The way Jerry Mohrfeld and Bob Radloff explain it, Christmas and trains go together.

That's why the pair refuse to "grow up" at Christmastime. An electric train chugging around a Christmas tree or a wind-up choo-choo circling a track in front of a toddler are images to relish.

Is it then any wonder they would let Austin's most famous train engine go ignored?

Mohrfeld and Radloff hung a large wreath on "Old 1004," the last steam locomotive to pull a Milwaukee Road train.

The doors were opened to the building, housing the train engine, facing 12th Street SW at the Mower County Historical Center on the fairgrounds in southwest Austin.

The wreath was donated by Kramer Ace Hardware Store in Sterling Shopping Center. It will be illuminated each evening until Christmas Day.

"We didn't want anybody to forget Old 1004," said Radloff.

The gesture by the two Mower County Historical Society members is symbolic.

Mohrfeld is president of the MCHS board of directors and Radloff is a board member.

There are brighter lights at Christmastime in Austin and gaudier decorations, but a continually dwindling number of Austinites who remember the glory days of the railroad can't help but appreciate the remembrance.

Especially, when the recipient is Old 1004.

"It was 45 years ago, when they moved the steam locomotive engine to the fairgrounds," said Mohrfeld. "I bet 85 percent of the people living in Austin today don't even know it exists."

"I was a kid when they moved it out here to the fairgrounds," said Radloff. "It was fantastic. I was one of the most exciting days of my life."

Built in 1901, the steam locomotive engine was assembled by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, Pa.

In 1938, the engine was rebuilt and put back into service.

Its full weight was 102,600 pounds on drivers or 154 tons.

In 1968, a Milwaukee Road freight diesel was renumbered 1004 and carried the hallowed train engine number until 1984 when it was retired and scrapped.

According to Mower County Historical Society historians, the Milwaukee Road railroad company agreed to give the steam locomotive to the city of Austin as a gift for a permanent historical display at the fairgrounds.

However, moving the steam locomotive to its permanent resting place became an unforgettable moment in the city's history just like the railroad occupies a place of affection and distinction.

Archivists' research shows the move took place in the summer of 1957 after the necessary permission came from local and state governments, a rival railroad, the Minnesota Department of Transportation and then-Austin Mayor Baldy Hansen.

However, the most important man became Martin Bustad and his construction company, when the arduous task of moving the huge locomotive from the old Austin Grain Elevator trackage between Second and Third Street SE across town on First Avenue SW to 12th Street and then south to the fairgrounds.

"That morning, Old 1004's cylinders were pumped full of compressed air in order to move her," the official history of the momentous day noted. "Martin Bustad did checks on her using his company's own compressor to get her to move on her own without being steamed up."

Temporary track was laid ahead of the engine on city streets at the rate of 30 feet at a time.

Crewmen from the Milwaukee Road helped. The gleaming, newly-painted black and white and red engine -- emblazoned with the then-new Milwaukee Road railway emblem -- attracted onlookers throughout the route and national media attention.

Streets were blocked and residents brought out lawn chairs and blankets to watch the procession. Thousands of photographs were taken as everyone seemed to want a snapshot of history.

Then all of a sudden everything came to a halt, when the Minnesota Highway Department (the predecessor of the Minnesota Department of Transportation) said the train was causing damage to city streets.

The MHD wanted a minimum of one foot of sand to be poured between the track and the pavement's surface.

State Senator P. J. Holland "came to the rescue and managed to pull some strings" and the move went on as planned.

Four weeks after the three-day move, the Mower County Fair opened and the steam locomotive was the hit of that's year's summertime celebration.

Today, it anchors the Mower County Historical Society's popular Milwaukee Junction Railroad Museum Collection and celebrates over a century of railroad history in Austin.

Radloff, the newly elected vice president of the Historical Society's board of directors, is a former Mower County Fair Board member who has worked many years to bring history to the forefront of everyone's minds.

"My grandfather, Fred Radloff, was a bridge foreman for the railroad," he said. "I grew up when trains were the major form of transportation and everyone wanted to ride one as a kid."

Old 1004 is expected to enjoy new celebrity status next summer, when the new agricultural display building opens, attracting even more people to the historical center's displays.

"It's great to see the new building going up," said Mohrfeld. "We've been working on this project for a number of years and now it will become a reality."

Mohrfeld grew up in Elma, Iowa and remembers when the Chicago, Great Western train ran through the community.

Radloff, of course, is a Milwaukee Road fan.

"We thought the wreath would let people know what a treasure they have here throughout the year," said Mohrfeld.

"And, whether it's a gift or whether it's somebody coming home for Christmas on the train, it just seems that trains and Christmas go together," said Radloff.

Lee Bonorden can be contacted at 434-2232 or by e-mail at

lee.bonorden@austindailyherald.com