Author Archives: Jeffrey Lentz

Tender Tank Lettering In Progress

Mid-Continent Railway Museum Posted on by

This week featured more easily visible evidence of restoration work on C&NW No. 1385. Countless hours over the past year have been going into engineering design and review of the tender and boiler, but that is not something that produces nice pictures to share on Facebook. Lettering a tender, on the other hand, makes for a great photo opportunity and just so happens to be what took place this week.

After the tender returned from the painting contractor’s shop early in the week, Mid-Continent’s Owen Hughes headed over to the DRM Industries shop to begin lettering the new tender tank with the familiar Chicago & North Western System trademark.

Meanwhile, the tender deck was also being prepared. As indicated by the original C&NW drawing and specifications sheet, 2″ white oak boards are being used. The timber was locally hewn by James Frazier & Sons Logging of Blue Water, WI. The decking still needs to have preservative treatments applied before the tender tank can be mounted to the deck.

Other final details are also in the process of being finished. The lower left photo shows the new bushing installed in the drawbar pin hole. The drawbar is what connects the locomotive to the tender (and the rest of the train).

CNW 1385 tender progress photos

Tender Back at DRM Industries for Lettering and Final Assembly

Mid-Continent Railway Museum Posted on by

The shiny new tender tank for Chicago & North Western No. 1385 moved recently from the paint shop back to the construction contractor’s shop near Wisconsin Dells in preparation for final assembly. Lettering began being applied today and is expected to take about three days to complete. The tender is on schedule for a November delivery to the Mid-Continent Railway Museum grounds.

C&NW tender tank after painting. Photo taken Oct. 22, 2013. Photo courtesy of Mike Wahl.

C&NW tender tank after painting. Photo taken Oct. 22, 2013. Photo courtesy of Mike Wahl.

Boiler Lift

Mid-Continent Railway Museum Posted on by

This is what C&NW #1385 looks like without it’s 30,000 lb. 1907 boiler. The boiler took a while to get off but eventually made it to the track vacated by Saginaw Timber No. 2’s boiler earlier today. Thanks goes to all the volunteers with the projects today! The removal of the boiler from Chicago & North Western No. 1385 will allow better access to the running gear as well as the boiler for upcoming repairs.

A video of last week’s boiler lift at Mid-Continent has now been posted to the museum’s official YouTube channel.

Photos courtesy of Richard Colby. YouTube video courtesy of Randy Long.

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Boiler Lift to Proceed Tomorrow

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Mid-Continent Railway Museum’s steam restoration progress continues in a very noticeable way tomorrow (Oct. 17) with a crane coming to the museum to lift parts of two steam locomotives.

First, Saginaw Timber Company No. 2’s boiler will be lifted on to the frame/running gear. This comes after successful early tests of the running gear in the preceding weeks. Reassembly and further testing will continue in the coming months.

Next, the boiler (along with smokebox and firebox) from C&NW No. 1385 will be removed from its frame/running gear. The boiler will be set down in the space next to the Engine House being vacated by No. 2’s boiler.

This move marks a transition in the C&NW 1385 project from focusing on rebuilding the tender (which will be completed in the coming weeks) to working on the locomotive itself. The separation of the boiler from the frame/running gear will allow easier access to parts for restoration work and reverse engineering of replacement parts as the project moves forward.

Annotated C&NW 1385

C&NW 1385 with major components labeled. Photo by Jeffrey Lentz.

C&NW Lettering on Tender Set to Begin

Mid-Continent Railway Museum Posted on by

In the next few days, the tender (fuel and water car) for steam locomotive Chicago & North Western No. 1385 will have lettering prepared and applied by volunteers Richard Dipping and Owen Hughes. The tender is anticipated to be returned to North Freedom and placed on display in November.

The 1944-1957 era C&NW “SYSTEM” monogram has been selected and a stencil prepared [see photo]. This was the monogram style in use when the locomotive was removed from C&NW’s active roster in 1956 and was still on the locomotive when sold to Mid-Continent in 1961. C&NW went through a few other variations before returning to this monogram style from 1981 until purchased by the Union Pacific Railroad in 1995.

For an in-depth history of C&NW’s trademarks/monograms, read the article “The Ball, the Bar, and the Badge: The Evolution of the Chicago & North Western Railway Company Trademark” in Volume 2013, No. 1 of the Chicago & North Western Railway Historical Society’s publication “North Western Lines.”

Stencil prepared for lettering the C&NW 1385 tender. Photo courtesy Richard Dipping.

Stencil prepared for lettering the C&NW 1385 tender. Photo courtesy Richard Dipping.