Trains “News Wire” reached out to dozens of Midwestern museums and preservation operations. Among those was Mid-Continent Railway Museum in New Freedom, Wis. A museum representative says, volunteers and staff members were mobilized last Friday in anticipation of the Baraboo River cresting its banks and encroaching upon the museum grounds. Prior to the start of sandbagging, the river gauge began to drop and floodwaters receded, the representative says. Mid-Continent is all to familiar with the affects of flooding. It fell victim to significant flooding in June 2008 that damaged 95 of its 117 railroad artifacts.
At the Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer in Grand Island, Neb., approaching water was diverted around the town, sparing the museum and its collection, which includes railroad rolling stock. Among the museum’s collection is former Union Pacific 2-8-0 Consolidation steam locomotive No. 437.
The recent floodwaters, the result of springs rains and melting snow, have killed at least four people and have caused nearly $1.5 billion in damage, according to Reuters. President Donald Trump approved a disaster declaration for Nebraska on Thursday, and more rainy weather is expected in some parts of the Midwest. The devastating flooding has affected Union Pacific Railroad and BNSF Railway’s Midwest operations.
Although some preservation operations experienced close calls, others, while still dealing with abnormal amounts of water, were relatively unscathed by the recent flooding. Representatives from both the Union Pacific Railroad Museum in Cedar Bluffs, Iowa, and Sioux City Railroad Museum say standing water on the museum grounds caused some minor issues, but the museums were untouched by moving floodwaters and experienced no equipment damage.
Several other operations could not be reached by phone for comment.
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The UP museum is in Council Bluffs, not Cedar Bluffs. A worthwhile visit.