NORTH FREEDOM, Wis. — The move to return Chicago & North Western 4-6-0 No. 1385 to the Mid-Continent Railway Museum is back on.
A June 11 social media post by Mid-Continent announced that the locomotive is scheduled to arrive at the museum on July 12. The public is invited to attend what will be a “homecoming” ceremony on that day at 5:00 p.m. “The No. 1385, an American Locomotive Co. locomotive, will be greeted and assisted onto Mid-Continent property by a fellow historic Alco locomotive, Mid-Continent’s No. 7 switch engine,” according to the post.
The moving plan calls for No. 1385 to be hauled by truck from its current restoration location in Middleton, Wis., to a nearby loading facility along the Wisconsin & Southern Railroad. The locomotive will then ride a flatcar to the interchange with Mid-Continent in North Freedom before being unloaded on museum tracks. The original schedule was set for a May 5 departure, arriving on May 9.
A late-April statement from the museum indicates that the trucking firm slated to handle the road move withdrew its services “on short notice,” causing the postponement, [See “C&NW No. 1385 return to Mid-Continent…” News Wire, May 1, 2025]. Another trucking company has now been brought in, prompting the new move dates for the second week of July. However, no departure date from Middletown has been made public.
“The locations where the No. 1385 will be loaded onto a truck and then onto a flatcar will be occurring on private property,” the post adds. “We ask that fans of the locomotive please respect the property owners who are helping us to bring No. 1385 home. Please do not trespass at those locations or on the Wisconsin & Southern Railroad’s right-of-way in an attempt to see the No. 1385 as it journeys home.
“We appreciate your patience as we have been working around the delay. We can’t wait to finally celebrate the return of No. 1385 next month!”
Visit the Mid-Continent Railway Museum website for more information.
