After I detrained from the train ride, it was time to see the rest of the museum so started with the covered area next to the North Freedom station.
Chicago and North Western narrow gauge wooden box car 10 built in the 1870's.
Milwaukee Road bunk car X918050 built in 1951. Sometime between 1958 and 1963, this bunk car was converted from a steel boxcar for the Milwaukee Road Bridges & Buildings Department's use as a bunk car for traveling crews. It was last used by Milwaukee Road's sucessor Soo Line in 1989. At that time, it was sold to a private individual at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin and stored there for several years. In 2003, it was purchased by a museum member and moved to North Freedom in September of that year for use as a bunk car for museum volunteers. This car was damaged by last year's flood.
After that I bought a hot dog for lunch then explored the engine house.
Mid-Continent Railway S1 7 built by American Locomotive Company in 1944 for John Morrell & Company Meat Packing as their 7. At an unknown date, it was sold to the Association of American Railroads and assigned to their Chicago office and was donated to Mid-Continent in August 1996, when the AAR's Chicago facility was closed.
The cabooses as I walked to Car Shop 2.
The boiler door of Chicago and North Western 1385. I met some of the museum's staff and they said I could look inside.
Wisconsin Central second-class coach 63 built by the Pullman Company in 1905. In 1909, when the Wisconsin Central came under the control of the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie (Soo Line), 63 was re-numbered to 1941. The car was again re-numbered to W-323 in August 1935 when it became a bunk car and foreman’s office in work train service. In October 1964, the coach was acquired by Mid-Continent and moved to North Freedom.
Soo Line first-class coach 920 built by the Harlan and Hallsworth Company in 1893. By 1931, the car was sold to a private individual. It was moved off its trucks and used as a building. It was donated to Mid-Continent in March 1975 and moved to North Freedom.
East Jordan and Southern wooden coach 2 built by Osgood Bradley Company in 1864 for the Grand Trunk Railway Company as their 112. The car was re-numbered 585 in November 1885 and in 1889, the car was rebuilt at the Chicago & Grand Trunk, Gratiot Shops in Port Huron, Michigan. In 1902 the coach was sold to the Michigan shortline East Jordan & Southern by the F. M. Hicks of Chicago Heights, Illinois. While on the EJ&S, the car was rebuilt into a combine. It served for nearly sixty years there and was sold in 1961 to a private individual and two years later ended up at North Freedom (the car came to North Freedom across Lake Michigan on a car ferry).
Copper Range Railroad combine 25 built by American Car and Foundry in 1903 as Copper Range Rairoad 59. The railroad re-built 59 into a combination baggage/coach in 1913 and re-numbered it 25. In 1963, Mid-Continent purchased the car. The Copper Range Railroad, the last major railroad built into the Copper Country of Upper Michigan, enjoyed a brisk, although short-lived, passenger business that required some thirty passenger car over the years. Maximum trackage operated by the Copper Range never exceeded 150 miles but its passenger trains ran the gamut from the vestibuled "Northern Michigan Special" with the CRRR's own cafe-observation car to the lowly locals serving the various mining communities on the "Range". Considerable equipment was needed to handle the special weekend excursion trains from Calumet and Houghton to the Copper Range's own Freda Park, a beautiful natural park along Lake Superior.
Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range box car 7122 built by Peteler Car Company in 1912. It was used to ship potatoes to market and actually performed a reverse function in keeping the product warm from the freezing climate of the northern Minnesota where D&IR operated. In 1912, automobile roads were poor or non-existent, and the railroad was the main source of transportation. D&IR also provided passenger service to its online comunities, many of which were company towns. In 1938, the car was renumbered to DM&IR 7122 after the consolidation of D&IR and DM&N. It remained on the railroad until 1975, although it is not known if the car was used in service until such a late date. The Lake Superior Museum of Transportation acquired the car in that year and it remained in storage at Duluth. In June of 1998, the car was purchased by Mid-Continent.
Lake Superior & Ishpeming combination baggage-coach 1 built by Pullman Palace Car Company in 1898. It served in passenger service some thirty years, being renumbered to 15 sometime along the way. About 1930, it was transferred to the B&B (Bridges & Buildings) Dept. of the railroad, renumbered again to XB-15, and used as a paint car to store materials (the car would be taken out on the line with a paint gang that would paint structures such as depots). Since the 1950's, the car had sat at the LS&I’s Marquette, Michigan yard, used for storage. In 1969, the railroad wished to dispose of it and old XB-15 was sold to Mid-Continent. It was loaded onto Soo Line flatcars and shipped to North Freedom where it was back on its own wheels by that November.
The LS&I Railway Company was formed in 1892 and completed a line from Presque Isle, Michigan (just north of Marquette) to Ishpeming in 1896. One year later, a wooden ore dock was opened in Presque Isle harbor to load iron ore into Great Lakes ships. In 1923, a neighboring railroad, the Munising Marquette and Southeastern, was merged into LS&I for a total 173 miles trackage. Passenger service ended in 1929. The core route of the LS&I still is in use today, hauling iron ore pellets from the Empire Mine to the ore dock at Presque Isle harbor.
Milwaukee Road caboose 01601 built by the railroad in 1929. It is believed to be the first steel cupola caboose on the Milwaukee Road. It later was converted to use as the scale test car inspector's residence. When it was remodelled for this service, it featured hot water, shower, tile floor and double hung windows. At some point it was re-numbered to 916760. In 1977, the car was sold to equipment dealer Hyman Michaels. A museum member later purchased the car to use as bunk facilities. It arrived at North Freedom in July 1984, is privately owned and currently used as a dormitory for volunteer crews working at the museum.
A pair of cars under restoration.
On the way to Car Shop 1, the sound of thunder could be heard. I checked the wind then watched the clouds move and knew they would barely miss us.
Great Northern wooden caboose X-582 built by the railroad in 1925 as 90116. X582 was used extensively in North Dakota on the Minot Division and finished its career in South Dakota in work train service. It was then returned to St. Cloud for disposition and later sold to the Minnesota Transfer Railway in November of 1963. MT renumbered the caboose to X14.
Boyne City, Gaylord and Alpena snowplough 1 built by Russsell Snowplow Company in 1906. BCG&A 3 was re-numbered 1 in 1935 with the Boyne City Railroad's reorganization. It was last used by the railroad in the winter of 1959 and later placed on display in the railroad's shop building as part of a museum. Upon the Boyne City's closing in 1975, the plough was auctioned off and then donated by the buyer to Mid-Continent.
Soo Line wooden box car 15604 built by Wells & French Company in 1897. It was acquired by the Goodman Lumber Company for in-plant use at its Goodman, Wisconsin facilities. The car was re-numbered 206 while in Goodman Lumber service. The Goodman Division, Calumet & Hecla, Incorporated donated the car to Mid-Continent in 1966.
Montana Western gas-electric motor car 31 built by Electro Motive Company in 1925 for Great Northern Railway as GN 2313. In 1940, the car was sold to Montana Western and became MW 31. It was donated to Mid-Continent in May 1965. It is the oldest surviving, and largely unmodified gas-electric car built by the Electro-Motive Corporation. It is close to as-built condition with its power plant, baggage area, smoking compartment, passenger area, and opposite end control area largely intact.
Copper Range Railway second-class coach 60 built by American Car and Foundry in 1903. Unfortunately, the last vestige of Copper Range passenger service ended abruptly on September 15, 1946. The coach went into storage in the Houghton roundhouse. In May 1964 it literally got a new lease on life and spent two seasons on the newly formed tourist line Marquette & Huron Mountain. The startup of a tourist railroad at Calumet, Michigan in 1967 resulted in Copper Range 2-8-0 29 and coach 60 being sold to the Keweenaw Central Railroad. The total abandonment of the Copper Range Railroad became a reality in 1973 which, in turn forced the Keweenaw Central to discontinue operation rather than face the loss of their rail connection. Coach 60 left the Copper Country for all time in December 1972 and was stored at the Wells, Michigan shop of the Escanaba & Lake Superior Railroad. Mid-Continent purchased it in 1982.
Great Northern coach 3261 built by the Barney and Smith Company in 1906 as Great Northern 271. It was purchased for use on the Great Northern's St. Paul, Minneapolis to Hutchinson, Minnesota branch that served the resort areas along the north shore of Lake Minnetonka. Along the line, at Minnetonka Beach, the Great Northern owned and operated the swank Hotel Lafayette (originally built in the early 1880's, later the Lafayette Club). The Hotel was a fifth of a mile in length and had facilities for billiards, tennis, croquet, fishing, sailing and bathing. Service to the resort area was provided by as many as eight trains per day from Minneapolis.
In 1922 fire destroyed the Lafayette Club and soon followed decreases in service and increasing fares. In October 1926, coach 3261, along with eight other "Lake" coaches, were taken out of passenger service and converted into stockmen's coaches which provided sleeping accommodations for the ranchers traveling with their livestock on stock trains. As a stockmen coach, the car was re-numbered to X791, seats and stained glass windows were removed and bunks were installed. In 1928, a steel underframe was applied to the X791 to better suit the car for use in freight trains. The X791 remained in use as a stockmen's coach until 1969 when it was donated to Mid-Continent in 1969.
Wisconsin Central Business Car "Oak Park" built by the Barney and Smith Company in 1884. As a cafe-parlor car, the "Oak Park" had smoking rooms at both ends and parlor car seating in a center room. A small kitchen was located near one end of the center room. The interior woodwork featured fine cherry wood trim accented with birds-eye maple veneer. In 1909 the car were relettered to reflect control by the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad (Soo Line). The Soo Line subsequently converted "Oak Park" to a business car for traveling railroad officials. In this configuration the smoking rooms became observation rooms and the central parlor room was remodeled to contain a single large state room, kitchen and a dining room. In 1929 the name "Oak Park" was dropped and the car became 57. In 1938 the car was again re-numbered to W-118 after conversion to a bunk and dining car for work crews. In this capacity the car served for a number of years in Gladstone, Michigan on the wreck train. In 1968 the car was acquired by Mid-Continent.
Milwaukee, Lake Shore and Western coach 63 built by the Barney and Smith Company in 1888. In September 1893, the railroad was acquired by the Chicago & North Western Railway. After the takeover of the Milwaukee Lake Shore & Western by C&NW, the 63 was renumbered 469. By 1930 the car was retired from revenue service and was placed on a foundation to become a yard office at C&NW's Wood St. potato yard in Chicago. In 1970, the car was donated to Mid-Continent.
Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic coach 213 built by the Jackson and Sharp Company in 1888. By the mid-1930s the cars were no longer needed as revenue cars and 213 was remodelled into a dining and kitchen car for work train crews. At this time the 213 was re-numbered to 990. It served the DSS&A and its subsequent owner, the Soo Line, as the bridge repair gang's dining room until a 1969 switching accident rendered the car unfit for further service.
Chicago and North Western combine 7409 built by Pullman in 1915. In 1962, it was sold to the Empire State Railway Museum in New York State. It was used in service on the Valley Railroad at Essex, Connecticut for many years. In 1990, the car was deemed surplus and put up for sale. Mid-Continent, seeking to increase the seating capacity for its own operation, as well as bring a native midwestern car back home, purchased 7409 in early 1990. The car was shipped on its own wheels from Connecticut and arrived in Wisconsin in time to participate in 1385-powered excursions on the Wisconsin & Calumet out of Mazomanie, Wisconsin. The car was then delivered to North Freedom behind 1385 upon her return to Mid-Continent.
Chicago and North Western drovers caboose 10802 built by American Car and Foundry in 1909. This unusual car was built to transport stockmen and cowpunchers in stock trains so that they could care for the animals at watering and feeding stops, and assist with unloading at markets. The interior was equipped with eight overhead berths and seating for 32 passengers, a coal stove at each end of the car, one toilet and a sink with water canteen. The lower seats could be converted into bunks by folding the seat cushions down.
Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic coach 213 built by the Jackson and Sharp Company in 1888. By the mid-1930s the cars were no longer needed as revenue cars and 213 was remodelled into a dining and kitchen car for work train crews. At this time the 213 was re-numbered to 990. It served the DSS&A and its subsequent owner, the Soo Line, as the bridge repair gang's dining room until a 1969 switching accident rendered the car unfit for further service.
The water tower.
My last picture in North Freedom before I returned to the station and thanked the ticket office staff for the excellent visit I had to the Mid-Continent Railway Museum. I walked to the rental car and under interesting skies, drove to my next stop of the day at the Riverside and Great Northern Railroad.
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