Mid-Continent Railway Historical Society, Inc.
D&R No. 9 Locomotive Fundraiser
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Mid-Continent Railway Historical Society, Inc.
A Brief History of the D&R 9
Baldwin Locomotive. Works constructed the locomotive as New Orleans & North Eastern (NO&NE) in 1884. The locomotive was sold to a surplus dealer in 1917 and then purchased by the Dardanelle & Russellville (D&R) in Arkansas and renumbered her #9. Mid-Continent Railway Museum purchased the locomotive in 1963 and it served as one of Mid-Continent's daily operation locomotives on and off until 1991 when it was removed from service because of boiler issues. The D&R 9 is the oldest locomotive on the property.
The locomotive was stored inoperable until the Fall of 2020 when a small group of Mid-Continent volunteers along with MCRM’s Restoration Department decided to cosmetically restore the locomotive to preserve it until a time when she gets her turn in the shop for an operational restoration. The project is led by the young Fletcher Reiman along with his father Jason.
The Restoration Begins
The D&R 9 Restoration Project initially raised $9,999 through generous donors to begin the project, but primarily to cosmetically restore the tender, the “car” that is directly connected to the locomotive to carry fuel and water for its operation. The tender is now complete minus the “headlight" and foot boards on the rear.
Now it is time to focus on the locomotive itself. We are dedicating the 2024 season to the “Year of the Cab”. There is much work to do in the cab. There is some wood rot in the interior of the cab. The roof hatches leak, cab floor boards need to be replaced, seat boxes repaired and re-upholstered, and all fixtures in the cab need to be cleaned and painted. The exterior of the cab will then need to be sandblasted and painted just as the tender was. Also at the same time, depending on volunteer “man” power, running gear will need to be cleaned and prepped for paint. As always, Fletcher's crew welcomes ALL volunteers! If you enjoy learning and having fun, that's all the skill you need!
Plans for 2024
For our second fundraiser, we are again setting our Goal at $9,999. Through your generous donations, we can attain this goal. We appreciate any donation you can make towards the project. Every little bit helps! Without your generosity, the wheels of progress will grind to a stop. Fletcher's “Crew” is dedicated to bringing the project to completion. We will work hard and we are committed to spending your donations wisely and frugally. Thank you for your support! We can not do this without you!
Donations (12)
- Anonymous$102.53382 days agoTop donation
- SBSteven Braithwait$51.52409 days agoFirst donation
- WPWalter Pomrenke$51.52199 days ago
- KPKevin Pickar$25.00218 days ago
- Ross Stone$9.68232 days ago
- Anonymous$10.00383 days ago
Donald Plotkin$102.53392 days ago- Anonymous$26.01405 days ago
- Anonymous$10.70406 days ago
- GFGuy Fay$102.53407 days ago
- RSRita Schmidt$102.53407 days ago