[UPDATE: The volunteer session has been moved to Sunday, September 15, 2024]

By the time you read this post, you may have figured out where the D&R #9 was moved to on Sunday August 4. You might not have realized that Fletch was taking the #9 out for a little vacation and makeover. Yes, that’s right; after sitting since the early 1990’s, he thought she could use a makeover. 

On Thursday 8/8, Fletch and his crew helped spot the #9 outside the Engine House, where they started preparing her for the next day’s activities. It was an overcast, cool, and windy day, but it was appreciated as we worked to pack rags in all the nooks and crannies under the cab, boiler, and smoke box. Tarps and sheets were meticulously laid over the Cross Head Guides and Piston Rods. Supplies were delivered, inventoried, and organized. That night, the #9 waited outside the Engine House while Fletcher’s team enjoyed and evening of fellowship, laughs, and hot dogs.

Friday 8/9 is what we eventually referred to as “Beach Day”. It was warm, sunny, and we had plenty of sand. Yes, 4000 pounds of sand to be precise. We assembled scaffolding, set up ladders, and Chris Burdick got to work blasting off decades of old paint, primer, and rust. Blasting started around Noon, and Fletch, Steve Pahl, and I fed 50-pound bags into the blower as fast as we could, finally finishing up around 8pm.  As this is the “Year of the Cab”, we cleaned up the entire cab, inside, out, top, bottom, and a bit forward to the first dome. Once we had blown her off with air, we put her away for the night to be protected from the early morning dew.

Saturday 8/10 was her official “makeover” day. Fletcher received a great chemistry lesson from Chris B. showing him how to mix primers, hardeners, and reducers for the day’s work. As Chris climbed up and down, in and out, and then again up and down the cab about a thousand times, the whole crew worked tirelessly to ensure efficiency by moving ladders, refilling paint guns, and keeping hoses from getting hung up as the primer was laid down. We also saw a lot of interest throughout the day and weekend as museum visitors stopped by to see what was going on. We were happy to have them and enjoyed filling them in on the history of the museum, the #9, and the transformation we were taking her through. We pushed hard as the shadows started to get long, and by early evening were applying a beautiful coat of red on the roof. Fletcher’s mom drove down to the museum that afternoon, and was able to join us right before we started working on the cab roof. From her perspective (as she watched the progress) she said it looked like we were “making her a redhead”. At the end of Saturday, the Cab of the #9 looked NOTHING like it used to, but it wasn’t done yet. We pulled her back into the Engine Shed for protection from the evening dew, and called it a day.

Sunday 8/11 was crunch day. We needed to get the final coat of paint on AND the final clear coat before we could officially label this job done. We worked hard right out the gate and got the new roof covered, and got right to applying the final paint. Fletch continued his work mixing, and quickly garnered the nickname “Picasso” from his father. Chris continued his ladder Olympics and before we knew it the paint was fully applied. After a short dry time, we removed the covering over the roof, and quickly started applying the clear coat over ALL the work that had been done up to this point. This part of the job was a bit more tedious, simply because we had to plan out every step to ensure footprints were not left on the new paint before the clearcoat went down. By mid-evening, she was DONE and looked amazing. We couldn’t believe the transformation. But seeing is believing. Grab a friend and head on down to the museum to take a look yourself.  

This was a HUGE job, and there are so many people that helped to make it happen. Fletcher wants to send a big thank you out to Steve P., Chris B., Tyler D., Jay S., Nate, Mandi R., Bill B., Allen D., Bob D., Grant, Colton, Fred V., Kevin P., Jeff L., Andy S., and anyone else we may have forgot to mention. Thank you SO much to ALL of you. All of these awesome volunteers helped in a variety of ways, and we are so blessed that you lent a hand.

Finally, Fletcher wants to know if you are as excited as he is that we just knocked this project out of the park? If so, PLEASE consider donating to the #9 restoration fund, so that we can continue pushing forward with a full head of steam. As you can see from the pictures, we have a good portion of the locomotive to complete in the next couple of years. We also have outstanding items to clean up from this year, so anything you can help with would be very much appreciated. Please pass the word to friends, community organizations, or any other generous member that might want to help get the D&R #9 restored. 

For a little motivation, Fletcher wanted to tell you about his 4H club; they recently saw some of our family Facebook posts about our work on the #9, and at their next meeting, all the kids took up a vote and approved to help with the restoration at Mid-Continent. This weekend the Orange Mill 4H club will be running their food booth at Hustlerfest in Hustler, WI. They will be donating all tips received towards restoration of the #9.  So that’s pretty cool.   

Our next volunteer session will take place on Saturday 9/14/2024 starting at 10:00 AM. [UPDATE: The volunteer session has been moved to Sunday, September 15, 2024]

 – Jason R.

If you would like to help Fletch and his team continue this project, please click the button below: