Duluth & Northeastern 28

Duluth & Northeastern 28

(Scanned image from Lake Superior Railroad Museum) Duluth and Northeastern 28 under assembly after 2016 hydro test.

Type and origin Power type Steam Builder American Locomotive Company, Pittsburgh Works Serial number 39587 Build date 1906

Specifications Configuration 2-8-0 UIC class 1′D h2 Gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) Driver dia. 56 in (1,422 mm) Loco weight 185,000 lb (83.9 tonnes) Boiler pressure 190 lbf/in2 (1.31 MPa) Cylinders Two, outside Cylinder size 22 in × 28 in (559 mm × 711 mm)

Performance figures Tractive effort 42,700 lbf (189.94 kN)

Career Operators Duluth, Missabe and Northern Railway → Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway → Duluth & Northeastern Class DMIR: C3 Number in class DM&N 14 of 32 D&NE 2 of 2 Numbers DM&N/DMIR: 332 D&NE: 28 Locale Minnesota, United States Retired 1974 Restored December 2011 - March 2017 (planned) Current owner Lake Superior Railroad Museum Disposition In restoration to steam

First runs scheduled for March 2017

Duluth & Northeastern 28 is a 2-8-0 (consolidation) locomotive built in 1906 by the Pittsburgh Works of American Locomotive Company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

It was built for the Duluth, Missabe, and Northern Railway as number 332; one of 32 locomotives of the C3 class built between 1905 and 1907. In 1937 it passed to the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway on the merger of the DM&N with the Duluth and Iron Range Rail Road. In 1955 locomotives 332 and 348 (also a C3) were sold to the Duluth & Northeastern, and renumbered 28 and 27 respectively.

D&NE 28 saw regular service on the D&NE between Cloquet, Saginaw, and Duluth, Minnesota. It was one of only five remaining steam locomotives for the D&NE by 1964, when dieselization was eliminating the use of steam. D&NE retained #28, and used it for only special excursions until 1965. It was then put in storage in Cloquet.

In 1974, the locomotive was cleaned, repainted, and donated to the Lake Superior Railroad Museum. There it was on static display until December 2011, when the locomotive was returned to Cloquet for restoration, until 2014 when it was returned to Duluth to complete its restoration.

Sister engine D&NE 27 is displayed at the Carlton County Fairgrounds, Barnum, Minnesota, while DM&N 347 (another C3 locomotive) is displayed at the Museum of Mining, Chisholm, Minnesota. Some parts from the D&NE #27 were used in the operational restoration of D&NE #28 in Duluth.

D&NE #28 is currently being restored to operating condition by the Lake Superior Railroad Museum.

Duluth & Northeastern #28 was the last steam locomotive to operate in regular service on a railroad in Minnesota. D&NE 28 is one of four surviving C3 2-8-0s, and the only one in operating condition (when restoration is completed).

D&NE 28 was already being restored (supposedly cosmetically at first) by Cloquet Terminal Railroad, it was then announced by the Lake Superior Railroad Museum in March 2014 that the 28 would be restored to operating condition, and would pull excursions on the North Shore Scenic Railroad. "Fire up the 28" fundraiser was held in order to pay the $11,700 needed for boiler flues which are required for operation. Within a week, the museum had raised over half the required funds. By April, the total amount of funds raised was well over $15,000, more than enough to cover the cost of its restoration. The extra funds are to be used in maintaining and operating the locomotive.