SIOUX CITY, Iowa — Already facing one major project — recovery from major flood damage — the Sioux City Railroad Museum announced Wednesday that it would take on another: restoring one of the museum’s steam locomotives to operating condition.
The museum, its parent Siouxland Historical Railroad Association, and the American Heartland Railroad Society are beginning a joint effort to restore Great Northern 4-6-2 No. 1355 to operation.
Siouxland Historical Railroad Association President Larry Obermeyer, also the museum’s board president and CEO, said the museum and American Heartland society are “pooling our resources, knowledge, and expertise” to restore the locomotive. “This organization has a lot of young people who have studied the heritage crafts involved with locomotive restorations,” he said, “and they bring together what resources and knowledge and expertise that our volunteers did not have.”
Museum director TJ Obermeyer said the project is something the community and region “can rally around and really be proud of. That’s really the goal.”
According to the Great Northern Railway Historical Society, the Class H-5 locomotive began life as a 4-6-0 built by Baldwin for GN in 1909. It was rebuilt by GN’s Dale Street Shoops in St. Paul to a 4-6-2 in 1924, undergoing conversion from oil to coal firing in the process. It ran in passenger service until 1950, handling such notable GN trains as the Oriental Limited and Empire Builder, then service in Missabi Range ore service until its retirement in 1955. It was donated to Sioux City and placed on outside display in July in 1955, and saved by the newly formed Siouxland Historical Railroad Association in 1984.
“We are going to restore the engine back to operation with the goal of bringing business and tourism to Sioux City,” said Logan Stilwell, president of the American Heartland Railway Society, also a Sioux City-based nonprofit. “… I’m very thankful for the Obermeyer family for giving us this opportunity, and the community for standing behind us after this horrible flood.”
The museum has been shut down since June 23 flooding that overwhelmed its facilities in the former Milwaukee Road Sioux City Engine Terminal and Car Repair Shops, sustaining extensive damage to all its buildings and a number of displays [see “Iowa railroad museum shut down …,” Trains News Wire, June 24, 2024]. KCAU-TV reports 50 to 60 volunteers have been helping out at the museum since the flood waters receded; TJ Obermeyer told the goal is to have the museum reopened by Labor Day, with key exhibits and buildings reopened in a fashion that allows visitors to move through the grounds safely without passing through damaged areas or those still under construction.
Those interested in donating to the steam engine restoration or flood recovery efforts can do so at the museum website.
