Since Project 1355 began in the summer of 2024, the locomotive has been subjected to considerable work that can be seen up and down the machine today. The initial stages of the restoration have been about understanding the pacing of the restoration process as well as understanding the condition of our machine from the inside out (oftentimes literally). Overall, we are happy to report one thing: #1355 is a more than capable restoration candidate. The Great Northern's H-5 class was designed and built to an appreciable standard that can be seen in every nook and cranny. We have plenty of big restoration milestones coming up for the locomotive in the coming months and years, but before we can get excited about those, we must look back on what work has been completed to reach this point.
2024
Though we would have preferred to start the project on a light note, Mother Nature had other plans. Several days' worth of record rainfall in the latter half of June cascaded down the Big Sioux River into the greater Sioux City area. Regretfully, this freak weather event caused immense flood damage to both the Sioux City Railroad Museum complex and #1355. The Milwaukee Road roundhouse site was submerged in upwards of 5 feet of water for the better part of 72 hours. Despite these setbacks, July 3rd would be the official launch of Project 1355, with a public announcement taking place that morning; an effort that has been decades in the making.
Spearheaded by a small band of volunteers coming together from across the Midwest, the first few preceding work sessions were primarily focused on initial inspection of the locomotive. Removal of the iconic green boiler jacketing, as well as preliminary inspection of the firebox, running gear, and tender, would take place. Leaking staybolts, deteriorated and/or missing air lines, and the need for structural testing of the locomotive's air reservoirs were noted as points of contention.
Progress would remain slow and steady for the preceding months after the announcement, but this would all be a setup for a defining year in this project.
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A band of volunteers give #1355 its first once over, July 2024.
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The aftermath of the millennial flood of June 2024.
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2025
The first half of 2025 would begin with the removal of major appliances, such as the ALCO Type K power reverser, New York Air Brake No. 5 Duplex air compressor, tender water inlet line, and dynamo. In particular, having not made electricity since the locomotive was last steamed, the dynamo was found to be in remarkable condition during preliminary testing. The locomotive would continue to shed weight in the preceding months as the headlight, smokebox door and plate, petticoat pipe, and sand dome would all be removed. During this time, a little bit of roundhouse do-si-do would commence to make space for the ever-increasing scale of the restoration. After moving Florida & Alabama 2-6-2 #18 outdoors, stall #5 would become available to house the tender for future inspection and restoration. Subsequently, the locomotive would be separated from the tender on March 22nd.
With the smokebox end of the locomotive now exposed, work would now turn to gutting the boiler. All of the superheater units would be labeled, removed, and moved to the machine shop, where they would remain until hydrostatic testing could be performed. May 17th saw the initial removal process of the tubes and flues. This would mark the beginning of a several-month process for the volunteer team and, in a sense, the beginning of a "no turning back" attitude for the project. We would like to thank the Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad for their invaluable assistance and expertise in getting this phase of the restoration underway.
The third and part of the fourth quarter of the year would become a lot of routine work: get more tubes and flues out and continue scavenging parts from our donor air compressors. This would be the case until November 8th, when the last of the 188 tubes and flues were cut and pulled out of the locomotive. For the first time in decades, #1355's boiler was hollow. Volunteers would close out the winter with initial disassembly of various running gear components as well as tidying up the shop to prepare for a winter break. 2026 was coming in hot with a lot of unexpected surprises.
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Preparing the removal of the power reverse unit, February 2025.
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#1355s tender, originally off of H-4 Class 4-6-2 #1451, being shoved into its new home in stall #5 of the roundhouse, March 2025.
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#1355 feels daylight once again as volunteers prepare for the removal of the sand dome and petticoat pipe, March 2025.
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Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad volunteers aiding in the removal of the very first flue from the locomotive, May 2025.
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2026
As is customary with steam locomotive restoration projects, a significant portion of the logistical headache that must be considered is funding. As luck would have it, 2026 would be starting strong with a much-needed funding boost.
Despite the millennial flood of 2024 bringing about major setbacks to the museum and the project, it turned out to be a significant talking point in sealing this locomotive's fate for the better. This event would make the Sioux City Railroad Museum eligible for a grant from the National Park Service's Emergency Supplemental Historic Preservation Fund. Among 6 awarded grants, the museum would be the recipient of $1,925,980 on January 22nd. Of this, $1,097,751 would be set aside specifically for Project 1355. Although this is not all of the funding required to complete the project, it is a significant jump in pushing this restoration along. With this grant, a 3-year restoration timeline would be imposed beginning on March 1st. The cogs would now begin to turn like they never had before.
The first half of the year would be spent on the removal of staybolt caps and further disassembly of the running gear. In particular, the main rod, eccentric rod, and eccentric crank would all come off the locomotive and subsequently be moved to storage. In May, volunteers and contractors would begin to prepare for the ultrasonic thickness survey of the boiler. In crash-course terms, this involves marking up the entire boiler and firebox, inside and out, with a roughly 10x10 grid and preparing grind spots within each square to shoot UTs. At the time of this blog's publishing, the ultrasonic thickness survey is still ongoing.
Though the ultrasonic testing has been a large portion of the work scope of 2026, attention has intermittently turned to the tubesheets to prepare them to accept new tubes and flues down the road. Additionally, further inspection revealed that much of the firebox ahead of the mudring did not meet modern safety codes. As such, contractors would spend time torching out this condemned section of firebox and popping out the associated rivets. This work is also ongoing at the time of this blog's publishing. Below the boiler, volunteers could be found between the locomotive frames as work began on further disassembly of the running gear, brake rigging and axle boxes.
Though work on the locomotive itself is always ongoing, care is always taken to invest capital in our ever-expanding material needs. To this end, we have recently spent in and around $10,000 on new tools to keep our shop forces as well-equipped as possible.
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Contractor Tre Roach melting rivets out of the mud ring of the locomotive, June 2026.
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Freshly exposed staybolts atop the locomotive firebox after having their caps removed, February, 2026.
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Contractor Caden Adams giving the rear flue sheet a fresh weld job, June 2026.
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A closeup view of the ongoing UT testing on the engineers side of the firebox.
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WHERE WE'RE HEADED
Globally speaking, Project 1355 is in a satisfactory state with a lot of upcoming leaps forward that we cannot wait to share with you. As we continue to march onwards towards our final goal, we hope you will consider donating or volunteering with the project. To get started, head over to the Volunteer or Support pages.
Written by:
Cody Foreman, Brenden Albert
