The Michigan Flywheelers Museum in South Haven will fire up the House of David steam-powered locomotive 902 next week after 50 years of inactivity. Museum President Pat Ingalls tells us the House of David had three trains that moved people around its property from the early 1900s to the 1970s. After they shut down, Merlin Hanson bought two of the trains, 902 and 903. 903 is on display at LMC’s Hanson Technology Center, while Ingalls says 902 was donated to the Flywheelers Museum.
“They wanted something nearer to Benton Harbor, but couldn’t make it happen, and then about ten years ago, they came and looked at our museum, and then a couple of years ago they decided we were the place to have it,” Ingalls said.
Ingalls says the museum has been working this past year to lay track for the 1/4 scale locomotive. That hasn’t been easy, but they’ve now got about 2,100 feet of track, and they’re going to start up the train next Thursday morning. That’s not all they have planned.
“Future plans include a depot, roundhouse, turntable, and a storage building for the train.”
Ingalls says the train is not licensed yet to carry passengers, so the public won’t be able to ride it next week. However, anyone can come and watch a piece of history be reborn when the train starts to move. He advises arriving around 8 a.m. It’s $10 to get into the museum.
