Northern Pacific 328

Northern Pacific 328

NP 328 being cleaned on the Turntable at the Minnesota Transportation Museum's Jackson Street Roundhouse

Type and origin Power type Steam Builder American Locomotive Company Model S-10 Build date February 1907 Total produced 10

Specifications Configuration 4-6-0 Gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge Fuel type Coal Cylinders Two, outside Valve type Piston valves

Career Operators Northern Pacific Class S-10 Number in class 9 of 10 Numbers 328 Locale Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States Delivered February 1907 Retired March, 1950 (revenue) 1999 (excursion) Restored 1976–1981 Current owner City of Stillwater, MN Disposition Display

March, 1950 (revenue)

Northern Pacific 328 is a restored 4-6-0 steam locomotive originally operated by the Northern Pacific. The 328 was used on Northern Pacific's branch lines in Washington, Idaho, Montana and the Dakotas. It was retired in 1950 and saved from scrap by the Minnesota Railfan's Association. It was then donated to city of Stillwater, Minnesota. In 1976 the locomotive was leased by the Minnesota Transportation Museum and restored to operation. From 1987 to 1991 it operated on the MTM's line in Stillwater, which later became the Minnesota Zephyr. From 1992 to 1999 it operated on the Osceola and St. Croix Valley Railway.

The story begins in 1904, when the Chicago Southern railroad was incorporated to build 114 miles of track from Chicago to a connection with the Southern Indiana Railway. Forty locomotives were ordered in 1905 from the American Locomotive Company's Rogers works in Patterson, New Jersey. The order included twelve 2-6-0 "Mogul" types, eight 4-4-0 "American" types, and twenty 4-6-0 "Ten Wheeler" types. The first sixteen were delivered in July and August, among them six 4-6-0's. By the end of 1905 the Chicago Southern fell on hard times, and the remaining fourteen 4-6-0's sat unfinished at Rogers, without a buyer.

During the winter of 1906-1907, the Northern Pacific was experiencing power shortages on its Washington, Montana, Idaho, and Dakota branch lines. It purchased ten of the unfinished engines for $14,500 each. They were completed and delivered in February, 1907. The Northern Pacific assigned them class S-10 and numbers 320 to 329. In their early years, 321 and 322 were assigned to the Dakota Division, 320, 323, and 324 to the Pharoah Division, and the rest to the Minnesota Division. In 1925, 325 and 326 were re-assigned to the Montana Division. Small, light engines even when new, the great depression rendered them surplus. Between 1929 and 1933 eight were cut up for scrap.

The two survivors, 321 and 328, remained because of their light weight and a rickety old bridge. The Northern Pacific's mainline from the Twin Cities to Duluth sported a number of branchlines. The seventeen mile branch from Rush City, MN, to Grantsburg, WI crossed the St. Croix river on a very light bridge. Only D-3 engines or S-10 engines like 328 were light enough to cross it safely. 321 and 328 also frequented the branches from Wyoming to Taylors Falls and from White Bear Lake to Stillwater. By 1946, dwindling traffic and the new diesels resulted in 321's scrapping. On July 1st, 1948, 328 pulled the last train to Taylors Falls. In 1949 L-10 O-6-0 number 1167 replaced 328 on the Grantsburg branch. 328 still found work on the Stillwater branch and pulling railfan excursions, but in March 1950 was retired.