RR Branstrom Daily Press An exhibition dedicated to the Soo Line Railroad is currently occupying the display space at Upper Peninsula State Bank in Gladstone.

GLADSTONE — An exhibition dedicated to the Soo Line Railroad is currently occupying the display space at Upper Peninsula State Bank in Gladstone.

The “towers” in U.P. State Bank’s Escanaba, Gladstone and Marquette locations are designed to promote community initiatives, charities and local businesses as a way to thank customers and directly give back to their neighborhoods, explained Senior Vice President Todd A. Salo at the Gladstone branch.

Salo connected with John Pickard, president of the Gladstone Michigan Soo Line Steam Engine #730 Authority, through the Gladstone Lions Club. Upon hearing about the golf scramble the nonprofit was organizing for May 29, Salo invited them to set up in the bank to gain attention for the golf event and the authority’s larger goal of preserving Soo Line history in Gladstone.

The Soo Line, which was the result of mergers between other railway companies, first made its way through Gladstone in the 1880s. After steam locomotives fell out of service, the company donated one of its old engines — #730, a 1911 model — to the community after local Soo Line retirees expressed interest. It’s been sitting alongside U.S. Highway 2 since 1960.

Over decades, the relic beside the highway on the edge of what is now the Canadian National rail yard fell into disrepair. A few years ago, Pickard, whose father had worked for the Soo Line, wanted to clean and maintain #730.

The Gladstone Michigan Soo Line Steam Engine #730 Authority is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that formed from that initial goal of simply fixing up the locomotive. Once the group organized, a number of members of the public — from Gladstone and farther — reached out offering to donate funds, time and memorabilia.

“People are looking at saving their family history by giving it to the organization, forever, so that people have a recollection of where we came from and who was involved with it,” said Steve Viau, Gladstone Michigan Soo Line Steam Engine #730 Authority secretary and treasurer.

The next phase of the authority’s plan is to secure property to open a museum. They currently have two shipping containers holding materials that people have generously donated, Viau said. The organization briefly operated a small museum and gift shop out of a storefront on Delta Avenue that held only a portion.

Though the locomotive is what got the wheels turning for the Gladstone Michigan Soo Line Steam Engine #730 Authority, the place where the steam engine currently sits isn’t exactly developable, so the group is looking for property elsewhere to open a museum to house all the other Soo Line memorabilia they’ve acquired.

Through the month of May, U.P. State Bank’s tower and entryway offers a taste of what a future Soo Line museum could look like. There’s a conductor’s uniform donated by the Legault family; hats from other uniforms; a handful of the 32 signs describing the history of the Soo Line, all made for a past TrainFest in Milwaukee that were since donated to the Gladstone group; lanterns; and more. A model train set runs for an hour three times a day — though the model town it circles is a little undeveloped.

Available for purchase at the bank is Gladstone- and #730-specific merchandise like t-shirts, hoodies and mugs.

The golf scramble is a fundraiser for the nonprofit and is an 18-hole tournament open to four-person teams. The event is Thursday, May 29, with registration at 10 a.m. and a shotgun start at 11 a.m. The entry fee includes green fees, dinner, raffles and a chance to win a brand-new Jeep Compass, courtesy of O’Connor’s Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram of Pickford.

Team sign-up sheets are available at the Escanaba Country Club. Interested persons may contact John Pickard at 906-241-0888 for more details.