TREGO, Wis. — Duluth & Northeastern No. 27 — or at least part of it — has arrived at its new home at the Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad.
The boiler and rest of the superstructure of the Alco 2-8-0, long displayed at the Carlton County Fairgrounds in Barnum, Minn., arrived at the WGN in Trego today after being loaded onto a truck in Barnum on Wednesday. The running gear and frame were too heavy for the truck and are set to make the 90-mile move to Trego separately on Friday.
Helping unload the locomotive at Trego was former Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range 250-ton crane X-7, which may have well been acquainted with the steam engine before. No. 27 was built for the Duluth, Missabe & Northern Railway as its No. 348 in 1907 and became Duluth, Missable & Iron Range No. 348 in the 1937 merger of the DM&N and the Spirit Lake Transfer Railroad. The locomotive was sold to the Duluth & Northeastern in 1955.
The Wisconsin Great Northern is acquiring the locomotive because Carlton County could no longer afford upkeep of the engine and offered it to anyone willing to pay for its move [see “Wisconsin Great Northern acquires steam locomotive,” Trains News Wire, April 15, 2024].
