Steamer being pushed into roundhouse - continued

Great Northern H-5 Pacific # 1355 being shoved into display track in former Milwaukee Road roundhouse, Sioux City, IA. Engine under cosmetic restoration, August 2007. 2009 update: the engine has make a lot of progress since this video. See an updated photo at http://tinyurl.com/yz57rkm

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• steam
• engine
• roundhouse
• Sioux
• City
• Milwaukee
• Road
• Great
• Northern
• 1355
• siouxland
• historical
• railroad
• association

[tsschult]

Sorry, no. It's a cosmetic display. When BNSF is your outside connection, and your locomotive has friction bearings, it's hardly a worthwhile proposition. If you look at the link in the more info box, it's now been beautifully restored and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Treating it as a artifact has certainly opened a lot of financial doors for us. In the end, no matter what you say, maintaining an operable locomotive means replacing parts and the historic nature is slowly lost.

[SR722]

Wow, I just checked the link, and the locomotive looks stunning. One thing I noticed though, why is the cylinder head removed on the fireman's side?

[tsschult]

I'm not positive, but I think they left it off as a teaching tool to help explain steam locomotion to visitors. The guys have worked hard on many small details, so I don't think it's a matter of having forgotten or not gotten to it yet.

[trainlover479]

what does cosmetic mean?

[tsschult]

It means a museum locomotive that has been repainted and made to look new, but that does not actually run. This engine's cosmetic restoration has been nearly completed. See the more info box for a link.

[micahthatrocks]

what steam locomotive is that?

[tsschult]

Great Northern H-5 Pacific # 1355

[bcschmerker]

Good illustration of moving a "dead" steamer into a museum static display. I presume that the valve-gear section of the Walschaerts drive has since been reinstalled?

[thediremoose]

My family used to work for the Great Northern back when steamers were still running, and it really is a shame that all current GN steam engines are inoperable. At least they still look great though.

[CGiordano464]

is it operationable?

[SR722]

That makes sense, I was just thinking that the original may have been in poor condition, and a replacement was being manufactured. Believe me, the thoroughness of the work shows, right down to the polished brass.