2020 Summer Northern Lines

Volunteers and employees of the Friends of the 261 are making great progress with the restoration and upgrading of Milwaukee Road E9 32A. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, crews have been practicing social distancing while working at the 261 shop in Minneapolis.

Even though 32A was in good condition when received from Wisconsin & Southern, the unit still needed some work. The outer steel skin was removed, which revealed much rust, so new steel panels were purchased and cut to fit. The car body structures and frame were heavily needle scaled and anti-rust treatment was applied.

Mechanical work has been ongoing since the locomotive arrived. Jim DeRocher of the 32A Diesel Team provides us with the updates on work that has been performed, and what future plans are. His recap gives an insider look at the work that goes into maintaining a 65 year-old diesel, as follows:

“The No. 2 (rear) prime mover was not making transition, which is a crucial function for increasing speed during operation. After extensive diagnostics, we found and repaired failed internal components on the BARCO transition module. The front and rear axle generators were also overhauled. Following repairs, the system is now functioning correctly.

Main and Auxiliary generator maintenance was performed. This includes rebrushing the main and auxiliary generators. We discovered many brush holders were sticking open, creating the opportunity for electrical failure. The engine load regulators were serviced similarly after discovering issues. All generators are functioning correctly now. Additionally, all traction motors received similar maintenance and lubrication. 

Upon receiving the locomotive, a full crankcase and airbox inspection was carried out on both engines, the valve lash adjusted and set, and fuel injector racks adjusted. This is a maintenance measure that allows us to look inside the engine while it slowly rotates, providing the ability to ensure the engine is sound mechanically internally, and running efficiently. It was observed that the rear prime was running warm during the first excursion in 2019. The source was a defective (stuck open) oil bypass valve, which causes a 70% reduction in engine cooling when defective, that was found and repaired.

The E9 is the last in the series of E-units developed by General Motors’ Electro-Motive Division (EMD) of La Grange, Ill. for passenger service. The series can be traced back to the EA of 1937, built for the Baltimore & Ohio and Santa Fe; the AT&SF units were classified as E1s. Other units in the series were E3, E5, E6, E7 (the most popular E unit) and E8. Successor to the E8, the 2,400-horsepower E9 was produced between April 1954 and January 1964. 100 cab-equipped A units and 44 cabless booster B units were constructed, all for service in the United States. The E9 was the tenth and last model of EMD E-unit design and differed from the earlier E8 as built only by newer engines and a different, flusher-fitting mounting for the headlight glass, the latter being the only visible difference.

E9s have two 1,200 horsepower V12 model 567C engines, with each engine driving one generator to power two traction motors. The Milwaukee Road purchased 12 A units and six B units built to Union Pacific specifications for use on UP’s “City” streamliners when they switched from the Chicago & North Western to the Milwaukee Road between Chicago and Omaha in 1955. They were also used on other Milwaukee Road trains, notably the Olympian Hiawatha between Chicago, the Twin Cities and Seattle/Tacoma (discontinued in 1961) and the Twin Cities Hiawathas between Chicago and the Twin Cities. In April 1961 the Milwaukee purchased six more E9s for Chicago commuter service, among the last E units built. These all came with head power electrical power generators for use with bi-level commuter cars.

The last Hiawatha was discontinued in 1971 and the non-commuter units were sold to Amtrak. Amtrak used E9s until 1979, and converted some E9B units to steam generator and head end power cars. Milwaukee 32A, by then Amtrak 434, was officially retired in October 1982 and sold to the Alaska Railroad, which renumbered it 2402.

E9s led some of America’s most famous trains. In addition to the City and Hiawatha streamliners, E9s pulled Baltimore & Ohio’s Capitol Limited, Burlington’s Zephyrs, including the famed California Zephyr, Illinois Central’s Panama Limited, and Southern Pacific’s Daylights and Sunset Limited.

Of Milwaukee’s total of 18 E9A units, four are known to survive. The numbers and locations of the survivors are:
     32A – Friends of the 261, Minneapolis
     33C – Illinois Railway Museum, Union, Illinois
     36A – Display, Deer Lodge, Montana
     37A – Illinois Railway Museum, Union, Illinois.

In addition to the Milwaukee Road units, a surprising number of E9s survive, thanks largely to the model being the last in its class. The most notable of these is an A-B-A set owned by Union Pacific, including an A and B that the railroad repurchased years after they had been sold. Another well known unit is Southern Pacific No. 6051, painted in Daylight colors and maintained in operating condition by the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento.

Like Milwaukee Road 4-8-4 No. 261, E9 No. 32A is a family affair for Friends of the 261 President and Chief Operating Officer Steve Sandberg. The Sandberg family has a long history with both 261 and 32A.

That association began with Steve’s grandfather, Frank E. Sandberg, Sr. He hired out on the Milwaukee Road in 1920 at the age of 18 as a fireman on steam locomotives. He qualified as a engineer in the 1930s but remained on the extra board into the 1940s before he had enough seniority to run with regularity. His regular run was handling passenger trains between the Milwaukee Road Depot in Minneapolis and La Crosse, Wis. on the Milwaukee’s River Division. In that capacity he ran Milwaukee Road 4-8-4 No. 261 on several occasions when it was in regular service between 1944 and 1954.

After the Milwaukee Road dieselized in 1955, the elder Sandberg continued to operate the newer motive power, including the E9s that arrived that year. At first assigned to the Cities trains between Chicago and Omaha, the E9s drifted into other assignments as the Cities trains were consolidated. Eventually they came to be used on several trains in the Chicago-Twin Cities corridor, including the Morning and Afternoon Hiawathas, locals 55 and 58, the overnight Pioneer Limited, and the Fast Mail.

Frank Senior passed on the “railroad gene” to his son, Frank E. Sandberg, Jr. born in 1941. His father often took his son to work, and he got to ride several classes of Milwaukee Road steam, including S3 class 4-8-4s such as No. 261. In the diesel era, the “two Franks” frequently rode in the cab of Milwaukee E9s together. As Frank Junior grew older his interest in railroading increased. He loved steam locomotives in particular, and with his high school sweetheart Judy Casey they photographed steam locomotives around the country.

After their marriage daughter Cathie and son Steve were born, with Steve picking up his father’s interest in railroading. Steve’s grandfather often brought his grandson on cab rides between Minneapolis and La Crosse, including in the 32A. “It is odd to think that I ran the same locomotive 50 years apart,” Steve Sandberg says. “I ran the locomotive as a five-year-old with my grandfather in 1970 and again in 2020.”
On Jan. 30, 1971, Frank Sandberg, Sr. retired from the Milwaukee Road after 51 years of service. On his last trip he brought westbound Train No. 5, the Morning Hiawatha into the Milwaukee Road Minneapolis Depot. What was the motive power for his last run? The 32A, of course. As he brought the streamliner into the station, he was surprised to find his family – including Frank Jr. and Steve – waiting along with newspaper and television reporters. Who could have foreseen that his grandson would one day run 32A again?

Three months after Frank Senior’s retirement, Amtrak was born, and 32A went to work for the new railroad, beginning a journey that would eventually bring it back to Minneapolis. After it’s Amtrak service it went to the Alaska Railroad, Scenic Rail Dining, and Wisconsin & Southern. Thanks to the support of long time Friends members Robert Schroeder and Mary Walters, No. 32A was purchased in 2019 and is now back in Minneapolis, only a few blocks from where Frank E. Sandberg, Sr. made his last run 50 years ago.