A report from Gerald Olson of the North Dakota Railroad Museum, as posted on the SooLineHistory mailing . A city council meeting was held last night and though it looks like the engine is not in immediate danger, the outlook is mixed.

" This is my third attempt to send this message, seems Yahoo doesn't like my
email address anymore, but I am working with them on it so hopefully this
will get thru now......

There was a good turnout in Minot last night (Tuesday) for the group trying
to create
interest in saving the engine. Two gentleman, Erwin Wright & Ted Bolte of
Minot are spearheading the movement called 'Save the Soo in 02'. There was
approx 35 people in attendance, including Park Board members and City
Council members along with concerned citizens from Minot, Rolla, Harvey &
Bismarck.

The Director of Parks, Leo Brunner, is a strong supporter of the project to
save the engine along with two other board members. There has been
discussions by the board as to what to do with the engine in the past, and
one of them was to have it properly disposed of. Leo assured the group that
at this moment the engine is safe but things could change, mostly due to the
asbestos problem. With the boiler jacket rusting out, asbestos has been
falling to the ground which is prompting the board to either keep patching
the engine to in the case so far, get rid of it.

The question of who is responsible for the asbestos seems to be debatable
from several standpoints but CP has acknowledged that it will spend up to
$25,000 of it's own money to rid itself of any liability. At first CP was
only going to pay that amount if the city would have the engine covered and
hauled to a waste disposal site. Leo assured the group that the attorney
for the city has spoken with CP and has gotten their approval to donate up
to $25,000 for the removal of the asbestos if the city decides to keep the
engine.

The input from the group was very positive, I pushed to make sure that any
thought of fixing the engine after the asbestos was removed be planned up
front so that hopefully a 'restoration' would be done and not just a 'make
it look good' job. The thought of possibly getting the engine in running
condition was not totally thrown out but because of cost it was not high on
the agenda.

During and after the meeting, my discussions with Leo Brunner gave me the
indication that the engine may very well be moved from it's present
location. Partially due to the trees that block the view and that it really
does not fit the area where it is. Leo seemed ready to move it to the west
side of the park where two cabooses already sit, I brought up the idea of
moving it to HWY 83 just north of the viaduct where the GN caboose sits in a
small park. There will be more discussions on this I am sure.
The two organizers have had a number of calls, emails from around the
country about this engine. Most where interested in obtaining the engine
for display or parts if the city didn't want it.

The end result of the meeting was to give the park board and the city
council members a chance to hear from citizens about saving the engine and
hopefully voting for this if it does come up in future meetings. The Park
Board is meeting next Tuesday night in Minot and a number of people from
this group plan to be there for support and try to get the Park Board to
work with them to save the engine.

As far as what exactly will be done to the engine is unknown at this time,
there just wasn't enough info to really get something set in stone. The
removal of asbestos will be done for sure, the level of restoration is
unknown but I tried to impress on them to do a restoration and correctly.
Getting the engine in running condition is not out of the question though
either. Moving the engine to another location in the city has the backing
of the group if it needs to be done.

If you wish to contact either of these gentleman about 735 I will include
their email address's. Both of these gentleman are retired and neither has
worked for the railroad but they do have an interest in railroading. After
spending a hour and half with them at a local coffee shop after the meeting
I have no doubt that the engine will stay in Minot and with the support I
saw from numerous departments within the City & concerned citizens, Minot
should have a restored Soo locomotive within a year or so."



terry_dempsey@hotmail.com