Construction and revenue service

Between 1901 and 1908, the Chicago and North Western (C&NW) Railroad ordered 325 R-1 class 4-6-0 "ten-wheeler" locomotives from the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) and the Baldwin Locomotive Works.^[2][3][4] The R-1's initially had drastically-limited route availabilities, due to their excessive weight and size, so the C&NW had to resort to upgrading their entire rail infrastructure to accommodate them.^[2] The infrastructure upgrades were completed in 1939, and the R-1's were permitted to travel all across the C&NW system, by then.^[2] The majority of the R-1 locomotives were equipped with Stephenson valve gear, but the eccentric rods of the Stephenson gear were prone to wearing out from the greater size of the driving axles, and the internal valve gear was becoming difficult to maintain.^[5]

With Walschaerts valve gear being reintroduced to the US locomotive market after 1904, the C&NW asked ALCO in 1907 to construct five R-1's with Walschaerts gear for testing.^[5][6] The railroad became satisfied with their improved performance, so the final thirty-five R-1's built throughout 1908 would be built with Walschaerts gear.^[6] No. 175 was one of the last twenty-five R-1's to be built by ALCO in December 1908.^[7][8] With the Walschaerts-powered R-1's being equipped with steam-heating and air signal line equipment, they were used to pull more passenger trains than most of the Stephenson-powered R-1's were.^[8] The C&NW assigned No. 175 to pull commuter trains within the Wisconsin Division, and some of the trains led to Chicago, Illinois.^[8] While the railroad received larger locomotives after 1908, including the H class 4-8-4 "Northerns", they couldn't replace the R-1's on many routes, due to weight restrictions.^[4][9]

More than seventy R-1's, including No. 175, were consequently kept in service by the time the C&NW ended commercial steam operations.^[8][9][10] On September 24, 1957, No. 175 was painted with white trim stripes, and the C&NW used the locomotive to pull a mainline "farewell to steam" excursion fantrip throughout the state of Wisconsin.^[8][10][11] The fantrip ran through Green Bay and Three Lakes to help benefit and promote the future opening of the National Railroad Museum (NRM). The trip ended in Antigo, Wisconsin, before No. 175 became the last steam locomotive to run under C&NW ownership, and it was subsequently stored in Winona, Minnesota as back-up power for steam-heating usage.^[8][10][12] By 1960, No. 175 was one of only two steam locomotives to remain under C&NW's possession, with the other being fellow R-1 class No. 1385, and the railroad was looking to sell them both off.^[13]

Preservation

Members of the Railway Historical Society of Milwaukee (later known as the Mid-Continent Railway Museum (MCRM) negotiated with the C&NW about acquiring one of the two R-1's.^[13] Since No. 175 had a heavier weight from its Walschaerts valve gear, the railroad asked for more money for No. 175, so the Historical Society chose to purchase No. 1385, instead.^[13] No. 175 was later sold on December 15, 1960, to the Winona County Historical Society, who had plans to put the locomotive on outdoor static display.^[10][14] In 1964, Michigan businessman Clint Jones purchased No. 175 from the Winona group with the hopes of rebuilding it to pull his own excursion trains. It wasn't until 1967, when he decided that it would run for his newly-formed Keweenaw Central Railroad.

The Keweenaw Central lied for 13 miles (21 km) between Calumet and Lake Linden, Michigan on active trackage owned by the Copper Range Railroad. Ex-Copper Range 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type No. 29 was the main motive power for their excursion runs, but No. 175 was selected as a standby for when No. 29 would suffer a mechanical problem. Many of the locomotive's components were removed, and with the original tender being in poor condition, it was sold for scrap and replaced with a larger tender from a Northern Pacific (NP) 4-6-0.^[10] No. 175's rebuild for the Keweenaw Central was never completed. In 1972, the Copper Range declared bankruptcy, and all of their remaining trackage was abandoned and mostly ripped up.

Consequently, the Keweenaw Central was forced to remove their equipment from Calumet, and Nos. 175 and 29 were moved inside one of the sheds at the Quincy Smelter plant in Hancock for storage. Afterwards, the Soo Line Railroad abandoned and ripped up the only trackage that connected the plant to the national rail network, and Jones couldn't afford to remove his two locomotives from the property by truck. As a result, No. 175 spent the next four and a half decades in Hancock. During that time, the shed that was used to store Jones' locomotives collapsed, and No. 175 was towed outdoors. Although No. 175's boiler, frame, running gear, and NP tender were stored outdoors, many of the locomotive's other components were stored inside an undisclosed facility owned by Jones' new company, Mineral Range Incorporated. In 2004, No. 29 was traded and moved to the MCRM in North Freedom, Wisconsin, leaving No. 175 the last remaining locomotive to be stored by the Quincy plant, which was now owned by the National Park Service (NPS). Around the same time, the Langlade County Historical Society of Antigo made Mineral Range an offer to purchase No. 175, since they were looking for a steam locomotive to display at their heritage center, and No. 175 held historical significance at Antigo.

No. 175's running gear sitting next to Pere Marquette No. 1225 on August 24, 2019

Mineral Range turned down the offer, and instead, they sold them Ex-Union Pacific 2-8-0 No. 440, a locomotive that they had received from the MCRM in exchange for No. 29.^[15] In 2017, Mineral Range Inc. entered negotiations with the Steam Railroading Institute (SRI), and they made an offer to sell No. 175.^[16] The SRI agreed to purchase the locomotive, and they subsequently made plans to restore and operate the R-1 alongside Pere Marquette 2-8-4 "Berkshire" No. 1225.^[16][17] The SRI had previously been restoring Ex-Mississippian 2-8-0 No. 76, but that project was cancelled, since No. 76 was in poor mechanical condition, and it did not qualify for state grants, since none of the railroads No. 76 served had any cultural significance in Michigan; No. 175, being a C&NW locomotive, had operated for a number of times in the Upper Peninsula, so it would be more applicable for state grants, and many of its smaller components were still in good condition, as a result of being stored indoors.

In early 2018, No. 175 was disassembled, with the boiler, frame, and other components loaded onto four separate trucks.^[16] The shipped components passed the weight and height restrictions of the Mackinac Bridge, and they were transported by road from the Upper Peninsula to the Lower Peninsula.^{[16][lower-alpha 1]} On June 5, the trucks carrying the components arrived at the SRI's location in Owosso, Michigan, and the scattered parts were publicly displayed for one weekend.^[16][18] The boiler was lifted off of one of the trucks and onto the rails, where it was scraped, cleaned, painted, and marked to be inspected and to undergo an ultrasonic test.^[16][17] While most of the boiler was found to be restorable, the lower half of the firebox needed to be replaced.^[17] The cab, air pump, one of the eccentric rods, and other parts were also found to be in need of replacing.^[17] With the project estimated to cost $1 million to complete, the SRI applied for a large grant to be donated from the state of Michigan.^[17][19]

In August 2022, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) administered a federal Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant to be donated to the SRI, and the SRI subsequently launched a fundraising campaign to raise $400,000 to meet the matching requirement.^[19] Once restoration work is completed, No. 175 will run alongside No. 1225 in pulling the SRI's excursion trains on the Great Lakes Central Railroad (GLC).^[17][19] Its smaller weight will also allow the R-1 to be permitted to travel on routes where No. 1225 is too big to run.^[17][19]