NORTH FREEDOM, Wis. — The long wait for Chicago & North Western steam locomotive No. 1385 to return to the Mid-Continent Railway Museum is over.
The Alco 4-6-0 returned home Saturday, July 12, after 12 years at a facility in Middleton, Wis., and a multi-day move move from Middleton, sparking a homecoming celebration at the museum in North Freedom.
The last step in that move came shortly after 4:30 p.m., when the museum’s Alco S1 diesel, No. 7, slowly shoved the flatcar carrying the nearly-restored 4-6-0 across a bridge over the Baraboo River to the museum’s depot, where a waiting crowd lined both the platform and west end of the yard. Cheers erupted as No. 1385’s pilot beam, minus the cowcatcher, broke through a banner reading “WELCOME BACK CHICAGO AND NORTH WESTERN #1385.” The locomotive’s restored tender was placed behind the flatcar, which then became a stage for speakers involved in the project…