Chicago and North Western 1385

From 1901 to 1908, the Chicago and North Western Railroad (C&NW) ordered 325 R-1 class 4-6-0 "Ten-wheeler" locomotives from the Baldwin Locomotive Works and the American Locomotive Company's (ALCO) former Schenectady, New York plant, and they were the largest single class of steam locomotives on the railroad.[1] Equipped with sixty-three-inch diameter driving wheels and a tractive effort of 30,900 pounds, the R-1's were the most powerful class of locomotives on the C&NW, until the introduction of the Z class 2-8-0's in 1909.[3] The R-1's were primarily assigned to pull fast freight trains, but some locomotives were also used to pull secondary passenger trains on the C&NW network, which included the commuter services around Chicago, Illinois.[1][3]

No. 1385 was delivered to the C&NW on March 30, 1907, and it was mostly assigned by the railroad to work within the Lake Shore Division, which consisted of lines that led to iron ore mines in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.[3] In 1931, the R-1 was in Ashland, Wisconsin to be equipped with a superheater.[1] No. 1385's last commercial assignment on the railroad was to serve as a yard switcher at Iron Mountain, Michigan in the summer of 1956, before its revenue career ended.[3] Afterward, it was towed to Green Bay, Wisconsin, where it served as a stationary boiler for a C&NW-owned freight house.[3] Sometime later, the R-1 was towed again to Escanaba, Michigan, where its boiler was used to thaw frozen iron ore.[3]

In 1960, members of the Railway Historical Society of Milwaukee, Wisconsin entered negotiations with the C&NW about acquiring No. 1385.[3] The railroad offered to sell the still-operable locomotive to the group for its scrap value of $2,600, but the offer was to expire on January 29, 1961.[3][4] In order to raise funds to acquire No. 1385, the Historical Society formed the "Enginemen's Operating Club"; each member would be asked to loan $100 to the society for a span of two years, and any member who contributed would be rewarded with privileges to help operate and maintain the locomotive.[3] Twenty-nine members contributed to the Historical Society's needs, and they managed to purchase No. 1385 directly from the C&NW, with the locomotive later being delivered in November 1961 to the society's location in Hillsboro, Wisconsin.[3]

The following year, the Historical Society changed its name to the Mid-Continent Railway Museum (MCRM), and the museum operated a celebration train for its grand opening on May 26 on the Hillsboro and Northeastern Railway (H&NE) from Hillsboro to the H&NE-C&NW interchange at Union Center.[3][5][6] No. 1385 participated in the ceremonial moment by breaking through a banner, but it wasn't in operation, as it was pushed by another locomotive.[5][6] The R-1 was subsequently stored on a sideline in Hillsboro, while MCRM members searched for a permanent location to move their equipment to.[6] Simultaneously, the C&NW's four-mile branch line between North Freedom and a quartzite quarry in Rattlesnake was put up for abandonment, following a decline in traffic.[6]

The MCRM bought the North Freedom branch from the railroad, and then the museum prepared No. 1385 to operate on the branch for their first excursion season there.[6] The R-1 performed its first run on the new MCRM line on May 27, 1963, and the locomotive regularly pulled summer excursion trains on the line in the ensuing years.[1][6] As the museum acquired other locomotives, including Dardanelle and Russellville 9, Western Coal and Coke 1, and eventually Saginaw Timber 2, No. 1385 would swap places with them as it rotated in and out of service.[6][7][8] In the 1970s, C&NW's Madison, Wisconsin trainmaster, Chris Burger, familiarized the MCRM, and in doing so, he became fond of the No. 1385 locomotive.[6][9]

By July 1981, following the start of the early 1980s recession and the bankruptcy of the Milwaukee Road, public opinion on railroads around Milwaukee was souring, and C&NW management explored ways to publicize their company's still-healthy operations.[6][9] Chris Burger, who was promoted manager of the road's Wisconsin Division, proposed an idea of a steam program to the C&NW’s Vice President-operations, James A. Zito, and the C&NW’s President, James R. Wolfe, and Burger felt No. 1385 would be the ideal locomotive for the program.[6][9][lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2] Wolfe envisioned the benefits, but he also felt the company couldn't afford to support a full-blown program with the ongoing recession.[6][9] Burger subsequently proposed a limited operation on the Wisconsin Division during the 1982 National Transportation Week, to which Zito and Wolfe approved.[6][9]

Burger approached the MCRM's board of directors about the C&NW leasing No. 1385 for the operation, and he requested the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to inspect the R-1 for eligibility to operate on the mainline.[6][9] The MCRM board approved the lease, and the FRA gave their approval, but they also stated the running gear needed repairs that required a drop pit.[6][9] Burger contacted the C&NW's repair facility in Green Bay, where railroaders with steam experience, including motive power foreman Al Kawalek, were still employed.[6] To prep No. 1385 for the long-distance operations, MCRM crews extended the coal boards on the tender for extra coal capacity, they paired the locomotive with a Milwaukee Road auxiliary car for extra water capacity, and they installed a multiple-unit device to control diesel locomotives.[10]

The R-1 left North Freedom for a two-day run to Green Bay on April 9, 1982, and the journey was unannounced as to not attract public attention.[10] After it arrived in Green Bay, Kawalek's volunteer crews used a drop pit to strip the locomotive of its driving wheels and axle boxes for reworking, and they made minor repairs to the tender.[10] On May 11, No. 1385 performed a test run northward to Oconto, where it subsequently met a southbound C&NW inspection train led by EMD F7's and hosted by the railroad's Vice President-Transportation, Edward Burkhardt.[9][10] Upon arrival in Oconto, the F7's broke down, and Burger arranged a power switch to have No. 1385 take the inspection train to Green Bay, with Ed Burkhardt sitting behind the throttle.[10]

The 1982 National Transportation Week began on May 16, when No. 1385 pulled the "Prosperity Special" train out of Green Bay bound for Milwaukee.[10][lower-alpha 3] The train, consisting of an EMD GP50, six modern freight cars, a caboose, and two business cars, was intended as a message to the public that the C&NW invested in new motive power and rolling stock, despite the ongoing recession.[9] En-route to Milwaukee, No. 1385 stalled from the multiple-unit device controlling the GP50; the device was set to move in reverse while the control was set to move forward.[9] After being displayed in Milwaukee for several days, the Prosperity Special traveled to Chicago, Janesville, and Madison, before the operation ended in North Freedom on May 25.[10][lower-alpha 4]

Following the success of the Prosperity Special, George Maybee, manager of C&NW's Iowa Division, asked if it were possible for No. 1385 to pull public excursions out of Boone and over the Kate Shelley High Bridge.[9] With arrangements being made, No. 1385 pulled the excursions in Boone in September during the annual "Pufferbilly Days" event with two C&NW F7's and three bilevel passenger cars on loan from Metra, and all trips were filled to capacity.[9][10] Following the Pufferbilly Days event, Burger again asked Wolfe and other C&NW management to initiate a full-blown steam program, and they gave their approval, with Ed Burkhardt backing the program.[10][11] On December 17, the C&NW signed an agreement with the MCRM to lease No. 1385 for the next four years.[10]

The boiler, frame, and running gear of No. 1385 in storage on February 6, 2010

After traveling from Boone to Chicago for display at Madison Street Station, No. 1385 returned to Green Bay to undergo an FRA-mandated overhaul.[10] Kawalek's volunteer crews removed the tubes and piping from the boiler, but due to a lack of available replacement tubes, No. 1385 was shipped on December 13 to the Milwaukee Boiler Manufacturing Company.[10] In Milwaukee, crews replaced part of the rear tube sheet and placed a patch on the boiler.[10] In early May 1983, the R-1 was returned to Green Bay for reassembly, and on May 30, No. 1385 traveled to the Milwaukee-area yard in Butler.[9][10] In Butler, Chamber of Commerce President Jerry Hilton arranged for the locomotive to participate in the "Butler Railroad Days" event by pulling "Butler 400" excursion trips, and No. 1385 carried over 4,500 passengers during the event.[9][10]

In the ensuing years, the C&NW would help groups raise funds by making 1385-led trips available for them to sponsor.[9] No. 1385 would travel across other portions of the railroad's network, traveling as far west as Council Bluffs, Iowa, as far south as Des Moines, Iowa, and as far north as Duluth, Minnesota and Escanaba.[10] The locomotive also ran along routes in Iowa the C&NW acquired from other companies, such as the Chicago Great Western (CGW), the Minneapolis and St. Louis (M&StL), and the Rock Island (RI).[10] With C&NW trackage rights, the locomotive travelled on the Milwaukee Road to Winona, Minnesota and the Burlington Northern (BN) to Superior, Wisconsin.[10]

In 1985, after a twelve-year hiatus, the Circus World Museum (CWM) of Baraboo, Wisconsin hosted the annual circus parade in Milwaukee, and No. 1385 was used to power the circus train on the C&NW main.[12] The locomotive pulled the train into Illinois via Des Plaines before turning northward to Milwaukee.[12] For 1986, the C&NW created a full slate of trains for No. 1385 to pull, including a series of fundraising trips for the MCRM.[11] That same year, an insurance crisis broke out within the railroad industry, causing premium prices to go up, and most of C&NW's slated 1986 trips were cancelled.[11] No. 1385 only operated three trains that year; a C&NW employee open house in May, that year's CWM train in July, and the Pufferbilly Days special in September.[11]

In July 1987, No. 1385 was to lead that year's CWM train, but on July 7, as it began to depart Baraboo, the R-1 suffered a superheater failure and sputtered.[8] While the train continued to Janesville behind an EMD SD60, No. 1385 was quickly towed back to the MCRM to undergo emergency repairs by museum workforces.[8] The discovered cause of the failure was a nipple bolt breaching open, resulting in one superheater unit bending out of shape.[13] The removal, repairs, and re-installation of the superheater took twelve hours for twenty members and all the museum volunteers to complete.[13] At midnight, No. 1385 was towed to Janesville to catch up with the CWM train, and despite the train having a slight delay in departing Janesville, it arrived in Milwaukee on schedule.[13]

After the event, the CWM train returned to Baraboo behind diesel locomotives, while No. 1385 ran to Chicago for display at Madison Street Station for the sesquicentennial of the city.[9] While the MCRM continued to keep No. 1385 in working order, the insurance crisis caused the C&NW to undergo dramatic changes, with routes continuing to be abandoned and sold off, divisions being consolidated, and workforces being cut.[11] The C&NW's management also changed; Wolfe passed away from cancer, Zito retired from the railroad, Burger left for Central Vermont (CV), and Ed Burkhardt left to create Wisconsin Central (WC).[6][11] New management of the railroad had no interest in running steam, with President Robert Schmiege feeling the use of No. 1385 reinforced the image of trains being low-tech antiques.[9] All motivation for C&NW to run a steam program was lost.[11]

With No. 1385 without a host, but still FRA-certified for mainline service, the MCRM looked toward running the R-1 on other railroads while helping communities that still wanted to sponsor steam trips.[11] In November 1987, No. 1385 pulled excursions on the Wisconsin and Calumet (WICT) between Brodhead and Monroe, Wisconsin, and the trips were to help benefit the Broadhead depot museum.[11] During its tenure on WICT, No. 1385 assisted an EMD GP7 in pulling a grain train.[11] The locomotive returned to WICT to pull fall excursions on the railroad's main for the next three years.[11] Throughout 1991, No. 1385 remained in North Freedom to undergo boiler work; scale was cleaned out, and old boiler tubes were replaced.[11]

No. 1385's driving wheels undergoing repairs at the Strasburg Rail Road on July 18, 2014

In the summer of 1992, the MCRM operated No. 1385 on the WC and the Wisconsin and Southern (WSOR), with Ed Burkhardt allowing it to operate on the former.[10][11] On the WSOR, No. 1385 pulled freight trains between Horicon and Oshkosh, and on the WC, it pulled public excursions between Wausau and Merrill.[11] During its tenure on WC, No. 1385 climbed a one-percent-plus grade of the railroad's Byron Hill.[11] During the Fourth of July weekend, the locomotive pulled excursions on the WSOR's Granville-Horicon route.[11] After having carried over 8,600 passengers on the WSOR and WC, No. 1385 returned to North Freedom on July 6, with an ALCO C415 locomotive in tow for donation to the MCRM.[11]

In July 1993, during that year's National Railway Historical Society (NRHS) Convention, No. 1385 was scheduled to pull a "Mid-Continent 400" excursion to LaSalle Street Station in Chicago, where passengers were to be transferred from a Metra train to the excursion for a ride on the WSOR.[14][15] That year's Great Flood clobbered the MCRM, as their interchange with the C&NW at North Freedom was washed out.[16] As a result, convention officials cancelled the Mid-Continent 400 trip, and No. 1385 was used to move ballast cars.[15][16] In 1994, No. 1385 was repainted as Delaware, Lackawanna and Western (DLW) No. 1053 for a Steamtown promotional film.[17] On June 30, 1998, No. 1385 was removed from service to undergo firebox repairs.[1][4]

On May 18, 2000, No. 1385 became listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[1] With yearly attendance dropping, museum officials planned to lure visitors back by returning a steam locomotive to service.[4][18] They initially estimated that repairs on No. 1385 would cost $125,000 to complete, but a closer inspection revealed that the locomotive would require a full-blown $750,000 rebuild to operate again.[4][18] The project was subsequently stalled by varying challenges, including a lack of funding, the Great Recession, and a 2008 flood that damaged the museum's property, and the R-1 was stored on a side line, for the time being.[4][18][19] In 2011, Wag-Aero co-founders Dick and Bobbie Wagner arranged for the Wagner Foundation to donate a $250,000 matching grant to the MCRM, and they made a solemn promise to help further fund No. 1385's rebuild.[4][20]

It was re-estimated that the project would cost $2 million to complete, making it the most expensive restoration project in MCRM's history.[4][18][21] The museum contracted SPEC Machine to help restore the No. 1385, and after the locomotive was disassembled, the frame and running gear were shipped to SPEC's machine shop in rural Middleton, Wisconsin.[4][19][21] Afterward, the frame of the front pilot truck was replaced, and the driving wheels were sent to the Strasburg Rail Road's restoration shop in Pennsylvania to be repaired before returning to Middleton.[19][21] Progress on the project required some tools to be custom-made, and a number of old photos, books, encyclopedias, and blueprints were used as references.[21][22] No. 1385's wooden cab was sent to Fond du Lac, where it served as a model for a replacement to be built.[19]

A new welded boiler for the R-1 was initially planned to be constructed by Hamon Deltak of Plymouth, Minnesota, but in 2016, construction on the boiler began by Continental Fabricators in St. Louis.[21][23][lower-alpha 5] In 2017, the frame and running gear were removed from SPEC's machine shop, lifted via crane, and rolled into a larger adjacent building, which was built specifically to house No. 1385 for the remainder of its rebuild.[20][23] In September 2019, the new boiler was moved to Middleton, lifted via crane, and fitted onto the frame.[23] In spite of the lock-downs during the COVID-19 pandemic, restoration work on the locomotive continued, and SPEC's owner, Steve Roudebush, set the project as a high priority.[4]