TOPPENISH, Wash. – Northern Pacific Railway steam fans have much to celebrate this year as the restoration of 4-6-0 No. 1364 inches closer and closer to completion. The engine has been an off-and-on project of the Yakima Valley Rail and Steam Museum Association’s Northern Pacific Railway Museum since the 1990s. Project leader Andy Breeding tells Trains News Wire the locomotive could be fired up as early as this summer.
“It’s all one step at a time, but we’re moving forward,” he says.
No. 1364 was built in 1902 and, according to the museum, spent most of its career on the western end of the railroad. It last ran on the Tacoma Division in the early 1950s and was later donated to the Metropolitan Parks District of Tacoma and put it on display at Point Defiance Park. In the 1970s, a local railroad enthusiasts group moved the engine to a nearby factory and began to restore it, but within a decade the effort fizzled out. In the 1980s it was moved to the Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad, where it stayed until 1993, when the Northern Pacific Railway Museum signed a lease for the locomotive. In June 1994, it was moved to Toppenish, near Yakima. The group started the restoration immediately but within a few years it again came to a halt because of a lack of indoor workspace.
In the 2000s, the project once again took off and Breeding says a lot of progress has been made in recent years. As of early 2014, the running gear and tender have been rebuilt and right now the tubes are being reinstalled. The group is also rebuilding the super-heater units. If all goes according to plan, the engine will be fired up for the first time in more than 60 years this summer, just in time for the Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association’s annual convention in Yakima.
Breeding says the biggest challenge has been reassembling a locomotive that was taken apart and moved decades earlier. “It’s like a big jigsaw puzzle without the picture, but it’s fun,” he says.
The museum also has another NP steamer, 4-6-2 No. 2152, which was on display in Auburn until the mid 2000s. Once No. 1364’s restoration is complete, Breeding says the 4-6-2 will go into the shop for a full cosmetic restoration.
For more information about NP No. 1364 and for ways to donate to the project visit www.nprymuseum.org.
My feelings are really going to be hurt if that NP steams up. I lived a block away from the NP Mainline through Spokane, WA as a kid and enjoyed watching the trains. But… my dad worked on the Great Northern for 25 years and I did three summers on a track "sled" gang in the Palouse country so my heart is with the GN. So far as I know there are no GN steam engines in service. I've written to Warren Buffet (owner of BNSF) twice pointing out that he is the only Class 1 without a steam program but I guess I'm not getting through to him. There is a beautiful locomotive in Wishram, Washington that has to be a candidate for restoration.
I was in Toppenish a month ago volunteering on another project. I was impressed with how much Andy's team has gotten done. They have a lot of momentum and manpower doesn't seem to be an issue. I do worry about them being just short of enough money to finish it. Perpetual problem for these efforts. It is well worth suporting.
Yes, an engine with no trailing truck tends to be high mounted. Remember, this engine had work on its springs, and it has parts missing, such as boiler tubes. By the time it is filled with water for steaming, it will settle down noticibly.
Yes, an engine with to trailing truck tends to be high mounted. Remember, this engine had work on springs, and it has parts missing, such as boiler tubes. By the time it is filled with water for steaming, it will settle down noticibly.
@ DAVID G HAWKINS from MASSACHUSETTS said:
Is the boiler really supposed to be that high above the wheels?
The first picture the Smokebox is way up with the boiler in front, and that's not the way it will be when finished. That said; older (pre 1930's) engines do have their boilers up off the frame on the bigger Locos.
Now if only one of the three NP steamers in St. Paul (at the MN Transportation Museum) could be brought back, then we'd have NP steam on both ends of the railroad.
Is the boiler really supposed to be that high above the wheels?
Any intelligent person knows to document with photos, etc., the dismantling of a complicated piece of machinery, particularly if the "original owner's manual" is no longer available.
Good luck on the effort of restoration guys!! >:)