TREGO, Wis. — A rainbow formed in the sky as work neared completion on putting the five-car set of the shovel-nose streamliner Mark Twain Zephyr back on its rebuilt truck sets at the Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad yards Monday.
When the power car Injun Joe, No. 9903, was trucked here 3 years ago, after the WGN saved the train from certain scrapping, a double rainbow appeared over the train after a 2-day drive from Gateway Rail Services in Madison, Illinois. The Mark Twain Zephyr, built in 1935, is one of nine stainless steel passenger trains for the Chicago Burlington & Quincy. The train ran between Burlington, Iowa, and St. Louis until 1958. Since 1959 the train has passed through several owners with dreams to restore it to operation, until Wisconsin Great Northern completed its purchase on June 29, 2020 [see, “Mark Twain Zephyr to run again,” News Wire, July 27, 2020].
‘’This is an exciting day for rail preservation as the long-awaited restoration of the Mark Twain Zephyr comes one mega step closer to operation,’’ says Greg Vreeland, WGN general manager.
Supply chain issues in the last 18 months, explained Vreeland, slowed the truck rebuilding process for the five-car train. The delay is specially related to the custom-fabricated leaf springs that were being manufactured in Minnesota.
While the truck work was slowed, the train’s entire interior is 90% complete, with each car having its own new head-end power connections, air conditioning and heating units, and new carpeting and seating installed. “We’ve even cooked pizza for the staff in the rebuilt kitchen area of the Huckleberry Finn,” says Vreeland.
Early Monday morning, the former Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railroad 250-ton wreck crane No. X-7, built by Industrial Brownhoist in 1941 and dubbed “Missabe Little Monster,” was on one end of the observation car Tom Sawyer, as the WGN’s former Canadian Pacific 100-ton Kershaw crane was placed on the opposite end the car during the first of five lifts done to place the historic train back on its trucks.
“I was volunteering with Greg at the Lake Superior Railroad Museum in Duluth, when he had dreams of owning his own short line railroad,” says noted Missabe Road photographer and book author Dave Schauer. “He should be very proud to see his dreams come to fruition 42 years later. And, his son Alexander, 13, is following in his footsteps.”
The Mark Twain Zephyr has been off its trucks and in storage for at least three decades.
Wisconsin Great Northern stripped, cleaned, repaired, and repainted each truck set in an off-site shop near Earl, Wis. The trucks share a unique articulated feature with car ends sharing a single truck set.
Greg Turinetti, the father of WGN operations manager Nick Turinetti, was visibly proud as he watched his son direct the retrucking process on Monday. “This makes me feel proud that a historic piece of equipment is being restored to active use.”
The new power truck for the shovelnose streamliner came from one of four Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad EMD SW600 locomotives. Some structural work was done on the frame of the Injun Joe to accommodate the larger truck.
The final stage of the restoration is moving an EMD 6-cylinder 567 prime mover into the engine room along with a generator and air compressor. The cab will also receive a control stand from former American Can SW600 No. 1280, which was painted in a Chicago & North Western Railway scheme for the Chicago & North Western Historical Society mini meet held in Trego during 2019.
Now how do we go about getting this Mark Twain Zephyr lined-up next to the Nebraska Zephyr at the Illinois Railway Museum? Hmmm…
Congratulations to the WGN on accomplishing this important step in the train’s return to operation. I am part of the Flying Yankee Association which is trying to restart restoration of sister B&M 6000. I visited the WGN last year to see their progress. Very impressed with the work completed and so pleased to see this goal of getting the train back on its trucks is now behind them. This is a big inspiration for our group!
Kudos for the folks in metro St Louis who had the foresight to tuck this baby in a yard and let it stay unmolested all these years in the hopes that someday, somehow, someone, might see the beauty in saving it.
Its Sister is beautifully restored in the Chicago Museum of Science & Industry and a beauty to behold.
Where is the BNSF with the Wisconsin RR using the “Great Northern” name? They went after an airline trying to use Northern Pacific.
RR vs Airline?
Have you seen their color scheme? Perhaps they have a copyright license from BNSF?
BTW, a drive past their yard is very worthwhile!