for Soo Line 2719 New Home
Built by American Locomotive Company in 1923, Soo Line 4-6-2 No. 2719 was successfully restored to operation in 1998. It was leased to the Lake Superior Railway Museum in 2006 and returned to operation in 2007. The locomotive’s fate was in question when it was removed from service in 2013 pending an FRA mandated rebuild and inspection. The city of Eau Claire, Wis., agreed to sell the historic steamer to LSRM in mid-June, clearing the way for cosmetic and eventual mechanical restoration.
PHOTO BY JEFFREY D. TERRY
STEAM AND PRESERVATION JEFFREY D. TERRY
to Lake Superior Museum Soo Line 2719 Sale
The city of Eau Claire, Wis., agreed to a conditional sale of former Soo Line 4-6-2 No.
2719 to Lake Superior
Railroad Museum (LSRM) of Duluth, Minn., on June 10, 2015. The agreement calls for the current owner of No. 2719, the now-defunct Locomotive & Tower Preservation Fund, to sell the Pacific back to the City of Eau Claire for $1.00, to whom it was donated by Soo Line Railroad in 1960. Eau Claire in turn will sell the 4-6-2 to the museum for $2.00. The LSRM board approved of the purchase on June 18. No. 2719, which has called Duluth home since 2006 and last operated on LSRM’s North Shore Scenic tourist line in 2013, will become an indoor static exhibit for the foreseeable future. No. 2719 was built by American Locomotive Company’s Schenectady Works for Soo Line subsidiary Wisconsin Central in 1923. It primarily worked in passenger service and pulled several fan trips in the late 1950s, including the very last steam-powered passenger train to operate on the Soo, an excursion to Ladysmith, Wis., in June 1959. It was retired and placed on display in Eau Claire’s Carson Park the following year. In 1996, the Locomotive & Tower Preservation
Fund was established
to restore the 4-6-2, which had badly deteriorated; ownership was transferred to L&TPF with the city of Eau Claire retaining the option to repurchase the locomotive for $1.00 if L&TPF should disband. State and federal funding was
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utilized to restore the locomotive, which took place at the ex-C&NW Altoona, Wis.,
roundhouse. Two years later the restored No. 2719 pulled its first excursion on the new Wisconsin Central during a railfan event at Osceola, Wis. In subsequent years, WC allowed No. 2719 to pull excursions in the Upper Midwest, but the trips ended after the railroad was purchased by Canadian National and there were no other lines on which the Pacific could operate. It was then placed into storage, and was moved outdoors when the Altoona roundhouse was razed in 2004. Railroad author
Steve Glischinski
brought LSRM and L&TPF together in 2006, and an agreement was reached to lease No. 2719 to LSRM. It was hauled dead to the museum in December 2006 and was refurbished in LSRM’s shop, making its debut run in the fall of 2007. It was used to pull summer and fall excursions on the North Shore Scenic Railroad between Duluth and Two Harbors, Minn., until September 2013, when it was removed from service requiring a 1472-day FRA inspection. There has been some opposition from citizens in Eau Claire. As part of the sale agreement the city has the option to buy back the locomotive within the next three years if local groups can raise the money to return it to Eau Claire and restore it. Duluth is a very appropriate place for the engine to remain. Although the Soo Line didn’t use the Duluth Union Depot, where LSRM is located, No. 2719 is known to have operated out of Duluth’s Soo Line Depot (since demolished) which stood two blocks west of the museum. LSRM plans to complete some cosmetic work before moving the 4-6-2 indoors for display.
Will it ever be restored to service? Eventually, yes.
The museum is
currently busy restoring another steam locomotive from its collection, Duluth & Northeastern No. 28, which is slated to make its operational debut this fall. Under FRA rules, No. 28 may operate for 15 years or 1472 days before another federal inspection is due. When that occurs, it is anticipated that No. 2719 will be returned to service.
Polson Logging Co. 45 Returns Home
The Polson Museum of Hoquiam,
Wash., has acquired former Polson Logging Company 2-6-2 No. 45, which it plans to return to operation. The locomotive was moved to Hoquiam on May 21, and is currently being dismantled for restoration.
No. 45 was the first new locomotive purchased for Hoquiam-based Polson Logging Company. The 45-ton, wood- burning locomotive was delivered from Baldwin in 1906 and was used on the line out of Grays Harbor. It last steamed in stationary boiler service the late 1950s for Rayonier, Inc., which purchased the Polson properties in 1948. After its retirement, Rayonier donated the 2-6-2 to the community of Hoquiam, and it was placed on display within Last Spur Park in 1961.
Years of neglect took its toll, and in
1998 the dilapidated No. 45 was given to the Mount Rainier Scenic of Mineral, Wash., which initially planned to return the Prairie to service. However, when this project stalled, it was sold in 2011 to Chris Baldo, one of the principals of the Roots of Motive Power Museum of Willits, Calif., who had it moved to the
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