Somers street dance raises funds for S-2 engine
Proceeds from this year’s Somers Cajun Street Dance put almost $4,000 in the bank account for the Somers Company Town Project to help get a shelter up over the historical S-2 engine that sits across the street from the post office.
According to Tom Sliter, owner of Sliter’s ACE Hardware in Somers, the dance put project funds at around $20,000 raised so far, or halfway toward their goal. The proposed structure will include a roof and wall over the engine and space for a small historical museum.
Sliter describes the preservation effort as a way to show appreciation for the hard work people did during the valley’s beginnings.
“That engine was a workhorse here at Somers,” Sliter said. “It’s a reminder of days gone by, it’s history, it’s remembering your roots, it’s honoring your predecessors.”
The engine is a H.K. Porter No. 7156 fireless locomotive put into service at the Somers tie plant in 1929. It was run off of steam provided at the power plant, which also provided the steam to pressure treat the railroad ties. A sister engine, the S-1, sits outside of the Miracle of America Museum in Polson.
Operated by Burlington Northern, the Somers Tie Plant operated from 1901-86. The engines pulled ties in, out, and around the plant. Sliter said at one point all of the ties for the section of rail that ran from Seattle to Chicago came out of the tie treatment plant in Somers. The tie plant was part of a bigger operation, The Somers Lumber Company, which also managed a sawmill and a factory for making boxes that shipped locally grown fruit.
The S-2 resided at a Historic County Museum along U.S. Highway 93 between Somers and Kalispell until the site was abandonded because of plans for the 93 bypass. Sliter said County Commissioner Dale Lauman and Somers Bay Cafe owner Dennis Hatton put their heads together and were able to “save” the S-2 from heading down to Polson. The S-2 landed in Somers in 2010, by way of truck and crane, on new track laid by Burlington Northern Santa Fe.
Don Peters and Ken Daly donated their time to sandblast and restore the engine to its rust-free glory, and Sliter’s donated the yellow and green paint and new windows.
President of the Somers Company Town Project David Ruby said both his grandfathers worked at the tie plant, one was a tie-bucker and one ran the S-2. Ruby is now an engineer with BNSF and has worked for them for over 38 years.
“We used to ride around in those when we were kids,” Ruby said. “Our whole intent is not to change it, but to preserve what’s there.”
As a way of preserving what’s there the town project also worked with the eighth-grade class at Somers Middle School to interview long-time residents and produce video about the history of Somers. The plan is to be able to show some of the interviews in the museum kiosk.
The street dance was just the latest in a slew of fundraising efforts put out by the town project crew. Wine and spirit tastings, silent auctions, raffle tickets for oil paintings and the 110th anniversary of the Somers Post Office also put money in the S-2 preservation pot. An ongoing fundraiser is their scrap-metal drive.
Ruby said he’d pick up anything from an old car to any metal at all. To donate scrap metal contact Sliter’s ACE Hardware at 857-3306 or Ruby at 837-1158.