Help us give the 1356 her voice back!
Let’s get the 1356 a working whistle!
We’ll be at Missoula Farmer’s Market Saturday, May 3, from 8:00 to 12:30.
Come visit us and check out the work we’ve done on the engine.
Northern Pacific 1356, an icon of Missoula’s railroad history.
Here she is in 1955, being placed on permanent display after being donated to the city by the Northern Pacific Railroad. The 1356 represents over 100 years of community and story, including being a rescue engine in the 1910 fire. Friends of The 1356 have organized to cosmetically restore the engine to remain a proud symbol of Missoula’s railroad past. Photo courtesy Museum of the Rockies, RVN19992
Restoration update
We were interviewed by the Missoulian Friday, April 25, for an article that’s slated to appear in the paper in a couple of days. One question we always get asked is, how much is this going to cost? The short answer is, we don’t know.
The total restoration project has been estimated in the area of $150,000. This is a ballpark figure. It’s difficult to determine the cost of, say, rebuilding the cab when we don’t know how much will be done by volunteers, how many materials could be donated, or how prices might change. That figure includes major items like a professional paint job, repairing the tender. But this is a long term project and we’re doing it in phases. That estimated number will be spread out over a period of several years.
I’ve updated our restoration page with an overview of what’s been done, what we have planned, and a rough idea of costs.
In the meantime, due to the generosity of people who care about the 1356 and Andrew Skibo’s volunteer work, Phase 1A is almost complete. There is a new cover on the exhaust stack. The number boards and headlight lens have been restored with lexan. And we’ve been able to buy insurance, keep the web page up and the lights on.
Phase 1B is well on the way. It includes power washing the pigeons out of the cab and screening it in, repairing and refurbishing the bell, repairing the lighting fixtures behind the headlight, number boards, and marker lights. The bell is being worked on and a clapper, which was missing, sourced. The lighting fixtures are ready to go when we get power, which the city is working on.
We hope to have Phase 2 done by the end of summer. For more about that, visit the restoration page!
The headlight ring for the 1356 was stored in the roundhouse, and when the roundhouse was torn down, it was stored in a garage, for 40 years! It has been returned to us and repaired, and the glass replaced with lexan. Also here’s a shot of one her new number boards. The last 6 has been put in place since this photo was taken.
Help us give the 1356 her voice back!
A YouTube video with 4-6-0 whistle sounds
Listen to a Rizzoli whistle
The 1356’s whistle would be reserved for occasions and events, and as the engine doesn’t have steam we’d probably have to use an air compressor… But wouldn’t it be great to be able to hear it?!
We’re looking at a reproduction whistle from Rizzoli Locomotive Works. This is a high end item, $2500. We’d talked about making a wooden whistle just for looks, but that would deteriorate and continue to need to be replaced. The whistle from RLW would last for many years, and on a sweet summer evening in Missoula you’d sometimes be able to hear the 1356, just like she was coming into the station over 70 years ago.
Contribute to a whistle for the 1356!
What the 1356 means to Missoula: Your stories
Stories of the brakemen, the firemen, the engineers and their families, and the people of Missoula for whom the railroad was part of the fabric of life. The history of passengers she carried and businesses that depended on her. These are why the 1356 matters to Missoula. If you have a story or photos to share, perhaps a childhood or family memory, we’d love to hear from you. Please contact us through the form below, or email stories@missoula1356.org
Philip Dahl worked on the 1356 as a fireman, including its last trip as a helper engine for the North Coast Limited to push the passenger train over Evaro Hill in 1954. Photo by son Mitchell Dahl, on the event of his dad’s retirement. Read about Phil Dahl, and see some of his son Mitch’s photographs, here.
… and passing the stories on
Trains are magical for adults and children alike, and the 1356 still has plenty of magic, though its fires are out. The 1356, keeper of story and history, community and magic, needs to be preserved for our children.
- Mayor John Engen, May 9, 2009, Missoula 1356 Day
The 1356: A Brave Engine, is a children’s book about the history of the engine, a boy who loves her, and its role in the 1910 fire. Visit here for an excerpt. Hardcover copies are available through our online store. Profits from books sold on the website go to Friends of the 1356.
The 1356: A history
Northern Pacific 1356 was built in 1902. First she pulled the NP’s North Coast Limited passenger service between Missoula, Montana, and Spokane, Washington. Later she was reassigned to branch line freight, mixed and passenger service, largely in the Missoula area and between Missoula and Wallace, Idaho.
The engine’s most famous story is her role in 1910 as a rescue engine, when fires raged across the northwest. In the Big Blowup, the 1356 pulled families from Idaho to safety in Missoula, driving through fires on both sides of the track. She worked through floods, through snow slides, and finally a wreck on the Bitterroot River in 1943.
Thirty-six of the 40 S-4 10-wheelers that were built were turned into scrap iron half a century later. The 1356 was saved by photographer Ron Nixon and William McLeod of Missoula when they convinced the NP to refurbish her and donate her to the city of Missoula as a static display.
Here is her history, with photographs, from the Summer 2006 Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association’s Mainstreeter.
The 1356 when she was a year old, posed in front of the coal dock in Spokane, Washington, in 1903.
Melberg photo, Museum of the Rockies RVN06916
Speak up for Missoula’s 1356!
Community response is an important part of grants, fundings and permissions. Please let us know by checking “yes” in the box below if you’d like to see this historic engine maintained. We’d also love to hear your questions, suggestions, and welcome your expertise. You can sign up for our mailing list here too. Please know that we’re working on volunteer opportunities. We’re especially in need of licensed contractors.
NP X1356E, with NP 1356, Class S-4 locomotive moving freight between Missoula and Bonner, MT, June 23, 1942.
Ron V. Nixon photo, Museum of the Rockies RVN11827
Show your support for the 1356 with a T-shirt or hoodie!
Proceeds benefit the 1356 restoration
