Love for a Locomotiveby Vicki Cox
A rare 1913 locomotive named the Soo Line 1003 sits hissing on the track in Burnett, Wis. (pop. 919), surrounded by parents posing their children under its headlight and railroad enthusiasts peering at its well-preserved parts.
Right on schedule, the engineer rings the train’s bell and pulls on its hollow-voiced whistle. The locomotive spews a plume of steam and smoke 300 feet above its smokestack. Seconds later, the ground shudders and 82 feet of unleashed power rolls forward.
“I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” says Bob Krahn, 64, of Fox Lake, Wis. “I love the steam engine. I enjoy its sounds and sights. Pictures just don’t do it justice,” he says, watching as the Soo Line 1003 heads to Hartford, Wis. (pop. 10,905), for a holiday festival.
Dwarfed by a half-million pounds of iron and steel, Krahn’s granddaughter, Brianna, 4, also is impressed by its size. “It is very big,” says the wide-eyed youngster.
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