Another exciting IRM project has just begun: excavation for a steam locomotive buried on our property. This is thought to be a Milwaukee Road streamlined Class A 4-4-2 as seen here. (Photo from Don Ross.) The story of how it got there should be familiar to old-timers.There was a local eccentric who had planned to develop an amusement park right in front of IRM's property. As the story goes, part of the plan was to put a steam locomotive on display as an attraction, and so he purchased one of these magnificent engines from the scrapper and had it moved to the site.
But due to a construction accident, plans for the amusement park had to be cancelled, and so in a rage he dug a large hole under cover of darkness and dumped the locomotive into it. He then graded over it and planted the ground next spring. As a result, nobody was sure exactly where it was buried, or even if the story was true.
But we own the land now, and the IRM Physics Department has just completed a magnetometer survey and located a large ferromagnetic mass which is consistent with the size and shape of the locomotive. Luckily, it's not very far down. I'm planning to do the excavation by hand, because a backhoe or other machinery would be liable to damage this priceless artifact. This will be an unparalleled addition to our collection. Hey, it's worked for other people, why not us?Of course, any help would be appreciated. Please bring your own shovel.
