has seen three districts added and one subtracted. 2. In 1996, a district was drawn around the Westmar College campus. "That was truly created to try to get new ownership of the university and keep it open," Langel said. When the college closed in 1997, the focus of the district shifted to making improvements on campus property to help entice people to buy land and buildings and bring in new businesses. 3. In 1998, the city created a district for TIF near the hospital. Since then, Park Place and Medical Associates came under hospital (and in essence city) ownership, so that district ended. 4. The city shares in a joint district with Plymouth County, which includes the area around the new Wells' Dairy corporate headquarters southwest of Le Mars. It was created in 2004.

Sitting in the Passenger car