Showcasing the DNR: Rare locomotive loaded for restoration trip to Pennsylvania

Share or view as webpage  |  Update preferences

- Showcasing the DNR -

The Yankee locomotive is set into place on a truck today for transport to Pennsylvania.

Rare locomotive loaded for restoration trip to Pennsylvania

Yankee headed east from Marquette County for $200,000 rehabilitation

By JOHN PEPIN
Michigan Department of Natural Resources

Crewmen readied precious cargo today at the Michigan Iron Industry Museum in Negaunee for a 900-mile trip southeast to Pennsylvania.

The historical relic loaded onto a transport truck for the trip was a historic steam locomotive called the Yankee, a vertical boiler model manufactured by Alexander Chaplin and Co. of Glasgow, Scotland, between 1862 and 1868.

At 150 years old, the Yankee is thought to be one of only three surviving Chaplin locomotives in the world.

The Yankee is readied for loading by workmen in Marquette County.

“With the help of generous grant funding, we’re sending the Yankee to Pennsylvania for restoration work,” said Barry James, historian with the museum. “Once the rehabilitation is complete, the locomotive will be brought back here to Marquette County to remain on permanent display at our museum.”

The restoration project – which is expected to take about a year to complete – will cost $200,000, with funding provided from a Institute of Museum and Library Services grant and matching money from the Friends of the Michigan Iron Industry Museum.

According to B.R. Howard Conservation – the Pennsylvania company doing the rehabilitation work – the project will be combining the practices of conservation and selective restoration and replications to return the locomotive to an appearance where visitors can appreciate the construction technologies used in its fabrication.

The Yankee is red in color, made from cast and wrought iron, steel and a mix of soft and hardwoods. It is just over 12 feet long, about 9 feet high, weighing an estimated 8,000 pounds.

The Yankee is loaded onto a truck for transport to Pennsylvania.

With its steel rail supports it was sitting on, the total weight of the locomotive, when lifted by a crane onto a flatbed truck was just over 11,000 pounds.

The transfer from its display spot, under some white pines on the museum grounds, to the truck was flawless and took only a few minutes. Several media outlets were on hand to capture the event.

“The ‘Yankee’ steam locomotive is in poor and unstable condition having actively corroding iron, fungal decay of all wooden components, and actively flaking paint in areas which still retain paint,” according to a B.R. Howard Conservation report on the rare relic.

The locomotive had been amateurly restored in the late 1930s by employees of the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company and exhibited outdoors, near the company offices, until being donated to the Michigan Iron Industry Museum in 1986.

“Until recently, the museum did not have climate-controlled exhibit space for the ‘Yankee’ which necessitated exhibition in an unprotected outdoor venue causing continued deterioration of the 1930s restoration and all remaining original components,” the report states.

A close-up look at some of the damage to the Yankee that will be repaired during restoration.

James said the relatively small size of the locomotive belies its huge importance for the country.

“The Yankee is one of the oldest surviving steam locomotives in the United States, one of two industrial-geared vertical boiler locomotives in America, and one of three surviving Chaplin locomotives in the world,” James said. “It is substantially complete despite its severe condition challenges.”

The Yankee and its twin, the John Bull, signaled the first major technological change for the Upper Peninsula iron mines – the coming of steam. Until the locomotives began hauling ore at the Jackson Mine in Negaunee around 1868, all the work was done by human or animal power. The locomotives made removing the ore more efficient.

The Yankee hauled six to 10 small, four-wheel ore cars, each capable of carrying 5 or 6 tons of ore, with a maximum speed of 10 miles an hour. The locomotive signified the coming of the industrial revolution to the Lake Superior iron mines that led the nation in production from the 1850s into the 1890s.

After being decommissioned, the Yankee resided outside of Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company offices in Ishpeming for decades.

Miners pose with the Yankee locomotive at the Jackson Mine, Negaunee, circa 1880.

Today, the Yankee is about 70% intact, and almost 60% of its parts are original. A recent historical report complete with conservation recommendations will guide restoration efforts.

“The Yankee is a rare artifact and is an integral part of the Michigan Iron Industry Museum’s collections, and its preservation has been on our project list for some time,” James said.

The Michigan Iron Industry Museum is part of the Michigan History Center, an agency within the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

Check out previous Showcasing the DNR stories in our archive at Michigan.gov/DNRStories. To subscribe to upcoming Showcasing articles, sign up for free email delivery at Michigan.gov/DNR.


/Note to editors: Contact: John Pepin, Showcasing the DNR series editor, 906-226-1352. Accompanying photos and a text-only version of this story are available below for download. Caption information follows. Credit Michigan Department of Natural Resources, unless otherwise noted.

Text-only Showcasing - Yankee restoration

Damage: A close-up view of some of the damage to the Yankee that will be repaired during restoration.

Loading: The 8,000-pound Yankee locomotive is loaded for a 900-mile trip to Pennsylvania for a $200,000 restoration.

Locomotive: The Yankee, a vertical boiler model manufactured by Alexander Chaplin and Co. of Glasgow, Scotland, between 1862 and 1868, is readied for travel today in Marquette County.

Setting: Workers set the Yankee into place today on a truck for transport to Pennsylvania for restoration.

Then: Miners pose with the Yankee locomotive at the Jackson Mine, Negaunee, circa 1880. Credit: Archives of Michigan.

Yankee: The rare Yankee locomotive sits at the Iron Industry Museum in Negaunee before its trip to Pennsylvania for restoration./

DNR COVID-19 RESPONSE: For details on affected DNR facilities and services, visit this webpage. Follow state actions and guidelines at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus.

Census 2020