NORTH FREEDOM, Wis. — Mid-Continent Railway Museum will restore Montana Western gas-electric railcar No. 31 — built in 1925 by Electro-Motive Corp. — to operating condition, the museum has announced.
The car, one of the oldest surviving pieces of equipment built by Electro-Motive, which celebrated its 100th anniversary in August, was built for Great Northern Railway and sold to Montana Western in 1940. It was donated to Mid-Continent in 1965.
The car was named a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 2003. It last operated in 1987 and is in sound condition, but the museum says needs its Winton 6-cylinder gasoline engine rebuilt, radiators flushed, and roof repaired, along with some other work. The museum is well stocked with Winton parts, having acquired a stock of parts from Sperry Rail Service when Sperry retired its last Winton-powered equipment.
Museum members and donors raised over $10,000 in a matching-fund challenge in August to launch the plans to restore the railcar to operating condition, the museum said in a Facebook post. Those funds should cover most or all of the engine repair, but further donations are needed for other aspects of the work. Those interested in donating or otherwise participating in the project should visit this page on the museum website.
The car will be featured as part of the museum’s Vintage Rail Car Tours, to be offered Oct. 1-2. More information on that event is available here.
