While not operating and very much need of a restoration, narrow gauge Class A Climax from the Wild Goose Rwy is supposedly being rescued and moved back to Corry for preservation.
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CORRY — A Corry group is working to bring a one-of-a-kind steam engine home to the city this summer.
A Climax A engine made in Corry at the turn of the 20th century is disassembled and in storage in Alaska. In its heyday it shuttled necessities to prospectors during the Klondike Gold Rush.
The Corry Railroad and Industrial Leads Society, or Corry R.A.I.L.S., sponsored by Impact Corry, is raising money to buy the wood-framed engine and bring it back to Corry. Members are accepting donations and selling hats, T-shirts and memberships during CorryFest in the city this weekend. The annual festival is centered in City Park and continues through Sunday.
“An A is the first model that Climax made. It’s kind of like the Model A Ford,” said Carl Wassink, of Corry R.A.I.L.S. “It was the earliest version of the Climax.”
The Climax Manufacturing Company built locomotives in Corry from the 1880s until 1930, according to the Corry Area Historical Society. A full-sized Climax engine is the centerpiece attraction at the society’s museum in Mead Park.
The smaller Climax A was manufactured for 40 years, until 1928.
“It was upgraded through the years. It started out with a wooden frame and ended up being made with a steel frame,” Wassink said.
Just two Climax A engines are known to still exist. The one in storage near Anchorage is the only one that’s mostly complete, Wassink said. The engine operated in the Nome, Alaska, area from 1902 until 1910, when it was abandoned.
“Up until the late 1950s, it sat in the little ghost town of Council, Alaska, about 70 miles from Nome,” Wassink said.
Then an enterprising aficionado reclaimed the engine for use on a tourist railroad in Nome. It never happened. An attorney descended from two generations of railroad men later spotted the idle engine.
“He knew what it was when he saw it. Not many people would,” Wassink said. “He bought it for $7,000.”
The man disassembled the locomotive, planning to restore and reassemble it. He died before he could accomplish it, Wassink said.
Corry R.A.I.L.S. has been negotiating to buy the engine from the man’s son and expects to have most of the $75,000 needed to purchase, retrieve and bring it home this summer.
“We’re getting close. We’ve got one more fund that we applied to and are waiting to hear from. It’s due to announce funding at any time,” Wassink said. “If we get what we’re looking for on that, we should be within $5,000 or $6,000 of reaching our goal.”
Corry businessmen led efforts to purchase the museum’s Climax engine from a railroad in Oneonta, New York, in 1960. They sold Corry Climax Club memberships for $1 to help pay for the purchase. Each member got a membership card.
Corry R.A.I.L.S. has created a Climax A Club. Memberships cost $5.
“I have my grandfather’s Climax Club card, and we created something similar to that,” Wassink said.
Corry R.A.I.L.S. members who have restored other Climax engines, including one owned by a private railroad in West Virginia, plan to restore and reassemble the Climax A. In addition to displaying the engine, the group plans to build portable track that can be hauled to various locations for short demonstration runs.
“We want to take this to full steam,” Wassink said.
Valerie Myers can be reached at 878-1913 or by email. Follow her on Twitter
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/25/2019 08:26AM by cdaspit.
