#440 is on display at the Langlede County Historical Society at 404 Superior St in Antigo, WI.
The Society had originally hoped to
purchase Chicago & Northwestern #175, a Ten Wheeler (4-6-0) type locomotive and the very last steam engine to pass through Antigo in 1957, but was unsuccessful (you can see photos and find out more about that engine on the CNW #175 page of this website).
So the Society turned, instead, to Union Pacific Class C-57 #440, a Consolidation
type (2-8-0) then owned by the Mid-Continent Railroad Museum in North Freedom, WI.
The compounds had a 33.9 sq ft grate, 247.2 sq ft firebox and total heating surface of 2,502 sq ft. The 1915 rebuild added 417 sq ft superheating. Although total heating surface dropped slightly to 2,436 sq ft, tractive effort rose from 31,719 lbs to 39,458 lbs. With an engine wheelbase of 23' 11" and driver wheelbase of 15' 3", it operated at a boiler pressure of 200 psi. After modification, #440 was reclassed as a C-57 and operated over various lines in Kansas and Nebraska.
The tender weighs 115,798 lbs light with a 6,000 gallon water and 11 ton coal capacity.
#440 was built as 1640 Class #1660 for the Union Pacific by Burnham, Williams & Company in 1901, one of forty-one Vauclain compound Consolidation type (2-8-0) locomotives delivered that year (#1640-#1679).
As built, the 1640s had Stephenson valve gear and 15½" x 30" high pressure and 26" x 30" low pressure cylinders. The series was renumbered #420-#459 when the class was simpled and superheated in 1915 with 21" x 30" cylinders and Walschaert valve gear. They weighed 185,891 lbs, 161,605 lbs on their 57" drivers.
In 1955, #440 was retired and donated to the Nebraska State Fair Association and displayed in Lincoln, NE. In 1975, when the fairgrounds were converted into a university coliseum, the Cornhusker Chapter of the NRHS bought and donated it to the Mid-Continent Railway Museum.
Thirty years later, the Langlede County Historical Society mounted a successful $75,000 fundraising campaign to purchase and refurbish the engine as a static, non-working display. The engine arrived in Antigo on 31st October 2005, with the tender a few weeks later.
#440 was restored by a group of largely volunteer workers. A new cab was built to replace the original, which was badly damaged.
In 2007, a roof was constructed for the locomotive and CNW Steel Bay Window Caboose #1955002.
