Classic Locomotive Steam Engine Getting Rebuilt in Central Wisconsin

Engine 1385 was born in 1907, and hauled trains across Wisconsin. Now, volunteers are getting her ready to run once again. Avery Martinez/WPR

For decades, volunteers like Mike Wald have spent their weekends working on a major project — bringing a historic steam engine back to life at Wisconsin’s Mid-Continent Railway Museum.And now, Wald feels the end is in sight, thanks to millions of dollars in private donations and the passion of his fellow volunteers.

Working as a team, the volunteers run a historic 7-mile working railroad outside Baraboo, complete with cabooses, engines and machine shops. And those volunteers are working on their most ambitious project yet — restoring a century-old steam locomotive to working condition, Wald said.

“It’s awesome for everyone to be at this point,” Wald said. “We’re so close to being completed with the project and to see it run again.”

Mike Wald, leading 1385’s restoration, looks at the internal pieces of the steam locomotive. Avery Martinez/WPR

Wald is the volunteer project manager for the Engine 1385 restoration project, aimed at getting the locomotive back to its former glory.

“This is the most extensive locomotive rebuild Mid-Continent has ever undertaken,” the museum website states.

Even when it’s standing still, 1385 has its own charms, he said.

“It is the only piece of mechanical equipment that I’ve ever worked with that has a personality,” Wald said.

The restoration is being completed by dedicated volunteers from across Wisconsin and the country, Wald said.

“It’s been 100 percent privately funded through donations to get us to this point, and we are very close,” Wald said.

At the beginning of the year, volunteers estimated they needed $300,000 to finish the work on 1385 and bring her up to steam, according to the museum.

“We’re down to about $170,000 to get this project completed,” Wald said.

Volunteers have completed almost $3 million worth of repairs in the past fifteen years, he said. Small projects were done when possible, but major repairs began in 2011, with a $250,000 grant from the Wagner Foundation.

Volunteers have rebuilt and tested the boiler, fixed the whistle, repainted the tender and continue to tweak the locomotive, Wald said. The museum’s goal is to have 1385 running by this winter.

Built in 1907, the 1385 pulled freight and passenger trains across north Wisconsin for 50 years for the C&NW. Avery Martinez/WPR

People involved in the 1385 project come from all backgrounds, Wald said. The money comes from a variety of donors — some giving a few bucks, others donating thousands.

“It hasn’t ran for 28 years,” Wald said, adding 1385 was pulled out of service needing significant repairs and set aside.

Since the ‘90s, dedicated volunteers have worked to get her running again. And, Wald said, they’re always looking for more help.

A volunteer rail crew stand beside their train at the Mid-Continent Railway Museum in North Freedom, WI. Avery Marinez/WPR

Pete Deets was one of the last firemen on 1385 — loading coal into the engine’s boiler — before it was taken out of service.

“You constantly have to pay attention to the engine,” Deets said of firing the locomotive. “You have to listen to it. It will tell you what it needs.”

Pete Deets, one of the last firemen from 1385’s last operations, gets ready to work on a rainy Sunday morning in North Freedom. Avery Martinez/WPR

He’s spent the last 30 years helping get the engine ready to run again.

“The moment you light that match, it owns you,” Deets said.

He’s also working to train a new generation of volunteer firemen, like Becca Madero.

“As a person who never really worked with steam, and then firing it,  and seeing it come alive again,” Madero said, “It’s special.”

Engine No. 1385 rolled out of a locomotive shop in Pennsylvania back in 1907, destined for work in northern Wisconsin on the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad, according to the museum.

The railroad retired the locomotive at the end of the steam era of transportation. In 1961, members of the new Mid-Continent Railway Museum pooled enough money together to buy it, Wald said.

The 1385 cost $2,600 back then, according to Wald. That’s roughly about $29,000 today.

But for Wald, the locomotive is more than its history.

“It’s about the memories it’s created,” Wald said.

Wald said whenever volunteers work in 1385 they have visitors tell them their stories of trains and their childhood, or of parents taking them to ride.

“The little kids, and just the the the glow and the smile,” Deets said. “That’s my paycheck.”

A boy and his dad look at one of the locomotives at the Mid-Continent Railway Musem near Baraboo, WI. Avery Martinez/WPR

Those memories are what keep the volunteers’ spirits up each weekend, he said.

And now, Wald said the end is in sight.

“And being able to get it back out and running again, so people can continue to have those memories is really special,” Wald said.

A Wisconsin steam engine will soon run again, completely rebuilt by volunteers was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.