As I am not a facebook person I cannot share the link but below is the text of the e-mail blast sent out today....................mld


Mid-Continent Railway Museum

North Freedom, WI

C&NW #1385 is Coming Home

We are excited to announce the moment that we have all been waiting for: our C&NW #1385 steam locomotive will finally be coming back home to Mid-Continent Railway Museum next month!

The #1385 is scheduled to be loaded onto a semi on May 5th (weather permitting) at SPEC Machine. For safety and logistical reasons, this will be a closed location and only authorized people will be allowed on-site. The entire road leading up to SPEC will also be a temporary “no parking” zone enforced by local police to give room for the heavy-haul truck to get to the highway.

The #1385 will then be moved and lifted onto a flatcar. The flatcar loading site belongs to a local business and will also be off-limits to the public for safety reasons and at the request of the business. On May 6th-7th, Mid-Continent personnel will secure the locomotive to the flatcar to make it ready for the Wisconsin & Southern Railroad to bring #1385 back to Mid-Continent.

Because the transportation zones will be off-limits, we will be livestreaming the move on YouTube! We ask that everyone tunes into the livestream instead of coming out in person so that we can move the #1385 in a safe and timely manner. Please look for the link as the date gets closer.

The public will be invited to watch the unloading of the locomotive at Mid-Continent Railway Museum on May 9th from a designated safe viewing area. Again, we will update everyone on social media as the dates get closer.

Even though the date is in place and the move will happen no matter what, we still have some funding to do to complete our goal of $80,000. As of today, we are at $31,180. Please consider donating to the Bring the #1385 Home Fund so we can meet our goal before May 5th. If you donate $5,000 or more, you will receive special VIP access to the transportation sites and be able to witness the move firsthand. Contact our office staff for more details at 608-522-4261.

Donations can also be made by phone or mail. (If donating with a check, please write 'Bring the #1385 Home Fund' in the memo line.)

Our mailing address is:
P.O. Box 358

E8948 Museum Road

North Freedom, WI 53951


Our end goal for bringing the #1385 home via flat car is $80,000.

https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews ... um-is-set/
Is $80K typical for an intra-state move?

When you are doing a 3 lift move it is not a bad price.
Our original plan was 2 lifts & a heavy-haul truck the whole way. After haulers contacted the state DOT and got route plans back there were 2 bridges that would have been within inches of the engine. Our alternative was to either drop the drivers & front truck out or pull the stack & cab which would still leave us about a foot of clearance but add months to each end of the move before we could make any additional progress toward operating the engine.

We will be lifting the R-1 onto a truck to be delivered to a (relatively) nearby siding with appropriate crane & truck access. There it will be lifted again onto a flatcar where it will be secured, inspected and then moved to North Freedom. Once back at North Freedom it will be picked for the 3rd time and set upon home rails. When those lifting cables on the crane booms go slack that last time is when I'll be able to take my next relaxed breath.

Several local businesses and many in the preservation industry have gone out of their way to get us to this point and to the point of delivery. A simple Thank You does not seem nearly enough but that's all I have to offer at the moment.

I invite everyone to follow along on line and there will be a few posts here as time allows.........mld

I am sorry to report that due to circumstances beyond our control, ex-C&NW #1385 will not move back to Mid-Continent Railway Museum next week. As with any move, critical pieces did not correctly fall into place. I'll post later what we know and when we know it.............mld