While looking for something else, I stumbled onto what looks like a bit of a jewel in railway preservation.

Of course, there are some things I wish would be a bit different (like keeping their 4-6-0 under cover, perhaps by moving it to and from that enginehouse), but I won't complain at what I see. It looks like everything is cared for.

http://endoline.com/

http://www.rgusrail.com/mneolrp.html

Now if somehow that other C&NW 4-6-0 that needs a home could come here. . .this would be a good place if someone could swing that.

I was surprised to see that the 1876 Baldwin 3' gauge 2-6-0 from Peru was now located here. Somehow I missed that info. Would be nice to know how much of the original fabric of the little Mogul, still remains.

Some people have been critical of Richard Jensen, but Georgia Northern 4-6-0 # 102 is one other example of a locomotive that would have been scrapped if Dick had not stepped in and purchased it from Norton Coal. As for the report that the engine was later sitting on a flat car waiting to be scrapped, that is not accurate. Dick was looking for a place to move it when he passed on.

Also, it's great to see the Minneapolis & St. Louis wood bay window caboose on display at the museum. Not a lot of stuff from the "Louie" still exists.

Finally, there is apparently a Grand Trunk Western offset cupola wood caboose (#77046) on the property that also looks like it has been nicely restored.

Thanks J3a-614, for the posting of a museum that is quietly going about its business and doing a very nice job of it.

Les

If you dig, I can't remember where, maybe Live Steam magazine 20 years ago, you will find an article about the museum. If I recall, the museum was nearly entirely created by Boy Scouts as a long term project. Most of the items you see were donated somehow.

Looks like a nice, small little museum.

The GN loco is a miracle. There wasn't much left of it when it came to the park.

The little Baldwin NG loco is a real beauty too.

David -

Another nice thing they've done is lettering the equipment for the prototype railroads. There's a tendency for small local museums to letter stuff for "home lines". These folks haven't done that. The Georgia Northern Ten-Wheeler is lettered for that line. The M&StL and GTW cabooses also lettered prototypically. So, another feather in their caps!

Les

I believe that the Georgia Northern loco passed through the hands of the Illinois Railroad Museum at one point.

Ted Miles, IRM Member

I also found out that the town of Currie, MN had a population of just 233 in the 2010 census. Makes you even more amazed as to what they have managed to accomplish with their neat museum.

Les

Greetings:
Ted is correct, Dick's sister (and only heir) gave it to IRM.
It was still loaded on the same flat car that brought it up from Kentucky and I believe it traveled to Currie on that same car as well.
If there is a Rock Island flat car in their collection, it is probably the one.
The 102 didn't stay at IRM for long: "Honest Nick" peddled it quite quickly...
J.David
PS: The narrow gauge 2-6-0 from Peru also passed through IRM, given to us by Marriott Corp. with three more locos. at the same time.
JDC

The End O' Line Museum started as a 4H Club project to save the turntable. They enlisted retired railroaders to help. A lady named Louise Gervais was responsible for running the place and building it into what it is today. I believe she retired some years ago.

They wanted a steam locomotive that would approximate the Omaha R1 4-6-0s that ran on the branch, and the Georgia Northern engine was the closest thing they could find.

Aaron Isaacs, Minnesota Streetcar Museum and HeritageRail Alliance editor

It's actually a county park/museum. The city isn't footing the bill and probably has nothing to do with it. Only open for the summer and April/May for school groups (weather permitting). So apparently it's closed for 7 months of the year.

Is that water in the turntable pit? Why is the ceiling in the roundhouse lower over the tender? Is that a loft or something? Are those 7.5 inch gauge cars on a shelf behind the tender? What's that about?

So how in 2004 did they manage to get one very nice narrow gauge engine? And who paid for the restoration? Was it some antique store in CO? Was it ever on display there? How did it end up in MN? Hm, did the state of MN buy it? Must be nice to get stuff other people paid for. And then you keep it locked up most of the time.

Looks like this article is from, October 20, 2003. Apparently the taxpayers took the hit. Should we assume the Baldwin showed up in MN in 2000 and was on display for almost a year and then sat for 3 years in a closed visitor center. And now sits in a locked roundhouse 7 months a year, with another 2 months accessible only to school groups. With the nearest town only having 233 people, probably safe to say this is out in the middle of nowhere. Doing a little googling, Murray Co is about 24x30 miles with a declining population of under 8,500 in 2014. At least it looks to be well taken care of by the county for an only open in the summer park.

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New Life For Prairie Expo Building

A failed tourism center in Worthington Minnesota, could soon be sold to a biotechnology company for $400,000. The Prairie Expo is a modernistic, barn-red building which sits along Interstate 90. The 7.3 million-dollar building was supposed to point tourists toward attractions all over the region. It opened in September 2000 with educational and cultural displays, including an 1875 locomotive, a Laura Ingalls Wilder-type classroom and displays about fossils, Indian pipestone and prairie fires. It closed 10-and-a-half months later after losing about $500,000 in operating costs, hurt by a lack of income and overstaffing. Most of the development costs were paid by the state, which is preparing to write off at least 3.5 million dollars of its 5.5 million dollar investment, plus 2.7 million dollars in long-term interest.