NORTH FREEDOM, Wis. — The Mid-Continent Railway Museum has launched a fundraising effort to return its celebrated steam locomotive, Chicago & North Western 4-6-0 No. 1385, to the museum to continue the effort to restore the 1907 Alco to operation.
The locomotive, out of service for more than a quarter-century and away from the museum since 2013, is currently at a contract repair facility without rail access. Plans call for it to be lifted by two cranes onto a heavy-haul semi-trailer for a 6-mile move to a siding where it will be placed on a flatcar and transported by the Wisconsin & Southern back to the museum. Cranes will then place it back on museum rails.
An update on the museum website says the move is estimated to cost about $80,000. Once returned to North Freedom, final assembly and testing can begin, with the goal of returning the locomotive to operation in 2026. The exact timeframe for the move is currently being determined but is projected to be in mid to late spring.
“While we appreciate the public’s enthusiasm to see 1385’s progress,” says project manager Mike Wahl, “the contractor shop where the 1385 work is taking place is a private business, not a museum. It is not open for public tours.” People who just show up hoping to see the 1385 will be turned away, he says. “If you wish to partake in future 1385 volunteer work sessions, consider joining Mid-Continent as a member.”
Work still to be completed once the locomotive is returned to the museum, Wahl says, includes hydro and steam tests for the boiler; installing pistons and valves; jacketing; connecting the locomotive and tender; and numerous small details.
No. 1385 is one of 325 class R-1 locomotives built for the C&NW for fast freight and secondary passenger service. Retired by the railroad in 1956, it was purchased by the museum for $2,600 in 1961. Listed on both the state and National Register of Historic Places, the locomotive is one of only eight preserved C&NW steam engines. It extensively toured the Midwest in the two decades before it went out of service in 1998.
To donate to the 1385 project, or for more information, visit the museum website.
I hope the move, whenever it happens, isn’t done in secret. I think it’ll be worth taking a day off of work to watch WSOR haul the 1385 home. (Other articles have suggested 1385 would be trucked to the WSOR and then moved by train to the museum.)