As massive cranes lifted an 80-ton locomotive onto tracks in North East, Ray Grabowski Jr. could only think about the history of the 1944 engine.

On Tuesday, a 72-year-old locomotive returned to Erie to be put on display at the Lake Shore Railway Museum, 31 Wall St., in North East this week.

“When you talk about the stories of these (engines), you are talking about what our families and our friends and relatives did,” said Grabowski, of the Lake Shore Railway Historical Society.

After an hour of set up, two massive cranes lifted the locomotive off its transportation flatcar and onto the tracks in just about five minutes.

The locomotive, Genesee & Wyoming #20, arrived in Erie on Friday from Youngstown, Ohio, where it had been sitting unused for years.

The engine switched owners a few times, and was used in the construction of the Kinzua Dam in Warren in the 1960s.

The museum staff said the mission is not necessarily to collect the artifact, but rather collect the stories that go with them.

“We have The Locomotives That Dad and Grandpa Built Collection,” Grabowksi said about a display at the museum. “My own dad worked at GE, lots of our relatives worked at GE.”