Soo Line No. 346 is a class B-4 0-6-0 steam locomotive built by Alco in 1915 for the Soo Line railroad.
It worked in the St. Paul, MN, yards hauling coal trains to the Northern States Power Plant for much of it's career.
It was retired in 1955, it was sold to switch cars at the Koppers Company coal gasification plant in St. Paul, MN. Some time in the 1960s, #346 was sold the Depot House Restaurant in Rochester, MN. It was later sold to the Salvation Army in Rochester and displayed near an outlet store.
In 1990 it was sold on to the Mt. Pleasant Shop Services and, finally, in April that year, it was bought by the Wheels Across the Prairie Museum in Currie, MN where it sits on static display today.
Trivia[]
- The balloon stack and pilot were apparently added by the museum to make it look more "attractive".
- The tender appears to have been sold by the Koppers Company to the Depot House Restuarant and on to the museum.
- The immigrant box car and caboose coupled behind the steam engine were later acquired by the museum from the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad.