As a late winter's dusk descended on Duluth, engines #4211, an F9A, and #193, an SD18, gently pushed Steam Engine #28 back into her yard at the Lake Superior Railroad Museum.

After spending almost three years in the shops of the Cloquet Terminal Railroad undergoing the bulk of the work to get the engine running again, the #28 is now here and will be reflued and painted in the Draper Maintenance Facility at the Museum. Accompanying the locomotive is a flatcar full of various pieces from the engine, including it's steam dome, smoke box door, and other parts. In the coming weeks, volunteers will start working on the project as soon as the tender is disconnected and the engine moved into the shop. Space in the Shop is always at a premium in the winter, but it has space prepared for it, and the flue tubes are waiting, along with all the parts needed to finish the restoration of the engine.

Generous donors SAPPI Paper Company, CTRR, and the BNSF Foundation all worked together to keep this project moving forward. Most of the "heavy lifting" has already been done and now volunteers, working with our shop personnel and other volunteers from the Friends of #261, will carry out the rest of restoration of this historic steam locomotive that spent her entire life working on railroads here in Northeastern Minnesota and was the last running steam engine on a common carrier in Minnesota.

Today, crews gently moved steam locomotive #28 into the maintenance shop where it will remain until it is ready for its first steam fireup

More photos of Duluth & Northeastern 28 former DM&IR 332 under going restoration inside the LSRM's shop in Duluth MN. Work continues as volunteers strip old paint from the cab roof, walls, wheels and siderods. Metal work has been done inside the firebox. Steve Sandberg of Friends of Milwaukee 261 will be up at the end of the March to install the new boiler tubes. Contributions are still needed for the D&NE 28 project and can be made through the Lake Superior Railroad Museum.

New metal plate awaits installation

Cleaned drivers and siderods.

The 28's tender out back of the shop. Interior cleaning of the water tank is needed once the weather warms up.

Work continues on D&NE 28 former Missabe 332. Old paint continues to be removed and metal work or bonding is done where needed prior to repainting.

Engineers side with patching and metal work being performed. Also a new patch will be installed on the roof above the cab window.

Strap pilot and snow flangers installed.

Lake Superior Railroad Museum, Duluth, MN - $ 2,500

This group is restoring a 1906 Duluth & Northeastern RR 2-8-0 locomotive #28. The restoration has been underway for over two years and is close to completion. They have passed all FRA inspections during the teardown and rebuild. The one remaining task is to re-tube the boiler [and fabricate the] boiler jacket. Fraser Shipyards of Superior, Wisconsin, has agreed to do the work at cost. All the materials needed for the re-tubing have already been purchased with other funding. With the boiler work completed, volunteers will use the winter and spring for final touch-up with the expectation by summer 2016, the locomotive will be in full steam. The group operates excursions along the beautiful shore of Lake Superior from Duluth to Two Harbors through the deep and majestic North Woods. Their volunteers have put in thousands of hours of work on the project, and they have raised over $100,000 in donations and grants.

Flues will be going inside the #28 steam engine's boiler later this week! More details coming soon...

view inside the boiler of the Duluth & Northeastern 28, taken while the boilermakers from Fraser were on break.

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