Sioux City Museum Announces Joint Effort to Return Great Northern 4-6-2 to Service

SIOUX CITY, Iowa — Already facing one major project — recovering from major flooding — the Sioux City Railroad Museum announced Wednesday it will take on another: restoring one of the museum’s steam locomotives to working condition.

The museum, its parent company, the Siouxland Historical Railroad Association, and the American Heartland Railroad Society are beginning a joint effort to return Great Northern 4-6-2 No. 1355 to service.

Larry Obermeyer, president of the Siouxland Historical Railroad Association, who is also the museum’s board chairman and executive director, said the museum and American Heartland are “pooling their resources, knowledge and expertise” to restore the locomotive. “That organization has a lot of young people who have studied the heritage trades of locomotive restoration,” he said, “and they’re bringing together the resources, knowledge and expertise that our volunteers didn’t have.”

Museum director TJ Obermeyer said the project is something the community and the region “can rally around and be really proud of. That’s really the goal.”

According to the Great Northern Railway Historical Society, the H-5 class locomotive began life as a 4-6-0 built by Baldwin for GN in 1909. It was rebuilt by GN’s Dale Street Shoops in St. Paul as a 4-6-2 in 1924, switching from oil to coal in the process. It operated in passenger service until 1950, handling notable GN trains such as the Oriental Limited and the Empire Builder, and then in service in Missabi Range ore service until its retirement in 1955. It was donated to Sioux City and placed on outdoor display in July 1955, and rescued by the newly formed Siouxland Historical Railroad Association in 1984.

“We’re going to put the locomotive back into service with the goal of bringing back some vibrancy and tourism to Sioux City,” said Logan Stilwell, president of the American Heartland Railway Society, another Sioux City-based nonprofit. “I’m very grateful to the Obermeyer family for giving us this opportunity, and to the community for supporting us after this horrific flood.”

The museum has been closed since flooding on June 23 swamped its facility in the former Sioux City Motor Terminal and Automobile Repair Shop on Milwaukee Road, causing extensive damage to all of its buildings and a number of exhibits (see “Iowa Railroad Museum Closes…”, The trains (News Wire, June 24, 2024). KCAU-TV reports that 50 to 60 volunteers have helped at the museum since the floodwaters receded; Obermeyer said the goal is to reopen the museum by Labor Day, with key exhibits and buildings reopened in a way that allows visitors to move around the park safely without passing through damaged or still-under-construction areas.

Those interested in donating to the steam engine’s restoration or to flood relief efforts can do so on the museum’s website.