Love for a Locomotive

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Hometown Hero , Illinois , Wisconsin

Right on schedule, the engineer rings the train’s bell and pulls on its hollow-voiced whistle. The locomotive spews a plume of steam and smoke 300 feet above its smokestack. Seconds later, the ground shudders and 82 feet of unleashed power rolls forward.

“I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” says Bob Krahn, 64, of Fox Lake, Wis. “I love the steam engine. I enjoy its sounds and sights. Pictures just don’t do it justice,” he says, watching as the Soo Line 1003 heads to Hartford, Wis. (pop. 10,905), for a holiday festival.

Dwarfed by a half-million pounds of iron and steel, Krahn’s granddaughter, Brianna, 4, also is impressed by its size. “It is very big,” says the wide-eyed youngster.

The locomotive owes its existence to Burt Mall, of Long Grove, Ill. (pop. 6,735). As its owner and chief caretaker, Mall is among only a handful of Americans who own a full-size railroad steam engine. Without him, the Soo Line 1003 would be a relic parked in a museum—or worse.

“It would have ended up some place rusting,” says Bob Ristow, a volunteer who helps Mall bring the steam engine to community festivals and special events up to three times a year.

“There’s a romance with old locomotives,” says Mall, 65. “I was always interested in them.”

Mall’s passion for trains began as a child with a secondhand Lionel train, developed while part of a high school railroad club, and eventually led to summertime railroad jobs during his college years. His passion grew full-size when he learned of the 1003.

After nearly a half century of service, the locomotive was retired to a Superior, Wis., park in 1959. Volunteers tried restoring the inoperable engine in the 1970s and then sold it partially disassembled to another Superior group, the Wisconsin Railway Preservation Trust (WRPT), in 1994. The WRPT had the train operational by 1996, when Mall joined the group. After his career as an executive in a manufacturing company, Mall enjoyed the greasy, dirty challenge of keeping the old engine running.

“I’ve always liked the real thing,” Mall says. “I was going to retire and wanted something to keep me active. So many steam engines are disappearing in the U.S. It’s a shame.”

In 1999, when the WRPT couldn’t continue maintaining the 1003, Mall and partners Gary and Karin Ostrand purchased it.

“It’s fun to tell people, ‘My dad owns a steam engine,’” says Dane Mall, 35. “They say, ‘What scale, what model?’ We say, ‘No, he owns a real steam engine, like the old Iron Horse.”

A half-dozen like-minded railroad enthusiasts donate their time to help Burt with the steam engine, which is on display at Hartford’s Wisconsin Auto Museum. Volunteer Ken Ristow, locomotive engineer at the Milwaukee Zoo, uses his vacation to run the 1003.

“I wouldn’t trade this for anything,” Ristow says. “I was meant to be part of this history—to learn it myself and pass it on to others.”

The locomotive undergoes weeks of preparation before taking off on a trip. Before leaving the museum, Mall and his volunteers perform government-required tests on the boiler, safety valves, air brakes, running gear and pressure gauges. They inspect the firebox, fill the 8,000-gallon boiler, start and tend the fire, and build up steam pressure. Mall also must coordinate schedules with the Wisconsin and Southern Railroad Co. and communicate with event sponsors.

“I like large projects,” Mall says. “And I like bringing history to people who don’t have any idea what a steam engine looks like.”

It’s no surprise parents bring their children, train enthusiasts set up tripods with cameras and people respectfully stand up as the Soo Line 1003 passes by.

“Engines like this built the country,” says Dan Sanger, a Wisconsin and Southern Railroad Co. employee. “I really appreciate anyone who can keep them alive for future generations to see what built this country.”

Visit www.sooline1003.com for more information.

Vicki Cox is a writer in Lebanon, Mo.

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Here are some of the current comments about this article. To read more or post your own comments, visit our message boards.

2/20/07 6:29 PM

G-dawg wrote:

I am glad people are preserveing the locomotive and im glad people can see this great piece of work. I liked the article thank you very much.

2/22/07 10:54 AM

tedthbear wrote:

It's great that Burt Mall is preserving an opereating Soo Line 1003. Seeing a steam locomotive is impressive but being able to witness its operation is witnessing history in action. Loved the article.

2/23/07 12:23 PM

ohsuzieq44 wrote:

i,m from bradys bend pa. Back in the fifties it was a booming town with the limestone mines. We had the big steam engines. They were wonderful to watch. I wish they were still around. Before the limestone mines there were the iron works. A couple of the iron ovens are still there. the steam engines were very busy back then.I miss seeing them.

2/24/07 12:40 PM

djkali wrote:

Oil City has a train which is a project of it's own. It is not a steam engine, but is being restored as people travel on it.

I can't believe America wouldn't preserve more trains. Steam locomotives are featured on Channel 13 and a lot of them are in use for visistors to enjoy.

I think America made a mistake in not taking care of the railroads. True, things come to us in trucks more than anything, but goods travel from air, sea, and eventually to a train! (Where do you think the trailers of trucks come from?)

Losing trains is a loss to everyone. We need more and more people who will help preserve them.

My Grandmother lived so close to a railway, you can see it at the end of 25th Street in the Southside. It is on a hill and trains as well as trucks sang me to sleep many nights I stayed over. (The Mills are gone but the songs are the same.)

4/14/07 10:10 PM

urbs wrote:

Great article!
I remember that locomotive sitting in Superior when I was a kid, as matter of fact many-many years ago my favorite Uncle Joe passed away on the Job for the
Soo Line and shortly after my Auntie Marge donated a large sum of money for the 1003. My Auntie just recently went to be with my Uncle Joe once again. To know that locomotive is up and running is a excellent thing! Maybe some day the 1003 will find its way back to Superior for a excursion and if It does I guarantee you I will be on it. My hat goes off to the people who are taking care of the 1003, I am a HP boiler operator by trade, but to run and take care of a steam locomotive is a hole different animal.
Good job to you all!

Urbs

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