Soo Line Mikes: Former Monon

[Eric Reinert]

I found these photos that were taken by Ron V. Nixon. Soo Line 2-8-2's 1034 and 1036 are both former Monon Mikes that were among the second batch of four J-1 locomotives they bought from the Monon in 1941. The 1036 is the former 505, but I can't seem to find what number the 1034 was in it's prior life. They both have been "Soo-ified" with a new cab, stack, etc. in these views from July 1946. There are plenty of photos of Soo 1024 (CIL 504) that survives up in Minnesota, but I hadn't seen either these before.

Eric Reinert

[George Lortz]

Eric,

According to my former-Monon records, SOO #1034 was Monon #502.

Thanks for posting the photos.  They'll go nicely in our Former-Monon Database.

George L.

[Eric Reinert]

A shot of Soo Line 2-8-2 #1025, former Monon 508. Not a terribly high quality photo, but it's the best I could find of this particular locomotive. In fact, this is the only photo I can find of it on the Soo.

[George Lortz]

Thanks for the photos, Eric.  Don't think I have those two, but I have dozens of others.  The last THL article in the series I'm writing will be on these Monon locomotive that went to SOO.  That article is currently scheduled for Feb. 2017.  There were a total of 8 Monon steam locomotives bought by the SOO.

George L.

[Eric Reinert]

Looking forward to seeing your article George!

[Eric Reinert]

My latest Bing Image search has yielded a new crop of former Monon Mikados at work on the Soo Line. The website is one devoted to Mikados built in 1912:  https://sites.google.com/site/mikado282typesteamlocomotives/built-1912

Here we have Soo 1024, 1035 and 1036. There are no dates on the photos but the photo of the 1024 must have been fairly soon after sale to the Soo since the capped stack is still in place.
I've also attached an eBay photo of 1025. I believe this is the engine that the Soo offered to the city of Rhinelander Wisconsin, but changed their mind after the city balked at maintaining it. All after the Soo had prettied her up too, which is obvious in this photo of her. She's lost her main rod, but has a glossy, recently repainted boiler, and nicely whitelined valve gear, running boards, drivers and wheels. What a shame.