to spearhead the financing and building of a three-foot-gauge rail line around the muse- um’s 19-acre campus, while Wright and oth- ers concentrated their efforts on returning No. 3 to steam.
With help from Michigan Tech students, museum volunteers performed a thorough assessment of No. 3 in the fall of 1998. When the saddle tank was removed and the boiler opened up, what was found was worse than expected. The 0-4-0T’s smoke stack had not been capped during its 20 years of outdoor display, and as a result the bottom third was rotted away. Worse, coal left on the grates from its last time under steam (likely 1949) had eaten a half-inch hole in the front left corner of the firebox, and wet boiler insula- tion inside the cab had pitted the boiler shell. Despite these findings, it was decided to proceed with the rebuild. David Sladek, owner of Universal Metal Works, graciously allowed the locomotive to occupy space at his shop in Calumet (a former C&H power- house) and it was moved there by truck in April 1999. No. 3’s original 1915 lap-seam boiler was lifted off the frame, steam cleaned, and sandblasted. Calumet Machine then moved the boiler to the fairgrounds at Escanaba, Mich., in the summer of 1999, where repairs to the pressure vessel (mostly patches near the mud ring) were made by Pentecost Construction. Next, the boiler was sent to a shop in Marquette, where 65 new tubes were installed (all of them rolled and sealed by hand) and the rotted portion of the smoke box was cut out and replaced. The completed state-certified boiler was returned to Calumet in the spring of 2000, where it was mated to the frame. Pressur- ized by air, No. 3 moved under its own pow- er for the first time in May 2000. It was on- ly 20 feet, but it was a milestone for museum volunteers.
No. 3’s frame and running gear also need- ed extensive work. In December 2000 the drivers were removed and sent to the Huck- leberry Railroad’s shop in Flint, Mich., to be turned. While the boiler had been away the 0-4-0T’s frame was repaired, sandblasted, and painted, and all running gear compo- nents were refurbished as needed. New pis- ton rods were manufactured, along with rods and cylinder cocks, and the engine’s steam brakes were renewed. Much of the work was done by Calumet Machine, al- though several components were manufac- tured by students at Michigan Tech’s me- chanical engineering department. No. 3’s appearance today is somewhat changed from original. It has a new cab, ele- vated to accommodate both an engineer and fireman, along with a taller smokestack and steam dome cover. It also has a Sunbeam electric headlight and a small bell, neither of which it had in regular service. The saddle tank, which sat deteriorating on the ground during the locomotive’s time at Ripley, has been repaired and holds water, although it’s augmented by a home-built tender con- structed by Adam Wright. The original cab has been preserved, should the museum de- cide to return the locomotive to its as-built configuration.
After four years of restoration, No. 3 made a triumphant return to Lake Linden in July 2002; it was hauled through the streets un- der steam on the back of a flatbed truck pro- vided by Hendrickson Excavating. Its new home: a two-stall engine house erected dur- ing the summer of 2001. The buildings’ con-
struction was funded by a grant from the Upper Peninsula Power Co., which also do- nated 100 feet of surplus rail.
A loop of track encircling the museum
grounds was surveyed by Michigan Tech students in 2002, and a half-mile of surplus 80-pound rail, along with tie plates and ties, was donated by Lake Superior & Ishpeming Railroad president John Marshall. Through the efforts of Richard Taylor, Brian Keeney, and Gerald Perreault, the tracks were ex- tended around the property beginning in 2003. Some of the rail was laid using volun- teer labor from the Shenandoah Boys Ranch of Arcadia, Mo. Nara Trestle, which pays homage to the original stamp mill trestle that carried the tracks of the Hecla & Torch Lake, was built with timbers donated by Dr. Robert and Ruth Nara and funded in part with a USDA Rural Development loan. It was completed in 2005.
Trains depart from the museum’s restored 1906 wooden depot, built for the Mineral Range and later used by DSS&A and Soo Line. It was donated by its last owner, Silver Forest Products, and refurbished by muse- um volunteers in the early 1980s. Inside are displays relating to area railroads and a large model railroad depicting the Copper Range in the 1920s. Outside, visitors can view 1907 Soo Line wood caboose No. 261 and a home-built Calumet & Hecla flanger. The body of a Copper Range four-wheel bob- ber caboose is also on the property. Besides the steam locomotive, the Lake Linden & Torch Lake also rosters Plymouth HSG gas-mechanical five-ton switchers Nos. 592 and 602, built in 1968 for the U.S. Army/Olin Corp’s Badger Ordnance Works at Baraboo, Wis. One was donated in 2003 by David Deppe, along with two boxcars and three flat cars from the Ordnance Works railway. The boxcars have been rebuilt as passenger cars and see frequent use; in keeping with the railroad’s “old fashioned” atmosphere, their link and pin couplers have been retained. During the winter the cars are kept with the locomotives in the en- gine house, which has been enlarged to ac- commodate the additional equipment. Volunteers are the heart of the railroad. The day I visited, several friendly museum members, including Rudi Maki, were on hand to man the train and answer ques- tions. Herb Leopold was at the throttle of No. 3, and his son Dennis was firing. Many others, besides those mentioned, have been instrumental in the restoration and opera- tion of the train, including Doug McDowell, Bill Labell, David Pulse, Rob Rowe, Skip Dufour, Jesse Nordeng, and Dave Ouillette. Brian Keeney supervises the railroad’s oper- ation and its ongoing maintenance. Because of their effort and dedication, No. 3 and the entire Lake Linden & Torch Lake Railroad has become a working memorial to those that worked at Calumet & Hecla’s Lake Lin- den mills and smelter. The Society’s museum building is open daily, June through September and train rides are offered on weekends during the summer. The train is pulled by a gas-me- chanical on Saturdays and the steam loco- motive on Sundays. Several special events are held throughout the year. For more in- formation visit the HCHS website at
www.houghtonhistory.org.
—Thanks to Rudi Maki, Herb Leopold, and Dennis Leopold
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