Soo Line #950

[AlArchie]

Finally finished this carving (well almost) after several years of stumbles and restarts. This is done in a piece of white pine beam taken from the Soo Line Depot in Ashland Wisconsin after the building was gutted by fire about 12 years ago. The wood was salvaged by one of out carving club members husbands who worked on the demolition. The depot was finished in 1887 so the wood is at least 115 years old. The dark wood on the edges is the result of all those years of smoke from steam engines.

The 950 was manufactured in Minneapolis/ St. Paul area around the turn of the century and was the largest locomotive on the tracks at the time. She's a decapod (10 drive wheels) and served the Ashland ore docks hauling iron ore from the Messabi range to the docks where the ore was loaded onto lake freighters bound for the downstate smelters. The last of the Soo Line tracks were pulled in the mid 1990's and rail service is now a bygone rememberance. Kinda sad so I hope this carving and the other I did of the Soo Line Depot in Ashland keeps alive the lore of the Iron Range and the steel rails that served so well.



The carving was a pain because that old pine kept splitting and cracking as I worked it....that's why the brass acrutements....those were origianally carved but broke off so rather than scrapping the whole thing I made some adjustments.....same with the wheels, steam box nd assorted parts. All were made from salvaged parts of the original beam, so the whole piece is an intact piece of history (minus the brass, of course.)

Size wise, it's 24 " long, 12" high and the piece is 3/12" thick with the maximum depth of relief about 1 1/4"

Al

[Thor]

Al that is amazing.

[Robert Cahill]

That is an excellent carving and I also enjoyed the history thanks for sharing

[AlArchie]

A little more history.....I've gotten several stories about the mfg of this engine....one was from the engineer on this rig who insisted it was built in Mpls and then this from one of the historical sites. I think that it was probably built by Baldwin and refitted in Minneapolis.....take your pick.


When built in July 1900 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia, engine 950 was the world's largest steam locomotive at a weight of 190,000 pounds with a tractive effort of 47,090 pounds.

Originally numbered 600 by the Soo Line, it became the only decapod in the Soo Line roster and was put in service between Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.

It was sent to work the ore docks in Superior, Wisconsin, in 1912 and was renumbered 950. It worked the docks until ore operations ceased there in 1929.

It was then transferred to Minneapolis/St. Paul yard duties until 1942 when it came to Ashland to work the ore docks here. When steam operations were concluded in 1954, the engine was retired, and, in 1956, the 950 was donated to the City of Ashland.

It was dedicated at a park located at Stuntz Avenue and US Hwy. 2 on July 4, 1957. The 950 was moved to its present location in 1987 at the time of the Soo Line Depot restoration project

Al

[tm5825]

That is a work of art. You done yourself pride. Great!!!!!! Tony McCall
P.S. I always enjoin a history lesson. We always learn if we stop we are through.

[Iowa Carver]

WOW Nice WORK Al. Some real fine detail. I can appreciate this as a woodcarver and a rail fan! Nice!

Corey

[Dicky]

What a great carving. Brings back many memories. I was raised one block away from the Canadian Pacific main line and about a mile from a maintenance roundhouse. Can't say I have ever seen a decapod but I saw plenty of locomotives with 8 foot drivers. Thanks for posting.

[AlArchie]

Thanks to all for the kind comments. My connections to RR go way back, too. My granddad was a conductor on the C&NW in Iron Mountain during the depression so I got told lots of train stories. He died when I was pretty young so most of those were lost, but he did instill an appreciation of the rails. They pulled the last "steamer" off the lines in the early 50's and replaced them with diesel. I really miss that steam whistle screeching to announce the arrival of "The Chippewa" in the evening. Not quite the same as the diesel horn, although that has it's own haunting wail when heard in the distance.

Well, anyway, thanks for taking a look.

Al

[Midnight Carver]

That's a beautiful piece! Knowing that wood was actually part of it's history really adds to the piece as well. Thanks for sharing

Eric

[Bandaid]

Hi Al...love the carving. Brings back a lot of memories for me. My dad worked on the CPR railway in Moose Jaw, Sask. and I spent my summer holidays working there when I was in high school.
Moose Jaw was a main terminal where the trains were serviced ( mechanical, linens, food, ice etc.) on their way across the country. I remember the Soo Line trains coming up from Chicago and there are a lot of stories about gangsters coming up to Canada via the Soo Line when the heat was on.
Unfortunatly in Canada we no longer have passenger trains going from coast to coast. It was a great way to travel.