New Boiler Ordered

A purchase order has officially been issued to Continental Fabricators in St. Louis for the construction of a new welded boiler for Chicago & North Western No. 1385. Delivery is anticipated to occur at the beginning of March 2017. Once completed, the cab will be delivered directly to SPEC Machine where the boiler will be mounted on the frame.

Continental Fabricators has previously built a boiler for a similar-sized coal burning steam locomotive at another midwestern railway museum with good results. Their experience and the positive reviews received played a large part in the change from the previous plan to use a Minnesota-based company to construct the new boiler. Continental Fabricators is excited to join with us in making this happen.

Project Funding Update

With the boiler manufacturing – the single-most expensive portion of the locomotive rebuild – now underway, the war chest of cash that Mid-Continent has built up in advance for this stage of the project will begin to disappear very, very quickly. In order to allow work to continue toward completing the  rest of the locomotive, we need your help! Please consider donating to the “C&NW #1385 Fund” by visiting our Donation Page.

We’ve come a long way since the 1385 project was revived in 2011! We’ve collected nearly $1 million for the project since then. While we’ve benefitted from several major grants, the project has succeeded thus far because we’ve also had strong support from individuals like YOU. Half of all donations received for the 1385 were $100 or less.

Upon completion of the boiler, the C&NW 1385 will become the single most expensive restoration project Mid-Continent has ever undertaken (surpassing Badger #2). With a project as large as the C&NW 1385 which spans years and has encompassed many steam status updates, it is easy to get lost in terms of where the project stands overall. The below graphic should help with provide a quick overview. Click the image to see it in full resolution.

C&NW 1385 Project Progress Overview, September 2016

We thank you for helping us get this far and hope you’ll join us in getting C&NW 1385 under steam once again!