By Justin Franz
A Great Northern Railway 4-6-2 that spent decades leading the railroad’s finest passenger trains in the Pacific Northwest before being preserved in the Midwest could run once again.
On July 3, the Siouxland Historical Railroad Association, Sioux City Railroad Museum and American Heartland Railroad Society announced that the three organizations were teaming up to restore GN H-5s Pacific 1355 currently in Sioux City, Iowa, to operating condition. The news came days after flood waters inundated the railroad museum’s roundhouse where 1355 is presently on display. However, the flood water appears to have done little damage to the Baldwin Locomotive Works product. Museum officials said they expected the restoration to take about five years.
Locomotive 1355 began life as a 4-6-0 in 1909 and was assigned to passenger service out of Spokane, Wash. In 1924, the locomotive was sent east to St. Paul, Minn., where the railroad rebuilt it as a 4-6-2, with a larger boiler, cylinders and firebox. The locomotive was designated an H-5s at that time. A year later it was converted from being a coal burner to an oil burner. The locomotive was assigned to the Butte Division in Montana where it led some of the GN’s finest passenger trains, including the Empire Builder and Oriental Limited. In 1950, the locomotive was sent to Minnesota to work in freight service before being retired in 1955. At about the same time, the community of Sioux City, Iowa, requested a locomotive from the GN for display. Locomotive 1355 was selected and sent south to Iowa where it has been ever since.
Logan Stilwil, president of the American Heartland Railroad Society, said the locomotive is in good shape and “just needs a little TLC” to run again. Over a decade ago, a group nearly completed a 15-year overhaul of the locomotive’s boiler but it was never run. Stilwil said he’s hopeful the group will be able to test fire the locomotive before its tube time runs out later this year. However, because of how long ago the boiler work was done, another 1472 overhaul must be completed. The firebox will also need attention before it can run again.
Stilwil said his group has 20 to 30 people working on the locomotive regularly and that another work weekend is scheduled for July 12, 13 and 14. People interested in helping with the restoration can visit American Heartland’s Facebook page.
While Stilwil said it was too early to say where the locomotive could run, his group is currently exploring different opportunities in the region.
For more information and to donate to the effort, visit the museum’s website.