Endless Life of Historic Trains?

By Josh Miller

Think what they would say if you were able to go back in time and tell the builders of the railcars you are riding on, such as Ralph Budd, Pullman, or Lowey, that over 70 years in the future, people would be still using the same traincars they built, for fun, scenic railroad excursions? They would probably tell you “they’ll never last that long,” and would probably add some profanity in there somewhere. It is a true testament to the hard working, mostly volunteer, maintenance crews who keep ours and many of the heritage railroads operating as well as we do.

Our past few years have had plenty of mechanical problems on the railroad. At no fault of our own, the people who built our historic equipment simply never designed them to be used as long as we are attempting (and for the most part have succeeded) to use them for. Or did they?

All across the country, railroad museums and tourist railroads like the ones in Duluth restore and operate their historic railroad equipment. Some of the equipment has held up better than others, but for the most part, the

HISTORIC TRAINS continued on PAGE 9

Historic Trains

continued from PAGE 8 heritage railroad industry has some really great restoration work accomplished, and the historic railroad equipment keeps rollin’ on. But why?

Through the restoration projects of museums like this one, a tiny piece of American history is not only preserved, but presented AND interpreted for the public. Experiencing rail travel and transport as it was when our country was young and was just being built is a fantastic way to honor many people who came before us and hoped for your better future than their own.

This summer, members of the Lake Superior Railroad Museum will be finishing some very significant rehabilitation and restoration projectsback to working order: Steam Locomotive #28/#332 is getting a “new” air compressor and will run again in 2021. The Silver Club Dome Car is in service, and coach #33 has been completely renovated to celebrate its 102nd birthday. Meanwhile, fresh paint has been applied to the W24 and Rainier Club cars, and the Steam locomotive NP #2435 Engine has been cosmetically restored for preservation in the museum. Hopefully projects like these, among many others across the country will continue into the foreseeable future.