to return it to service in 2012. Wrigley Mechanical, Inc., of Fargo, N.D., was brought in to repair its boiler and fire- box side sheets, and new wash out plugs were manufactured; Black Hills Central, located across the state in Hill City, re- built the air compressor. The work was funded with a generous anonymous do- nation. When the repairs were finished, No. 29 was fired up twice in the summer of 2013 for test runs, and then went back to work hauling passenger trains during Railroad Days in 2014. Volunteers hope to repaint No. 29 and repair its dynamo (the headlight is currently powered by a car battery) in the near future. Passengers on the PVM&H are ac- commodated in a former Union Pacific roadway kitchen car, an ex-AT&SF REA Express car that’s been converted into a coach, and an Illinois Central caboose. In 2012 the railroad added Soo Line dining car No. 756 to its roster. Built by Barney & Smith in 1911, it ran on the Winnipeger before being converted into a bunk car. It was purchased by volunteer Marlin Fenner, who often serves as the trains’ conductor. Two passenger cars are used for dis-


play purposes. A 1909 Chicago & North Western combine, No. 1873, formerly on exhibit at the South Dakota State Fair- grounds in Huron, has been at Prairie Village since 1991; it’s currently dis- played inside the roundhouse. Nearby, under its own canopy, is the chapel car Emmanuel, which was fabricated by Barney & Smith in 1893 for the Ameri- can Baptist Publication Society and used as a roaming church on wheels. One of seven chapel cars built, Emmanuel came to Prairie Village in 1972 in poor con- dition after being used as storage shed, most of its metal parts having been pre- viously removed by a salvage company. The interior has since been restored,


and in 1976 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.


Additional Locomotives During the 1990s three locomotives


were added to the PVH&M roster. In 1992 No. 29 was joined by 0-4-0T No. 11, which was built by American Locomotive Company’s Cooke Works in 1924 for Kel- ly Island Lime & Transport. Weighing just 35 tons, No. 11 became an unlikely steam star in the early 1960s when it was put to work hauling tourists on Michi- gan’s Cadillac & Lake City, and it later ran for both the Reese Central Railroad in Michigan and Jerry Jacobson’s South- west Virginia Scenic Railroad at Hiltons. Prairie Village acquired the tank engine in 1992 from South Dakota’s defunct Deadwood Central Railroad, along with two home-built passenger coaches. Af- ter steaming around PVH&M’s loop for many years, No. 11 developed mechani- cal trouble and is currently stored in the roundhouse awaiting repairs. Two diesels are in regular operation


on the PVH&M. U.S. Air Force cen- ter-cab No. 1687, dubbed The Colonel, is a 1953 GE 80-tonner that served various stateside Air Force bases in California, Florida, and Utah before being assigned to Mountain Home AFB in Idaho, its last assignment before retirement. It was obtained by Prairie Village through De- fense Utilization Management, and was moved to Madison in March 1995 at no cost by Union Pacific. U.S. Army No. 4002, dubbed The Gen-


eral, is a 1953 61-ton RS4TC, one of 44 built to a Whitcomb design by Bald- win-Lima-Hamilton between 1953-55; it has adjustable-gauge trucks for foreign service. It was mothballed shortly after delivery until it was assigned to Fort Bliss, Texas, in the 1970s. It was rebuilt in the 1980s with a 500-h.p. Caterpillar


diesel replacing its original 400-h.p. en- gine. After being declared surplus it was acquired by Prairie Village, arriving in Madison on April 24, 1995. Not to be forgotten, and current-


ly displayed inside the roundhouse, is the Wilhelmine Viktoria 0-4-0T, which hasn’t operated in more than 15 years. When its boiler tubes developed leaks it was taken out of service, and the narrow gauge tracks have since been pulled up. There are several motor cars on the PVH&M, many of which are used for rides during Railroad Days. There is also a replica of a South Dakota Central doodlebug that once operated between Wentworth and Watertown that was constructed by volunteer LeRay Swe- deen in 2010.


Volunteers Make It Happen “The railroad wouldn’t run if it weren’t


for our volunteers,” Kelli Wollmann, Prairie Village’s railroad committee chairwoman, told the author in 2014. A new generation has taken the reins from the original founders, most of whom have since passed on. One of the most ac- tive volunteers is Bill Nolan, who often serves as engineer during weekend runs and can be found restoring PVH&M equipment at other times. Another is Bill Lutter, who when not working on his own 1.5" live steam railroad, is hard at work keeping No. 29 in steam, and was at the throttle of the 0-6-0 many times in 2014. Others, like Brandon Sal- men and Harold Boer, do the less glam- orous jobs of shoveling coal into No. 29’s firebox and performing track work, both very necessary to keep PVM&H trains rolling. The railroad is in full operation during Railroad Days in July and during the annual Steam Threshing Jamboree. During these times the roundhouse and depots are open to the public and motor cars rides are offered. There is more to see, of course, including doz- ens of restored buildings and tractors, a rare steam-powered carousel, and much more. Take a trip to eastern South Da- kota this summer and enjoy the sights and sounds of vintage steam power in all its forms.


LEFT: 13. The PVH&M rosters ex-Soo Line din- er No. 756, which came to the Village in 2012 from the Whetstone Valley Express at Milbank, S.D. It is used for “Pizza Train” rides during Railroad Days each summer.


For more details, please visit Prairie Village’s website at www.prairievillage.org 43


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