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While it is possible to restore 759 to operational condition, Steamtown has stated that they have little interest in restoring 759, citing that it is too large for their use and that another Nickel Plate Road 2-8-4, No. 765, is already operational. For now, 759 sits safely on display out of the elements in Steamtown's roundhouse, being the largest non-articulated steam locomotive at the Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
The Oregon Pony was the first steam locomotive to be built on the Pacific Coast and the first to be used in the Oregon Territory. The locomotive, a geared steam 5' gauge locomotive with 9"X18" cylinders and 34" drivers, was used in the early 1860s to portage steamboat passengers and goods past the Cascades Rapids, a dangerous stretch of the Columbia River now drowned by the Bonneville Dam. Steamboats provided transportation on the Columbia between Portland, Oregon and mining areas in Idaho and the Columbia Plateau. Portage was also necessary at other navigation obstructions, including Celilo Falls.
San Francisco's Vulcan Iron Works built the wood-burning engine in 1861 for $4,000. Weighing only 8 tons and only 14.5 feet long, the "Oregon Pony" arrived in Oregon in 1862 and made her initial run on May 10, 1862 with engineer Theodore A. Goffe at the throttle. It replaced flat cars running on rails, equipped with benches for passengers and pulled by mules for 4.5 miles over iron-reinforced wooden rails for the Oregon Portage Railway. Shortly after the "Oregon Pony" was put into service, canopies were added to protect the passengers and their goods from the hot, sooty water that rained down on everything as the locomotive operates. The engine moved nearly 200 tons a day between the Cascades and Bonneville.
The railway was bought by Oregon Steam Navigation Company (OSN). The company consolidated its Cascades rail portage monopoly on the Washington side of the Columbia River and moved the "Oregon Pony" to The Dalles, where it may have been used for portages around Celilo Falls.
In 1866, OSN sold the locomotive and it was returned to San Francisco for work filling and grading the streets of that city. After the "Oregon Pony" was damaged in a 1904 fire, the owner partially restored it and donated it to the Oregon Historical Society in Portland, Oregon. It was displayed at the 1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition and afterward at the Albina Railyard. In the 1930s, the "Oregon Pony" was moved to Union Station; it was returned to Cascade Locks in 1970. The Port of Cascade Locks funded a 1981 restoration and built a permanent, covered display.
The "Oregon Pony" is currently owned by the State of Oregon and is preserved in a climate controlled exhibition chamber next to the Cascade Locks Historical Museum at the Marine Park, Cascade Locks. In February 2016, "Trains Magazine" reported that the Union Pacific Railroad donated $10000 for a new shelter for the "Oregon Pony".
A decade later, 6325 had sat in static display with very little maintenance. In 1985, fundraising began to restore the engine. The locomotive, the siding it sat on and the fence surrounding it were all sold for $1 to 6325 Turntable, Inc., a nonprofit organization founded to restore it. After moving it in October 1986 from its display location to a track at Franklin Iron & Metal Co., work soon began to restore the locomotive to operable status. In 1992 the small Michigan restoration group was notified by the GTW/Canadian National railroad that 6325 would have to be moved from its current siding. With little volunteers, low money and no place to call home, the Greater Battle Creek foundation was through.
In stepped Jerry J. Jacobson of the Ohio Central Railroad System (OHCR) who purchased 6325 in 1993 and moved it to OHCR's steam shops at Morgan Run. But it wasn't until 1998 that restoration efforts began and on July 31, 2001, 6325 moved for the first time under its own power in 42 years. Jacobson sold his interest in OHCR in 2008, kept his vintage locomotives and began construction on large roundhouse, the Age of Steam Roundhouse, in Sugarcreek, Ohio, in order to house his collection. As of March 2012, No. 6325 remains in Jacobson's collection.
6325 has one surviving sister engine, GTW 6323, which is famous for being the last GTW steam engine to run on GTW rails, under GTW ownership. GTW 6323 is on display at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois.
GTW 6327 was another well known sister engine, the 6327 is known for being the last steam engine to run in Port Huron, Michigan, as well as pulling the last steam train there. 6327 was among the last of GTW's steam engines still operating when the railroad dieselized in 1960 and it was scrapped that year.
Soo Line 353 is a restored 0-6-0 type steam locomotive of the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railway (“Soo Line”) B-4 class. It is now owned & operated by WMSTR (Western Minnesota Steam Threshers Reunion) every Labor Day weekend.
In 1965, it was donated to the Minnesota Transportation Museum, where it was stored until 1972 when it was sold to the Western Minnesota Steam Thresher's Reunion, whose volunteers restored it to operation in 1978 for use during their threshing show at Rollag, Minnesota.
Santa Fe 2926 is a former Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (ATSF) class 2900 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotive originally built in 1944 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works. This locomotive was part of the last group of steam passenger locomotives built for the Santa Fe railway. This class of locomotives were the heaviest 4-8-4's built in the United States and among the largest. The railroad used the locomotive in both fast freight and passenger service, accumulating over one million miles of usage before its last revenue run on December 24, 1953. The locomotive and a caboose were donated to the City of Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1956 in recognition of the city's 250th anniversary, and placed in Coronado Park.
The city displayed the locomotive as a static exhibit in the park until it was sold to the New Mexico Steam Locomotive and Railroad Historical Society on July 26, 1999. On June 23, 2000, the locomotive was moved by Messer Construction Company to a BNSF Railway rail siding just south of Menaul Boulevard. Subsequently, in May, 2002, the locomotive was moved by the railroad to its current location near the intersection of 8th Street and Haines Avenue where it is undergoing restoration to operating condition by the Society. When the restoration is completed, No. 2926 will be the largest operating 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotive in the United States. Norfolk and Western 611 is currently the largest operating 4-8-4 "Northern" type locomotive.
On February 11, 2016, House Memorial 100, introduced by Don L. Tripp, and adopted by the New Mexico State Legislature recognized the Santa Fe No. 2926 steam locomotive as New Mexico's steam locomotive and a representative of the Railroads' contributions to the economic and cultural growth and stature of New Mexico.
In January 2018, it was reported that the restoration was nearing completion and that the locomotive could potentially be operational by the end of the year. As of that date, NMSL&RHS members had put in 166,000 hours of volunteer labor and spent over $2.8 million on the project.
On August 20, 2018, the boiler of ATSF No. 2926 was fired up for the first time in 63 years. The locomotive was scheduled for a test run on March 20, 2020, when it would move under its own power for the first time since 1953. However, that event and most other restoration efforts were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New Mexico.
The locomotive has been listed in the National Register of Historic Places since October 1, 2007.
E.J. Lavino and Company No. 3 is an inoperable steam locomotive preserved at Steamtown National Historic Site. It was built by the American Locomotive Company in 1927 as Poland Springs Railroad No. 2. No record exists that the locomotive was ever delivered to Poland Springs. In any case, it is known to have been sold to the E.J. Lavino Steel Company of Sheridan, Pennsylvania sometime by 1949. In 1966, the locomotive was donated to F. Nelson Blount and Steamtown, U.S.A. in Bellows Falls, Vermont in 1966. A sister , E.J. Lavino and Company 10, is at the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum.
Southern Pacific #8 is a narrow-gauge steam locomotive, built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in August 1907.
It was originally built for the Nevada–California–Oregon Railway as their second #8, and was sold to Southern Pacific in 1929. She spent the rest of its career hauling passengers and freight along Southern Pacific's Keeler Branch. The locomotive, along with sisters #9 and #18 were nicknamed "The Desert Princesses", having served the desert areas of Nevada and California.
In 1954, an GE 50 Ton diesel locomotive was purchased, relegating steam power on the Southern Pacific's narrow-gauge line to backup duty. Locomotive #8 was retired in 1955 after 48 years of service and donated to the State of Nevada. It is now preserved and on display in Lillard Park at Sparks, Nevada.
Southern Pacific 2472 is a 4-6-2 heavy "Pacific" type steam locomotive built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works for Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) in 1921. SP No. 2472 is one of three surviving Southern Pacific 4-6-2 Pacific locomotives, the other two bring Nos. 2467 and 2479. The 4-6-2 designation means it has 4 leading wheels, 6 driving wheels, and 2 trailing wheels.
SP 2472 and the other "Pacific" locomotives served the "Overland Route" from Ogden, Utah, to Oakland, California. On November 30, 1929, SP's Ogden shops added a feedwater heater to the locomotive, which increased its overall weight to . SP 2472 again underwent a rebuild at SP's Bayshore shops in Brisbane, California (San Mateo County), completed on November 26, 1940, which increased its boiler pressure to and its tractive effort to .
After being replaced by the 4-8-2 "Mountain" type locomotives, 2472 and all other Pacific locomotives were sent to work Sacramento-Oakland passenger trains and San Francisco-San Jose commute trains, along with occasional freight service. This locomotive was retired from regular revenue service on February 7, 1957, during Southern Pacific's dieselization, and on April 10, 1959, 2472 was donated to San Mateo County, which put the unit on static display at the San Mateo County Fairgrounds. It remained there until 1976 when a group of volunteers decided to restore the locomotive.
Restoration work was completed in May 1991 just in time to participate in "Railfair 91", which took place in Sacramento, and featured other famous steam locomotives, such as Southern Pacific GS-4 4-8-4 "Northern" 4449, Union Pacific FEF-3 4-8-4 844, Union Pacific 4-6-6-4 "Challenger" 3985, Union Pacific 0-6-0 4466, and British Great Northern Railway J13 0-6-0 tank locomotive 1247. In the 1990s and early 2000s, 2472 pulled several excursions and Caltrain specials such as the "Toys for Tots", and double-headed on an excursion in 1992 (during the NRHS Convention) with the 4449.
SP 2472 received Federal Railroad Administration-mandated boiler work at Hunters Point Naval Base in San Francisco, during 2005–06 when the Golden Gate Railroad Museum (GGRM) was located there. The GGRM and all other tenants at Hunter's Point had to leave the former navy base in 2006 due to redevelopment. The initial equipment move took place in February 2006, although an extended lease on the shop building allowed work to continue on 2472 for ten more months. On December 31, 2006, SP 2472 and the remaining pieces of GGRM rolling stock completed relocation to the Niles Canyon Railway located in Sunol, California, on the east side of San Francisco Bay.
The locomotive became serviceable in February 2008, and was stored in Niles Canyon at the Brightside Yard between operations. SP 2472 has operated in Niles Canyon, usually on Memorial Day weekends and Labor Day weekends, and on other dates as announced.
In Spring 2015, the Golden Gate Railroad Museum announced that they will be leaving Niles Canyon and SP 2472 would pull the last excursions in Niles Canyon on the 2015 Labor Day weekend. The relocation move of SP 2472 to the Northwestern Pacific Railroad in Schellville, California started on March 1, 2020 when the P-8 Pacific-type steam locomotive, along with two former Southern Pacific Railroad diesel locomotives (both in operating condition) that belong to GGRM, were towed by two Union Pacific locomotives towards Schellville. The remaining pieces of GGRM rolling stock will also be moved from Niles Canyon to Schellville at a date yet to be announced.
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe No. 5 "Little Buttercup" (former ATSF #2419, Santa Fe Terminal #1) is an 0-4-0 steam locomotive.
"Little Buttercup" was originally built in 1899 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works as an 0-4-0 saddle tank locomotive for the Santa Fe Terminal Railway as their #1. The SFT was a subsidiary of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway, operating under the moniker of the San Francisco & San Joaquin Valley Railway, was designed to run a terminal operation in the China Basin around San Francisco, California. It was absorbed into the ATSF system in 1902, and SFT #1 became ATSF #2419. She was then moved to the shops at Needles, California to work there as the "shop goat," and was renumbered at least 3 more times till finally running with the road number #9419 in 1948.
That same year was the Chicago Railroad Fair, and Santa Fe had chosen #9419 to be their exhibition engine. She was rebuilt into a tender engine with an 1800s "Old West" style appearance with a diamond smokestack, gaining the #5 and the name "Little Buttercup," after a 4-4-0 locomotive that had previously carried the name. That one had been scrapped in 1899. After 1948, the Santa Fe had kept "Little Buttercup" in storage, along with some ancient wooden coaches, for exhibitions and special events. She was the star a few commercials for the ATSF, even starring with Randolph Scott in the 1951 film "Santa Fe" where she was driven by a Native American chief.
"Little Buttercup" was eventually donated with the rest of the ATSF's historical collection to the California State Railroad Museum in 1986, where she attended their famed "Railfair" event the same year. The locomotive is now on long-term loan to the California Trolley and Railroad Corporation, and is currently on display in their Trolley Barn at the History Park at Kelley Park.
Flagg Coal Company 75 is a 0-4-0 saddletank steam locomotive built for the Flagg Coal Company in 1930. Restored and owned by John and Byron Gramling, the engine was loaned in 2002 to the Steam Railroading Institute where it is used for demonstrations and for powering train rides and excursions. Originally numbered Flagg Coal Company 2, the locomotive's number was changed to 75 when it was sold to the Solvay Process Quarry in 1935. It never actually wore "Flagg Coal Company 75" during its service life.
Flagg Coal Company 75 has traveled around the country to operate, give demonstrations and educate the public about steam locomotive operation and history. The locomotive has made a few historic appearances, such as being the first steam locomotive to operate in Port Huron, Michigan, since the early 1960s.
Atlantic was the name of a very early American steam locomotive built by inventor and foundry owner Phineas Davis for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) in 1832. It is in fact the first commercially successful and practical American built locomotive and class prototype, and Davis' second constructed for the B&O, his first having won a design competition contest announced by the B&O in 1830.
Built at a cost of $4,500, the "Atlantic" weighed and had two vertical cylinders. It was commissioned after Davis' entry had won the competition for a steam locomotive design, but the contract was awarded to the inventor of the Tom Thumb; when the five locomotives commissioned failed the contracted delivery, B&O bought out the patents. A few of these were incorporated in the Atlantic by Davis, whether by specification or because Davis wanted them is unclear. The locomotives he delivered before his death in 1835 were the first commercially feasible, sufficiently efficient coal burning steam locomotives produced domestically in the United States and placed into traction service.
Ox teams were used to convey the engine to Baltimore, where it made a successful inaugural trip to Ellicott's Mills, Maryland, a distance of . Nicknamed the 'Grasshopper' for its distinctive horizontal beam and long connecting rods, the locomotive carried of steam and burned of anthracite coal on a trip from Baltimore. Satisfied with this locomotive's operations, the B&O built 20 more locomotives of a similar design at its Mt. Clare shops in Baltimore. Despite this success, the "Atlantic" prototype engine was scrapped in 1835 after the death of Phineas Davis. The reason was unclear.
Southern Pacific Lines number 975 is a 2-10-2 type of steam locomotive, built in 1918 by American Locomotive Company at the former Brooks Locomotive Works plant in Dunkirk, New York. It entered service on Southern Pacific subsidiary Texas and New Orleans Railroad in March 1918, where it worked until its retirement in 1957.
The T&NO donated the locomotive to the city of Beaumont, Texas, on February 2, 1957, with the project spearheaded by then Mayor Jimmie P. Cokinos. 975 is now preserved in static display at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois. It is one of only two Southern Pacific locomotives of this wheel arrangement to be preserved; the other is 982 moved to Union Station, Minute Maid Baseball Park in Houston, Texas in 2005.
Chesapeake & Ohio Railway 2755 is a standard gauge steam railway locomotive of the 2-8-4 type, called "Berkshire" by most US railroads, but "Kanawha" by the Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O). It is one of a total of ninety built by
ALCO (which built seventy) and Lima (which built the remaining twenty, including 2755) between 1943 and 1947.
A Berkshire type was the first of the Lima Super Power locomotives in 1925 and these followed in that tradition, with all the latest equipment -- Schmidt superheater, Elesco feedwater heater, booster on the trailing truck, roller bearings, and so forth. They carried Baker valve gear, which the C&O preferred to the simpler and much more widely used Walschaerts valve gear.
It spent its nine-year working life hauling coal on the various mine branches out of Logan, West Virginia, usually to the Ohio River at Russell, Kentucky. Its last known run was from Handley, West Virginia, to Russell on January 18, 1956.
After refurbishing at the Huntington, West Virginia, shops in the fall of 1960, it was delivered to its present location in Chief Logan State Park in March 1961. It was seriously vandalized in the late 1970s or early 1980s, with the glass broken and gauges stolen or destroyed. It has been repaired and fenced for protection. The Island Creek Model Railroad Club acts as curators.
The locomotive was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2006 as Chesapeake and Ohio 2755 Steam Locomotive.
The Canadian National  47 is a preserved class "X-10-a" 4-6-4T type tank locomotive located at Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, Pennsylvania. It is one of only three preserved CN 4-6-4Ts (CN  49 at the Canadian Railway Museum in Delson, Quebec and CN  46 at Vallée-Jonction, Quebec) and is the only Baltic-type suburban tank locomotive remaining in the United States.
The locomotive was put on static display in North Walpole after its last run and was later moved across the Connecticut River with the rest of the Steamtown, U.S.A. collection to Bellows Falls, Vermont.  47 was later moved with the rest of the collection to the Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where it currently remains on static display today.
The Santa Fe 2900 Class was a series of 30 4-8-4 Northern type steam locomotives built between 1943 and 1944 for Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad and pulled freight and passenger trains until retirement in the mid to late 1950s.
Today, six 2900s survive, with most on static display and one, No. 2926, being restored to operating condition. Once fully restored, it will be the largest operating 4-8-4 Northern type steam locomotive in the United States.
Being built during World War II, wartime shortages of material resulted in ordinary metals being used for their construction. This resulted in the class being the heaviest Northerns ever built. They out-weighed their nearest rivals by over 2000 pounds. They have Timken roller bearing on all axles.
Though they were designed to haul passenger trains, wartime exigencies required that they haul freight until the war ended. After the war, they hauled passenger trains such as the Scout and Grand Canyon Limited. After diesels took over, the class was retired by 1959.
The Reuben Wells is a steam locomotive in the permanent collection of The Children's Museum of Indianapolis located in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Beginning in 1868, it operated for 30 years in Madison, Indiana, pushing train cars up the steepest "standard-gauge main-track grade" in the United States.
The "Reuben Wells" is a helper locomotive that was built in 1868. It was designed to push train cars up the 5.89% incline of Madison Hill in Madison, Indiana, the steepest segment of main-track in the United States. Weighing , it was the most powerful locomotive in the world at the time. It is long. The locomotive is named after its designer, engineer Reuben Wells.
After the "Reuben Wells" was completed in the railroad shops in 1868, it pushed train cars up Madison Hill for thirty years before it was retired in 1898. It stayed in reserve for another seven years before it was retired permanently and sent to Purdue University in 1905. In the years that followed the "Reuben Wells" was included in several exhibitions, including the Chicago World's Fair in 1933–34 and the Chicago Railroad Fair in 1948–49. Afterward, it remained in Pennsylvania at Penn Central Railroad Company railroad yards. In 1968, the "Reuben Wells" was brought back to Indiana, where it was placed on permanent display at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis.
No. 1309 was built from a 40-year-old design, with mechanical lubricators, stoker, and superheater, the last of a series of 2-6-6-2s that the C&O began in 1911. A very similar design, the USRA 2-6-6-2, was chosen by the United States Railroad Administration as one of its standard designs thirty years earlier during World War I.
The Chesapeake and Ohio ordered 25 of these engines in 1948 to pull coal trains. When coal production dramatically fell due to labor unrest in 1949, the order was revised to just ten engines (numbered 1300 to 1309), and 1309 became the last domestic steam locomotive built by Baldwin.
The Western Maryland's restoration, which began in July 2014, includes returning all parts to meet or exceed original specifications. The railroad claims the engine will be "better and more reliable than it was in 1949". The engine and tender were disassembled and then rebuilt with new parts where necessary. The engine's cab and floors were among the pieces replaced.
In April 2016, Western Maryland Scenic Railroad No. 734, an ex-Lake Superior and Ishpeming 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type, was taken out of excursion service, as it was about due for a 1,472-day boiler inspection required by the Federal Railroad Administration. Without a steam locomotive to operate or maintain, most of the railroad's money would be focused on 1309's proceeding restoration work.
In early January 2017, the railroad said the reassembly process at the shop in Ridgeley, West Virginia would begin that month and announced that the inaugural trip of the restored engine would be on July 1, 2017; it began selling tickets for the excursion. That schedule was not met due to funding issues. The railroad had spent $800,000 but needed a matching grant of $400,000 from the state of Maryland to continue work.
In August 2017, planned operation in November was further delayed until 2018 after corrosion was found on the locomotive's axles requiring additional work on the axles, wheel boxes, and crank pins.
Restoration almost stopped in the fall of 2017 due to a lack of funding, although work on the wheels continued with donations.
The railroad announced in November 2017 that restoration had stopped. $400,000 provided by the state of Maryland had been spent and the railroad estimated it would take at least $530,000 more to complete the restoration, including $120,000 for the running gear and $115,000 for the boiler. The railroad was soliciting donations from individuals, seeking additional grants, and raising money with "freight photo charters".
In January 2018, Maryland state senator Wayne Norman proposed that Allegany County provide $530,000 to complete the restoration. The senator said there would be an economic benefit to the county in tourism, even drawing people from Europe and Asia. The county provides a $140,000 annual operating subsidy to the railroad, matched by $250,000 from the state of Maryland.
In February 2018, the restoration project suffered another setback when the railroad learned that an employee had stolen parts, including bronze bearings and wear plates, and sold them for scrap at a salvage yard. The thefts were discovered by the Allegany County Sheriff's Office after they were alerted by the scrap yard. Stolen parts included 12 original crown brasses and 12 hub liners. The parts would have to be remade as they were damaged during removal. The scrap yard had paid the employee a total of $14,662 for the parts, some of which weighed . Formal charges have been filed against the employee.
In June 2018, the boiler passed a hydrostatic test required by the Federal Railroad Administration. The boiler was pressurized to 25% above its maximum operation pressure of . Stationary test firings to check for boiler leaks occurred several months later. The restoration had cost $1.8 million as of mid-2018, including $800,000 provided by the state of Maryland. The Western Maryland Scenic General Manager estimated the final cost will be $2.4 million.
In September 2019, the project was again halted due to a lack of funds shortly after the front drivers were attached to the engine. The railroad said it would no longer make estimates of when the restoration will be complete. The total spent on the project was at $2.8 million.
In February 2020, a new Crowdfunding campaign has been announced to try and raise the remaining $390,000 needed to finish the restoration. Once the money is raised, the organizers claim the restoration can be completed in six months. In early May 2020, restoration work resumed. A successful fund raising effort promoted by Trains Magazine raised over $100,000.00 to get the work started again. The WMSR estimates they are still around $200,000.00 short of completing the work and developing a fund to cover initial operating expenses and facilities for fuel, water, and ash removal to name a few items.
On December 31, 2020, the restoration has finally been completed and the locomotive moved under its own power for the first time in 64 years as part of a series of test runs to return it to operating condition. After the WMSR completes some track work to accommodate No. 1309's extra-heavy weight, the locomotive will enter excursion service hauling tourists later in 2021.
The Santa Cruz Railroad no. 3 is a narrow gauge steam locomotive in Washington D.C.. It is one of three preserved Baldwin Class 8/18 C locomotives in the United States, the other two being the North Pacific Coast Railroad no. 12, the "Sonoma" displayed at the California State Railroad Museum, and the Eureka and Palisade Railroad no. 4, the "Eureka" which is privately owned, the latter of which it is the only operable example. It was common practice for American railroads of the 19th century to name their engines after Jupiter, "King of Gods", and other mythological figures to attract attention, thus the engine should not be confused with the engine of Golden Spike fame.
Norfolk and Western No. 1218 is a four-cylinder simple articulated steam locomotive with a 2-6-6-4 (Whyte system) wheel arrangement. The Norfolk & Western Railway built it in 1943 at its Roanoke Shops in Roanoke, Virginia and was part of the N&W's class "A" fleet of fast freight locomotives. It was retired from regular revenue service in 1959, it was later restored by Norfolk Southern Railway and operated it in excursion service from 1987 to 1991. Today, it is now on permanent static display at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke, Virginia and is very unlikely to run again due to several missing parts from its uncompleted 1992 to 1996 overhaul.
No. 1218 is the sole survivor of the Norfolk and Western's class A locomotives and the only surviving 2-6-6-4 steam locomotive in the world. While smaller than Union Pacific's famous and more numerous "Challenger" class of 4-6-6-4 locomotives, Norfolk and Western's design racked up unmatched records of performance in service.
During 1218's excursion career, it was the most powerful operational steam locomotive in the world, with a tractive effort of , well above Union Pacific 3985, the next-strongest-pulling operational steam locomotive, with a tractive effort of ). Since May 2019, however, No. 1218 became the locomotive with the second highest tractive effort, after Union Pacific 4014, which has a tractive effort of . Unlike diesel-electric locomotives of similar high tractive effort (for starting heavy trains) but typical for a steam locomotive, it could easily run at 70 miles per hour (113 km/h) and more.
Norfolk and Western used No. 1218 and the other class A locomotives primarily for fast freight trains, but they also pulled heavy coal trains on the flatter districts of the Norfolk & Western system, and reportedly even pulled heavy passenger trains at times.
In 1959, when No. 1218 was retired, it was purchased by the Union Carbide Co. in Charleston, West Virginia, where it was used as a stationary boiler at a chemical plant. In 1965, No. 1218 was repurchased by New England millionaire F. Nelson Blount for his locomotive collection at Steamtown, U.S.A. in Bellows Falls, Vermont. Three years later, its former owner Norfolk and Western did a cosmetic restoration on 1218 at their East End Shops in Roanoke, Virginia (the same place where it was built). After that, it was put on display at the Roanoke Transportation Museum in 1971.
In 1982, the Norfolk and Western and the Southern Railway were both merged to form the new Norfolk Southern Railway (NS). On May 10, 1985, No. 1218 was moved out of the park by a pair of NS diesels to be restored to operating condition at the Norris Yard Steam Shop in Irondale, Alabama. In 1987, No. 1218 was moved under its power for the first time in 28 years and operated for main-line excursion service on Norfolk Southern's steam program. In 1989, it performed a rare doubleheader with Nickel Plate Road 2-8-2 587, which was very recently restored to operation by the Indiana Transportation Museum, for the Asheville National Railway Historical Society (NRHS) convention.
In 1990, No. 1218 traveled to Saint Louis, Missouri, where it met up with locomotives Cotton Belt 4-8-4 No. 819, Frisco 4-8-2 No. 1522, and Union Pacific 4-8-4 No. 844 to participate in another rare NRHS convention, which took place at the former Union Station.
On November 3, 1991, during Norfolk Southern's 25th Anniversary of their Steam Program, No. 1218 joined Southern Railway MS Class 2-8-2 No. 4501 and Norfolk and Western J Class No. 611 to triple head a 28-car passenger excursion train from Chattanooga to Atlanta. At Ooltewah, Tennessee, No. 4501 took a few coaches for a complete round trip, turning around at Cleveland, Tennessee. Afterwards, No. 611 and No. 1218 completed the rest of the trip to Atlanta.
At the end of the 1991 season, No. 1218 returned to Irondale, Alabama for an extensive overhaul to have its flues replaced and the firebox repaired. Originally, the plan was to have the 1218 running again would be the start of the 1996 operating season, but Norfolk Southern chairman David R. Goode cancelled the steam program in 1994 due to serious safety concerns, rising insurance costs, the expense of maintaining steam locomotives, a yard switching accident with nine passenger cars in Lynchburg, Virginia, and decreasing rail network availability.
On June 11, 1988, No. 1218 struck a Dodge Ramcharger that had become stuck on the former NKP mainline while pulling a Roanoke Chapter NRHS “Independence Limited” between Portsmouth, Ohio and Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Today, No. 1218 is owned by the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke, Virginia and is displayed in the museum's Claytor Pavilion. No. 1218 has been cosmetically restored, though not operational since the overhaul started in 1992 was never completed. Therefore, No. 1218 is very unlikely to ever run again anytime soon. Although the undertaking would be considerable, fans believe it to be capable of being returned to operation, with the incomplete boiler and firebox repairs being the primary scope of work remaining from the aborted overhaul. In 2007, Norfolk Southern pulled Nos. 1218 and 611 to its Roanoke Shops for the shops' 125th Anniversary celebration.
N&W Class J No. 611 resides at the museum when it is not running excursions or at the NC Transportation Museum in Spencer, NC, where it was restored to operating condition in 2015. The Virginia Transportation Museum owns No. 611 and operates the excursions as Norfolk Southern no longer operates a steam program, though they continue to recognize the excellent corporate public relations that derive from the excursions and have been very cooperative in coordinating such trips. In the meantime, No. 1218 continues to sit on display inside a shed, next to another former N&W steam locomotive, G-1 class No. 6.
Central Railroad of New Jersey No. 113, also known as CNJ No. 113, is an 0-6-0 "Switcher" type steam locomotive originally built in June of 1923 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) for the Central Railroad of New Jersey. The locomotive was designed solely for yard service and could only operate at slow speeds due to the locomotive not having any leading or trailing wheels, but only six driving wheels (thus the 0-6-0 wheel arrangement). No. 113 currently performs passenger excursion services and some freight assignments on Reading Blue Mountain & Northern operated tracks. It is owned and operated by the Railway Restoration Project 113 Organization out of Minersville, PA.
Work to restore the locomotive to operating condition began in 1999 and it took more than twenty years for it to fully be operational again. The total cost to restore the engine was more than $600,000 and had countless hours of volunteer labor. No. 113 was also restored with minimal protection from the elements and no heavy machinery.
Many of the parts on the locomotive had long been missing before the restoration had even started. As a result, many of the parts had to be made from scratch since there had not been any commercial builders that produced parts for steam locomotives in decades. One example is how the volunteers had to make a wooden cast of the original three-chime whistle by measuring an original CNJ whistle which was available to them. The engine was finally fired up after more than five decades of inactivity in late fall of 2012. The Railway Restoration Project 113 Organization conducted a test-run on the same day with the engine also doing some more test-runs in 2013 and 2014.
Southern Pacific 4294 is a class "AC-12" 4-8-8-2 Cab forward type steam locomotive that was owned and operated by the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP). It was built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in March 1944 and was used hauling SP's trains over the Sierra Nevada, often working on Donner Pass in California. Today it is preserved at the California State Railroad Museum (CSRM) in Sacramento, California.
No. 4294 was the last of 20 Southern Pacific class AC-12 4-8-8-2 cab forward locomotives in a larger series of 256 Southern Pacific articulated cab forwards starting with class AC-1. Articulated locomotives are essentially two locomotives sharing fire box, boiler and crew. The front locomotive has its cranks quartered 90 degrees apart. The front and rear drive axles are free to roll out of phase with respect to each other. If unloaded, the locomotive has a vertical oscillation, near 50 mph, that can lift the tires above the rails.
The cab forward design was useful in the long tunnels and snow sheds of Donner Pass and other mountainous regions where it kept smoke, heat, and soot away from the operating crew, allowing them to breathe clean air in such enclosed spaces. It entered service on March 19, 1944 and was retired from active service on March 5, 1956.
The SP was convinced to preserve one of the class and donated No. 4294 to the City of Sacramento, California, where it was put on outdoor display October 19, 1958 at the SP station next to the "C. P. Huntington", the railroad's first locomotive. Construction for Interstate 5 necessitated a move for the locomotive and it was stored in the SP shops until May 1981. At that time it was moved again, this time to its current location, the California State Railroad Museum, where it remains on static display.
Had it not been for the negotiating efforts of the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society in the 1950s, No. 4294 likely would have been scrapped along with all of the other SP cab forward locomotives. As a result, No. 4294 is the only SP cab forward that has been preserved.
At one time, it was hoped that No. 4294 could be restored to operating condition. According to CSRM personnel, the biggest impediments toward such a project are the estimated costs and the current policies of both Union Pacific Railroad and BNSF Railway in regards to operations. The cost of such a restoration is estimated between $1 million and $1.5 million, an amount that the museum feels would be prohibitive given the current prospects for its eventual operation.
No. 587 was originally built for the Lake Erie & Western Railroad (LE&W) and originally numbered as 5541. When LE&W was bought by Nickel Plate Road in 1922 the NKP spent the next 2 years consolidating and standardizing the locomotive number system. In 1924, LE&W 5541 was renumbered as NKP 587. Its cylinders were replaced with Lima Locomotive Works (LLW) castings during its late 1943 overhaul.
NKP No. 587 served on the NKP railroad for 37 years on the route from Indianapolis to Michigan City. The locomotive remained relatively unchanged from its original design and operated until March 1955 when it was retired.
On September 9th 1955, NKP 587 was donated to the city of Indianapolis and put on display in Broad Ripple Park, Indianapolis, Indiana. Prior to being put on display, the locomotive's original tender was switched with another NKP steam engine No. 639, because the tender on 639 was in need of repair and 587's original tender was in good mechanical condition. No. 587 was originally equipped with the 16-ton, 10,000 gallon tender used behind USRA 2-8-2s, but in the 1930s, it received a larger 16RA tender used on many NKP engines. This tender carried 19 tons of coal and 16,500 gallons of water. It is identifiable by having a six-wheel truck under the coal bunker and a four-wheel truck under the water cistern.
In 1934, Lima Locomotive Works delivered 25 22RA tenders to the NKP for Mikados. These tenders were nearly identical to those behind the Berkshires (2-8-4) built by Lima.
In 1955, another Mikado, No. 639 was shopped with a 22RA tender on which the stoker was inoperable, and the railroad switched tenders to keep the No. 639 running. No. 587 was displayed in Indianapolis's Broad Ripple Park with the larger 22RA tender in 1955. No. 639 was retired in 1957 and displayed in Bloomington, Illinois with No. 587's 16RA tender.
NKP No. 587 remained in Broad Ripple Park until October 1983. At that time the city of Indianapolis was interested in building a new public library in the park, but the only available location was where the 587 was displayed.
A group of people called "Friends of 587" did a feasibility study and determined that the locomotive was a good project for restoration. The locomotive was then leased by the Indianapolis Parks Department to the Indiana Transportation Museum.
From October of 1983 to September 1988 the Indiana Transportation Museum leased a work area at Amtrak's Beech Grove Shops. During restoration the museum was surprised to find that when the welds holding the fire box doors closed (for safety purposes) were removed there were still ashes in the ashpan. This indicated that the locomotive was simply pulled from active service and stored until being donated to the city of Indianapolis.
Restoration consumed many thousands of volunteer hours and nearly $250,000 in donated money and materials. NKP No. 587 returned to active service on September 17, 1988 by pulling an excursion train from Indianapolis to Logansport, Indiana.