Great news! Our agreement with the city has been finalized

Our partnership agreement with the City of Missoula has now been signed by the mayor.

We’re so excited that we can begin work on the restoration phases we had planned. We’ve been doing some work, largely measuring and assessing and ordering parts, with the permission of Missoula Parks and Recreation, but we had to wait for the agreement to move through channels and get signed before we could fully proceed. Now that we have that actual signed agreement it’s full steam ahead.

This is a thank you note to the community surrounding the 1356. The fact that this is happening is due to your generosity. Donations paid first for promotional materials to document community support, for maintaining a website, then for the 501(c)3 application, and for insurance so our agreement could be approved: basically everything that kept us going. We couldn't have done it without you.

Our target for completing the first phase of the plan is by the end of June. This includes refurbishing the bell, tying in to city electric for lighting, installing a soon-to-be-lighted headlight lens, and more. We’ll provide updates and photos soon!

Thank you again for caring about this historic engine! We hope to see you this spring and summer at Missoula Farmer's Market in Burlington Northern Plaza, in front of the old Northern Pacific depot where the 1356 is on display!