TREGO, Wis. — A vintage Chicago & North Western paint scheme has returned as tourist railroad Wisconsin Great Northern unveiled SW600 switcher No. 1280, restored to its as-delivered C&NW paint scheme, on Friday, Oct. 25.
The surprise unveiling was part of a Chicago & North Western Railroad Historical Society regional meet held Friday through Sunday at the railroad.
No. 1280 is one of only 15 SW600s produced by EMD, and one of two delivered to the C&NW in March 1954. Shop forces of the Wisconsin Great Northern did the repainting into the heritage scheme at their facility in Trego.
Greg Vreeland, president of the WGN, purchased the locomotive from Independent Locomotive Service in Bethel, Minn., in July 2019. It last worked for Domtar Paper in Rothschild, Wis., as its plant switcher. Vreeland wanted to honor the history of the switcher’s original owner.
“I had seen a number of photographs of the 1280 operating in and around Eau Claire, Wis., so one would assume it has spent time here,” Vreeland said. His railroad operates on almost 30 miles of Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha trackage between Spooner and Hayward, Wis.
“Obviously this was a perfect opportunity to push this project to completion,” Vreeland said. “We set an impossible goal and then achieved it, considering we started only 10 days before hosting the event. We had five days of rain in our 10-day work window.”
The locomotive was a centerpiece of a night photo session during the three-day historical society meeting, then was the featured locomotive of a three-train photographers special.
“Let’s be realistic; it’s the graphics that make it work,” Vreeland said. “The sign company owner, Ron Helstern of Woodland Sign Company of Barronet, Wis., produces all our heralds and lettering,”
Vreeland was assisted by the historical society with painting diagrams and photographs to ensure an exact match to the 1280’s as-delivered scheme.
The engine was used on the railroad’s Pizza Train on Saturday, with some mechanical issues cropping up during the photo train.
“Like every locomotive that comes on the property, there are bugs to work out the first few weeks of operation,” Vreeland said. “The pizza train was the first time the locomotive had pulled a train on the property.”
Fred Hoeser, a retired pharmacist from Durand, Wis., said, “I thought it was just the neatest thing, and I got to operate it. It has that new-car smell about it.”
