We are thrilled to announce two separate $10,000 matching fund challenges to support the preservation and restoration of two historically significant rail cars in our collection. Thanks to two generous donors, every dollar you give will be matched dollar-for-dollar, up to $10,000 for these two projects!
🔹 Montana Western #31 (AKA Great Northern #2313): The funds will be used to rebuild the radiator in this oldest surviving EMC gas-electric motorcar. The Montana Western #31 was the 30th unit of its kind and represented the cutting edge of technology at a time when railroads were seeking alternatives to steam service on branch lines.
🔹 Duluth South Shore and Atlantic DULUTH Sleeper Car: This is an extremely rare example of a wooden sleeper car. The matching fund drive is targeted to provide the needed funds to replicate the original Men’s Smoking Room in the DULUTH. The Men’s Smoking Room had two sinks, a saloon (toilet) and a long sofa. This room was the area of the car where men could gather and have a smoke or wash up during their overnight trip along the Duluth South Shore & Atlantic route between Sault Ste. Marie and Duluth, MN. Drawings have already been made and with the $10,000 challenge donation and matching funds, we will be able to construct new mahogany veneer walls (with marquetry) for the smoking room.
The Men’s Smoking Room floorplan in the DULUTH.
The interior of the Men’s Smoking Room as it stands currently.
Help us keep these pieces of history alive! Donate to one or both projects today using the buttons below.
The 5-day long “All Hands on Deck” session held on June 18th-22nd by the MCRM Restoration Department was a great success. The very successful and productive “All Hands on Deck” Session had a total of 32 volunteers participating in the event, with an average of 20 volunteers per day. In total the volunteers put in over 800 hours of work during this session. The volunteers really did an outstanding job and performed an immense amount of work in a matter of a few days.
Anyone visiting the MCRM Car Shop after this event will notice a significant difference in the appearance of the cars that were worked on. The progress made during this session exceeded the expectations. The progress made was achieved due to the support, commitment and hard work of the volunteers. Progress made during the 5-day All Hands on Deck Session is summarized below. Note that several of the photos capture the status of the projects before and after the All Hands on Deck session. East Jordan & Southern Combine #2: The volunteer crew of Pete, Jeff Hu., Jeff A., Jeff Ha and Dean S. assembled and installed the Buntin seat frames, seat back and seat bottoms for the seats in the passenger section. This included boring the holes in the truss plank for the foot rests and installing the arm rests on the aisle castings. The crew also installed the second overhead oil lamp in the passenger section as well as the oil bracket lamp adjacent to the saloon. With work wrapping up in the passenger section additional work was performed in the baggage compartment.
BEFORE: The EJ&S #2 as Dean S., Jeff Hu and Jeff A. work on installing brackets on the ends of the seat backs.
Pete, Jeff A. and Jeff Hu installing the seat brackets on the east side of the car.
The new seats and cushions installed on the east side of the car.
AFTER: The EJ&S after three days of work to install the new seats. The newly installed seats on the left are covered with sheets.
Duluth South Shore & Atlantic Sleeping car DULUTH: The volunteer crew of Karl, Bob B., Ron, John, Dean V., Nate, Andrew, Tom, Jack, Jerry F. and Bill worked on the DULUTH during the AHOD session. During the session we took delivery of six new berth tables, six folding window screen frames, the sleeping compartment window panels and trim pieces for the smoking room. Work performed included installing trim pieces, headliner battens and a window bottom rail in the smoking room. In the sleeping compartment the new window post panels were trimmed, fit and installed along with the berth partition overlay pieces. The accomplishments in the sleeping compartment are significant as they will allow us to move on to installing the heating pipes and lower berths.
On the exterior of the car over 15 feet of the car received new car siding on the area below the windowsill. Another significant accomplishment was the installation of the new 8-piece windowsill for the east side. Each piece of the windowsill was doweled and screwed together to make for a one-piece sill 65 feet in length. Once assembled the windowsill was lifted into place with the help of ten volunteers evenly spread out across the length of the sill. Once in place the windowsill was screwed in place and the screw holes were plugged.
BEFORE: The sleeping compartment prior to the AHOD.
Part of the crew in the DULUTH. Dean V., Ron, Steve, Bob and Karl.
Ron in the process of install one of the berth partitions.
AFTER: The sleeping compartment after the AHOD.
Karl and John installing new lower siding on the DULUTH.
Volunteers in the process of installing the one-piece windowsill into place on the DULUTH.
Soo Line Caboose #99085: The volunteer crew of Richard P., Larry S., Bob R., David P., Dean S., Dean V., Jeff Hu., Altha, Jack, Jerry F., Gregg, Jane and Bill worked on the caboose during the AHOD session. Work performed included installing the new car siding on the east side of the car and framing out all four of the windows on the car. On the west side of the car new siding was installed around SW window and the bottom six inches of a number of boards were cut off and replaced. Epoxy repairs were made as needed on the car sides and the end beams. The entire car body was sanded, and all bare wood was primed. With the exception of a few areas awaiting further repairs, the entire car received two coats of the caboose red.
The new window frames for the car body and cupola were primed and given two coats of finish color. New wood roof drip edge pieces were made and are waiting to be installed along with the new rubber roof.
BEFORE: Jack and Jerry installing the new car siding on the east side of the caboose.
Work in process on the west side of the caboose.
AFTER: The caboose after five days of work.
Chicago & Illinois Midland Business Car #90: The volunteer crew of Steve, Dean V. and Jerry M. worked on the C&IM #90 business car. Work continued to route and install new wiring for the light fixtures in the south end of the car. The light in the toilet room has been energized and shortly power to the south entranceway and rear vestibule will be completed. In the south stateroom good progress was made with replicating the wardrobe. Final fitting of the door to the door frame was performed and the material for the wardrobe side and bottom were cut to size. All pieces of the wardrobe were sanded and the interior surfaces were sealed and stained.
Steve working on the wiring inside the C&IM #90.
Jerry M. and Dean V. staining the side panel for the wardrobe in the C&IM #90.
Rock Island Combine #1094: Fred B. And David M. braved the sun and heat to work on needle scaling the east side of the car. The process has them getting down to bare metal and removing all of the rust. Good progress was made as over 60% of the east side of the car has been needle scaled, wire brushed and primed.
Fred and Dave M. working on the CR&IP #1094.
Lake Superior & Ishpeming coach #64: Bob and Larry worked inside the #64 coach. Two new end doors were received as well as a new panel for the smoking room wall. The wood panel for the smoking room was installed while the end doors wait to be fitted to the car. Inside the car stripping and sanding the car continued on the south end of the car.
The new middle panel in LS&I #64 smoking room.
The new oak end doors for the LS&I #64.
“I’d like to thank all of the amazing volunteers who put in a tremendous amount of work during the past 5 days! Your collective efforts were amazing and a real morale booster to the restoration efforts at Mid-Continent. I’d also like to extend a special thanks to the volunteers that prepared all of the meals for the entire crew during the session.” – Bill, Restoration Dept. Manager
Some of the AHOD volunteers that were on hand during the session.
Steve serving up lunch time for the AHOD volunteers.
To help Mid-Continent restore the DULUTH to its former glory, please consider making a donation to the DSS&A Sleeper DULUTH Fund. Donating is tax-deductible and easy to do. You can make your donation via mail or donate online using the donate button below.
If you choose to donate by mail, please be sure to write in “DSS&A Sleeper DULUTH Fund” on the printable donation form or check memo line. Credit/debit card donations can also be accepted via phone at 608-522-4261 or 800-930-1385 by speaking to our staff during administrative office hours Monday-Friday.
Group photo of some of the volunteers from the “ALL HANDS ON DECK” session, 2023.
Summer is a busy time at Mid-Continent, as well as in the Restoration Department. Throughout the month of June, volunteers will have several opportunities to take part in helping Mid-Continent to preserve and restore equipment in the Car Shop.
Following is a summary of the dates volunteer work sessions will be taking place in the Car Shop:
June 1st and 2nd: This session has been added as a result of the MCRM Summer Shindig being held (starts 4 pm on Saturday). Volunteers are needed to assist with the restoration work on the LS&I #64 coach, the DULUTH sleeping car and the EJ&S #2 combine.
June 8th, 9th and 10th: This session is one of our pre-scheduled volunteer work sessions. Pete B. will need volunteers to assist him with the EJ&S #2 project (on June 9th and 10th) and other work will also be taking place in the Car Shop during the three-day session.
June 26th to the 30th: This is a specially planned session to deliver a lot of results in a short period of time. To date (20) volunteers have signed up to help out during this session known as “ALL HANDS ON DECK”. We are still looking for more volunteers for this session so we can make significant progress that would otherwise take several months to accomplish. The primary projects for this session are the LS&I #64 (fill, sand and priming), the DULUTH (install siding and ceiling work), the EJ&S #2 (interior restoration) and the Rock Island #1094 (interior painting). After a day of work, we’ll be providing meals and have planned after hour activities, including a pizza train ride at MCRM and a train ride/tour at the Riverside & Great Northern RR.
Any and all volunteers are welcome to participate in any or all of these sessions. If you’d like to volunteer for the All Hands on Deck session you must sign up in advance by contacting the MCRM Office at 608-522-4261 or via email at inquiries@midcontinent.org. You can help out on one or multiple days during the session, but please RSVP so we can appropriately plan the work and the meals.
Come join us and give us a hand! With everyone pulling together we’ll make some great progress in the Restoration Department.
A recent view of the DULUTH sleeper car showing the car after the lower siding was removed.
Mid-Continent Railway Museum’s Duluth South Shore & Atlantic sleeping car “DULUTH” is the oldest and most complete standard gauge sleeping car in the country. This wooden sleeping car was built in 1902 and for over thirty years it provided overnight sleeping accommodations for passengers riding the rails across Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The DULUTH only survived as it was repurposed into a camp along the shores of Lake Superior prior to being acquired and moved by Mid-Continent in 2016. Today, after several years of restoration work and thanks to many volunteers and donors the DULUTH sleeping car is coming back together.
The DULUTH is a rare time capsule demonstrating what long-distance rail travel was like over a century ago. The DULUTH sleeping car includes a private stateroom, the men’s smoking room, women’s toilet and a 10-section sleeping compartment, that featured upper and lower berths. Once restored visitors will be able to see and experience the DULUTH sleeper and take in the fine mahogany woodwork, marquetry, stained glass and plush upholstery.
Recent restoration progress in the sleeping compartment of the DULUTH.
To help with the restoring this national treasure Mid-Continent is challenging its members, donors and supporters to raise $10,000 to go towards the ongoing restoration work on the DULUTH sleeping car. With this challenge, every dollar donated to this fund drive will be matched dollar-for-dollar, by an anonymous donor, up to $10,000. Together this will raise $20,000 for the DULUTH restoration fund.
Funds from this fund drive will be used for several key areas of the car’s restoration, including:
Repairing and restoring the water damaged ceiling panels.
Installing and painting the ceiling canvas.
Replicating the (4) interior doors that are presently missing inside the car.
Sourcing wood for making and installing new exterior car siding and trim.
Your donation to the DULUTH 2024 Matching Fund Drive the will help complete the above projects and restore the DULUTH sleeping car.
Make Your Donation Today
Making your donation to the DULUTH project and getting it matched is easy and takes only a few minutes.
Donate by Check
Donations by check can be made out to Mid-Continent Railway Museum and mailed to:
Mid-Continent Railway Museum
P.O. Box 358
North Freedom, WI 53951
Be sure to write “DULUTH 2024 Matching Fund Drive” on the check memo line so we can properly process your donation.
Donate by Phone
To donate by phone, please call Mid-Continent’s office at 608-522-4261.
Donate by Credit Card or PayPal
You can donate instantly using any major credit or debit card or by PayPal via the button below.
Thanks to our amazing donors, the matching fund goal has been met! However, this project is not finished, and continued donations are appreciated and needed to bring the overall DULUTH restoration project to completion. Use the “Donate Here” button above to make a donation today.
The matching grant fundraiser began on 5/1/2024 and was fully matched by donors on 7/30/2024.
Individual Donations ($10,000) & Matching Grant ($10,000)
Work in progress with a crew of volunteers in the sleeping compartment of the DULUTH.
