Author Archives: Jeffrey Lentz

September 24-25, 2016 Flood Update and Detour Route

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UPDATE WEDNESDAY 9/28/2016 9:31 AM

Water levels have steadily gone down since Monday morning. Museum Road remains closed as of Wednesday morning but is expected to reopen by late Wednesday or Thursday. Roads have also reopened in the neighboring village of Rock Springs. Museum visitors coming for the weekend of October 1-2 are not expected to encounter any travel impediments.

UPDATE SATURDAY 9/24/2016 9:07 AM

Hwy 136 and County Hwy DD in the village of Rock Springs are now closed. This will impact visitors traveling via Reedsburg and points immediately west. It is recommended from Reedsburg to follow Hwy 33 east all the way to Baraboo in order to approach North Freedom from the east via Hwy 136 and County Hwy PF. Using this detour, travel time from Reedsburg is estimated at 40 minutes rather than the typical 20 minutes.

Flooding Closes Area Roads

Recent heavy rains have caused the Baraboo River to rise to moderate to major flood levels. Water is anticipated to completely cover Museum Road (a.k.a. Diamond Hill Road) by the afternoon of Friday, September 23 and remain covered throughout the weekend. Museum Road is the primary route used by visitors to reach Mid-Continent Railway Museum.

The flooding is not anticipated to impact Mid-Continent’s ability to remain open and operate train rides as scheduled.

When arriving from the direction of Baraboo/Wisconsin Dells/Madison, a detour route is available which requires an additional five minutes travel time. White ground-directional signs pointing the way to Mid-Continent will be placed along the detour route, beginning at the 4-way stop sign in downtown North Freedom. Directions are as follows:

  1. From the 4-way stop sign in North Freedom, follow County Hwy PF south for 3/4 mile
  2. Turn right on Ulrich Road, follow it for 1 mile
  3. Turn right on Museum Road, follow it for 3/4 mile
  4. At the stop sign, turn right. Continue for 500 feet. The museum depot is located on the left side of the road.

Google Map of Suggested Detour Route

For any questions, please contact Mid-Continent Railway Museum at 608-522-4261 or toll free at 800-930-1385.

MCRM Awarded $10,000 Grant from Emery Rail Heritage Trust for DL&W 595

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MCRM has generously been awarded a grant from the John H. Emery Rail Heritage Trust for the museum’s Delaware, Lackawanna & Western No. 595 coach car. The Trust recently announced the car is receiving a $10,000 matching grant toward rebuilding the trucks on which the historic 1915 coach rides.

The rebuild is being completed as part of a major rehabilitation program of Mid-Continent’s four Lackawanna coach cars, the backbone of the museum’s operating fleet. DL&W Nos. 425 and 557 have already gone through the truck rebuilding program and No. 563 will follow. The cars have faithfully served the museum for decades, but wear and tear have finally caught up with them, necessitating substantial truck overhauls.

As a dollar-for-dollar matching grant, Mid-Continent must receive $10,000 in donations toward DL&W No 595 by no later than March 31, 2017. To ensure Mid-Continent is able to make full use of the grant, please consider making a donation.

The Emery Rail Heritage Trust previously awarded Mid-Continent $10,000 toward the Chicago & North Western No. 1385’s boiler during the Trust’s inaugural series of grants awarded in August 2015.

The Emery Rail Heritage Trust was established in Paola, Kans. by the late John H. Emery. John was a long time Chicago resident, but had deep family ties in Paola. He was an avid rail enthusiast who loved to ride trains around the world, and wanted to help preserve rail equipment and infrastructure that will allow future generations to share his experiences during what he considered the “Golden Age” of railroads, from 1920 – 1960.

Created using the Donation Thermometer plugin https://wordpress.org/plugins/donation-thermometer/.$10,000$10,000100%

Make your donation via mail using our printable donation form or donate online using the form on our Donation page. Be sure to write in “D&LW 595 Matching Grant” on both the printed and online forms. Credit/debit card donations can be accepted by phone at 608-522-4261 or 800-930-1385 during museum office hours. All donations are tax-deductible.

Fundraising total last updated: March 14, 2017

Update 3/14/2017

Thank you to the donors who helped us reach the $10,000 goal. Your donations together with the John Emery Rail Heritage Trust have combined to raise over $20,000 towards the D&LW #595. 

DULUTH Arrives at Mid-Continent

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By William Buhrmaster, Mid-Continent Railway Museum

On September 7th the DULUTH sleeping car arrived at Mid-Continent Railway Museum.
The sleeping car was unloaded on September 8th and is now setting on a pair of 6-wheel trucks for the first time in 82 years.

Duluth South Shore & Atlantic sleeping car “DULUTH” is one of a series of five 10-section sleeping cars built by The Barney & Smith Car Company of Dayton, Ohio in 1902. The car is of all wood construction, with varnished mahogany interior, fine marquetry throughout, stained glass windows and green plush upholstery. In addition to the sleeping section the car features a stateroom, a smoking room as well as men and women lavatories. The car was used on the DSS&A’s North Country Mail (between Duluth, MN and Sault Ste. Marie) and remained in active service until 1934. The car left the DSS&A in December 1934 when it was sold to a Michigan resident and hauled to the shores of Lake Superior where it has been used as a summer cottage for the past 81+ years. In December 2015 the owners, Bob and Beth Krasche, generously donated the DULUTH to Mid-Continent Railway Museum. Since then museum volunteers have been finalizing plans to load, move and acquire appropriate trucks for the car.

The team helping unload at North Freedom.

The team helping unload at North Freedom.

See also: DSS&A Sleeping Car DULUTH Fund Drive Begins

C&NW 1385 Front Truck Complete, Cab Receiving Finishing Details

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Work continues at a steady pace on Mid-Continent’s Chicago & North Western No. 1385 steam locomotive. SPEC Machine’s Steve Roudebush took some time out of his day on August 24, 2016 to show off the latest progress on the locomotive’s rebuild for this report.

The change most instantly noticeable upon walking into the shop was the shiny, like-new front truck sitting in the center of the shop floor. Like-new may not be a fully appropriate term, as considerable portions of the front truck are new. One wheel set had a goodly amount of life left in it and merely required machining to bring it into proper profile. The second wheelset had been worn quite thin and needed to be replaced with a brand new wheelset forged in Pennsylvania for the 1385. Binders, spring hangers and truck equalizers were also created new to replace heavily worn originals.

C&NW 1385 completed front truck

C&NW 1385 completed front truck

Additional work on the front truck included pouring Babbitt, lining the pedestals with bronze, and polishing pins and bushings. The front truck is fully complete and ready to be rolled under the locomotive, which is anticipated to happen sometime in September.

Above where the front truck will be rolled under, the pistons have been fully bored and the valve cages nearly completed. One of the valve cages that was found to have cracks is being replaced with a new one. The new valve cage is anticipated to be machined on SPEC’s CNC machine in the coming weeks. Work has also begun on the crosshead guides and valve gearing. After those tasks are complete, brake rigging and appliances will be next on the task list.

The two major components missing from the 1385 as it sits in the SPEC Machine shop is the cab and the boiler. To see the cab, we took a short drive to the shop of Loren Imhoff. Imhoff has graciously donated all his time spent working on the cab. Inside was a nearly complete cab. Already quite sharp looking with a bright green interior and a black exterior, another coat of paint will be added inside and out. The ceiling vent, which had proven to be a challenge due to limited available drawings, was complete and functioning. A few items remained to be completed: the ceiling needs a few boards painted and installed yet, the windows need a few hardware items remade to replace lost or broken originals, the seatboxes are not yet constructed, but all is expected to be completed by October and the cab brought to SPEC Machine so it can be made ready to mount to the frame and the roof weatherproofing material applied.

The other major component on which the 1385 Task Force has focused a great deal of attention on lately is the boiler. It has taken longer for the boiler to reach construction phase than was originally anticipated, but this was one area of the locomotive rebuild that was not to be rushed in any way. As the single most expensive component of the project, there is no room for error. Finally satisfied that the boiler design is ready for production, the 1385 Task Force has now begun gathering quotes for manufacturing of the new boiler. Once a vendor is selected and the order signed, production is expected to occur fairly quickly.

Front Truck Wheelsets Receive Turn on the Lathe

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A quick update on the Chicago & North Western #1385. Earlier this week, one of the front truck wheelsets was being turned on a lathe. Work on these wheels is being carried out by Harvey Diversified Trades. (Pictures via Harvey Diversified Trades LLC Facebook page). The job prompted the Harvey Diversified Trades Facebook page to write “I used to think this lathe was big until we put a locomotive axle and wheels on it.”

Machining C&NW 1385 pilot wheel

“Finished up the week machining on the front wheels for the 1385 steam locomotive for Mid-Continent Railroad Museum. Certainly kept the machine firmly on the floor….they are heavy.” — Harvey Diversified Trades Facebook

Two of the four 28″ lead truck wheels (pictured) are being retained and machined to specification, while the other two wheels were worn enough to necessitate replacement with brand new wheels. The new wheels were produced at a forge in Pennsylvania and delivered to Milwaukee, WI to be pressed onto the axle by NRE Wheel Works.

Both wheelsets will return to SPEC Machine in Middleton, WI where they will be united with the front truck assembly which has been undergoing repair work there.