Mid-Continent Railway Museum

Gifts to this fund will benefit the restoration of the former Chicago & North Western No. 1385 to full working order. When complete you will be able to enjoy a train ride powered by this 1907 built ten-wheeler, famous for its goodwill tours of the 1980s. You can follow the project’s progress on the Steam Status page.

Please consider making a donation to the “DSS&A Sleeper DULUTH Fund” so Mid-Continent can restore the DULUTH sleeping car to its former glory. It is Mid-Continent’s goal to accurately restore the DULUTH to its original condition (1902 to 1915 time period). Significant is already accomplished or significantly progressed on the car’s trucks, brakes, and coupler systems, as well as the 10-section sleeping room. Work will soon turn to recreating the Men’s Smoking Room.

Matching Funds Available!

An anonymous donor has pledged to match each donation to the DSS&A DULUTH, dollar-for-dollar, up to $10,000! Help us reach our goal of matching this challenge grant. With your help, this will provide $20,000 to allow Mid-Continent to continue restoration efforts on this most complete sleeping car from its era. This matching fundraiser began on August 24, 2025.

Mid-Continent is home to the oldest surviving, and largely unmodified, gas-electric rail car built by the Electro-Motive Corporation. Built in 1925 for the Great Northern Railway as #2313, the motor car was later sold to the Montana Western and renumbered to become their #31 – the paint scheme it still wears today. The motor car was added to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ list of Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmarks in 2003. It last operated in 1987 and has been out of service ever since, awaiting repairs to its original Winton engine. During that time, it has been a stationary display piece inside Mid-Continent’s Coach Sheds.

Now the time for waiting for repairs is over! Mid-Continent is putting this car back into operating condition so visitors can once again enjoy a ride aboard this historically significant car, but your help is needed. Mid-Continent’s earlier fundraiser for this project successfully allowed the restoration of the car’s original Winton engine. Now additional donations are needed to complete repairs to the motor car’s radiator, control systems, and leaking roof.

Matching Funds Available!

A Mid-Continent board member has pledged to match each donation to the Montana Western #31, dollar-for-dollar, up to $10,000! Help us reach our goal of matching this challenge grant. With your help, this will provide $20,000 to be used for remaining work on the motor car’s restoration, including radiator repair, control systems repair, and roof repair. This matching fundraiser began on August 24, 2025.

A brief history of the D&R #9 begins back in 1884 when the Baldwin Locomotive Works constructed the locomotive as New Orleans & North Eastern. It received a new boiler in 1904. NO&NE sold the locomotive to a surplus dealer in 1917. The locomotive was purchased by the Dardanelle & Russellville in Arkansas and was renumbered to #9. The Mid-Continent Railway Museum purchased the locomotive in 1963 and served as one of Mid-Continent’s daily operation locomotives on and off until 1991 when it was removed from service because of boiler issues. It was stored as inoperable until the Fall of 2020.

Over the past several years; father and son team Jason and Fletcher Reiman, along with a crew of volunteers, have embarked on the D&R #9’s cosmetic restoration. Thus far, Fletcher and his crew have cosmetically restored the locomotive’s tender and cab. Sandblasting and painting the front portion of the locomotive is still ahead, but needs financial support to be able to continue.

East Jordan and Southern #2 is Mid-Continent’s oldest train car. It was originally built in Nov. 1864 as first-class coach and acquired by the museum in 1963. It has been at Mid-Continent for the past 60+ years. In order to finalize this unique car’s restoration, additional funding is needed.

The Crossing Tower was built for the Wisconsin Central in Neenah, WI and moved to Mid-Continent Railway Museum in 1991. After decades of standing guard in the North Freedom, the tower needed to come down for structural repairs or else risk collapse. The structure was taken down in November 2024 and the timeline for its repair and return to the display yard is dependent on donations.

The biggest challenge Mid-Continent faces when it comes to preserving its extensive collection of locomotives and rolling stock comes from nature. The slow but relentless destruction to the museum’s collection caused by sun, rain, and snow requires constant repainting of locomotives already restored previously, replacing siding already re-sided, and replacing roofs already re-roofed. This takes time and resources away from what could otherwise be spent restoring other equipment in Mid-Continent’s collection or perhaps acquiring new collection items.

The only way to eliminate this endless cycle of repair is for Mid-Continent to house its fleet of locomotives and cars inside when not in use. That is the purpose of the Fleet Storage Building. Presently in the engineering stage, the Fleet Storage Building would contain three tracks and be able to house roughly 10 cars or locomotives that would otherwise be sitting outside 24/7.

Mid-Continent’s 1894 depot is the first thing the public sees when visiting our museum. The building’s wood siding has survived three floods in 15 years, but it has taken a toll. Rot is becoming an issue on siding along the building’s lower half and window frames. Plans call for a contractor to make the needed repairs and repaint the building. This work will keep the building looking good for years to come.