The Thompson Railway

A lifelong dream, turned dream come true.

The History

In 1965, Tommy chanced upon a magazine article about the Homestake Mining Company in Lead, South Dakota. Curious if any of their equipment was for sale, a letter of inquiry soon brought an invitation to visit the mine and inspect their old air motors that were destined to be melted down. After a hasty change of plans, Tommy and his family soon found themselves inspecting compressed air locomotive #22 before buying her on the spot. After five years of dedicated work, and over 1700 man hours later, using the frame, running gear, and converted cylinders of #22, Tommy scratch built his 0-4-4 Forney steam locomotive at his home, with the aid of his backyard oil-fired foundry. It took over a year to create the 40 patterns and core boxes necessary to cast parts, such as the bell, whistle, domes, stack, rear truck, and brake valve. Tommy designed the boiler to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers code, and then had Seattle Boiler Works build it.

“Born in a brass foundry, she gleams splendidly in the sunlight. Her green boiler jacket is bound with brass bands, while her backhead lagging is encased in polished sheet copper. The cab, rear tank, running gear, headlight and dome bases and tops are painted in a glossy black. The smokebox is coated with graphite in the traditional manner. The only red is inside the bell and on the brass number plate. The final touch is the gold striping and lettering.”

In 1999, Thomas G. Thompson Jr. passed away, and the family made the decision to honor his wishes by retiring the train to a suitable museum. In the midst of the grieving process, the Georgetown Steam Plant Museum in Seattle was chosen by Anne. Years later, the family would come to find out the museum was no longer able to move forward with their plans for the donation. In an effort to quickly find a new home for their family treasure, the City of Anacortes was offered the donation in exchange for the suitable care and construction of a museum capable of respecting its value. In 2012, thanks to a volunteer effort, the train was moved back to Anacortes, with the hope a suitable museum would be constructed for it.

Since 2012, much speculation and enthusiasm has existed while interpreting the original donation intent. This confusion proved difficult for the City to follow through on their best intended plans, and in 2019 Anne and the Thompson family moved to support a relocation of their donation to a more suitable home. In July of 2021 the Anacortes City Council voted unanimously to return the train to the original donors.

In October of 2021 the locomotive, three coaches, salvageable rail, and other railway rolling stock were removed from Anacortes, and donated to Bret Iwan. With ongoing support from the Thompson family, the Iwan family is now working to preserve, not only the train, but Tommy Thompson’s creative legacy, through an operational railway and archives at their personal ranch in California.

If you would like to learn more about how you can help, please visit our All Aboard page.