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Canadian National 3377 is a preserved class "S-1-d" 2-8-2 "Mikado" type steam locomotive currently on display at the Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
After being retired, the locomotive was sold to the Edaville Railroad in September 1961, and then was later moved to Bellows Falls, Vermont and became part of the Steamtown, U.S.A. collection in 1969. Unfortunately, the 3377 was the target of copper thieves during her trip to Steamtown, it was never repaired and has been cannibalized for parts for Steamtown's operating Canadian National 2-8-2, the 3254. Even the pilot wheels and trailing truck were removed, making it an oversized 0-8-0. The locomotive sits on static display south of the Steamtown shops, although Steamtown is considering on possibly restoring 3377 to operating condition as part of their operating fleet in the near future once Boston and Maine 3713 and Canadian Pacific 2317 are both restored and return to service.
Southern Pacific 4449, also known as the "Daylight", is the only surviving example of Southern Pacific Railroad's "GS-4" class of 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotives and one of only two GS-class locomotives surviving, the other being "GS-6" 4460 at the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri. GS is abbreviation from "Golden State", a nickname for California (where the locomotive was operated in regular service), or "General Service".
The locomotive was built by Lima Locomotive Works in Lima, Ohio for the Southern Pacific in May 1941; it received the red-and-orange "Daylight" paint scheme for the passenger trains of the same name which it hauled for most of its service career. No. 4449 was retired from revenue service in 1956 and put into storage. In 1958, the Southern Pacific donated the locomotive to the City of Portland, Oregon. The City then put the locomotive on static display in Oaks Amusement Park, where it remained until 1974.
After this, the 4449 was then restored to operation for use in the "American Freedom Train", which toured the 48 contiguous United States as part of the nation's 1976 Bicentennial celebration. The locomotive has operated in excursion service throughout that area since 1984.
The locomotive's operations are based at the Oregon Rail Heritage Center in Portland, Oregon where it is maintained by a group of volunteers named the "Friends of SP 4449". In 1983, a poll of "Trains" magazine readers selected 4449 as being the most popular locomotive in the nation.
4449 was the last steam engine manufactured in Southern Pacific's first order of GS-4 (Golden State/General Service) locomotives. 4449 was placed into service on May 30, 1941, and spent its early career assigned to the "Coast Daylight", Southern Pacific's premier passenger train between San Francisco and Los Angeles, California, but it also pulled many other of the SP's named passenger trains.
After the arrival of newer GS-4s and GS-5s, 4449 was assigned to "Golden State Route" and "Sunset Route" passenger trains. 4449 was reassigned to the Coast Division in the early 1950s.
One of 4449's career highlights occurred on October 17, 1954, when SP 4449 and sister Southern Pacific 4447 pulled a special 10-car train for the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society from Los Angeles to Owenyo, California, and return. In late 1955, after being one of the last few Daylight steam engines in Daylight livery, 4449 was painted black and silver and its side skirting (a streamlining feature of the Daylight steam engines) was removed due to dieselization of the "Coast Daylight" in January of that year.
No. 4449 was then assigned to Southern Pacific's San Joaquin Valley line, occasionally pulling passenger trains such as the "San Joaquin Daylight" between Oakland and Bakersfield as well as fast freight and helper service. 4449 was semi-retired from service on September 24, 1956, and was kept as an emergency back-up locomotive until it was officially retired on October 2, 1957, and was placed in storage along with several other GS-class engines near Southern Pacific's Bakersfield roundhouse.
In 1958, when most of the GS class engines had already been scrapped, a then black-and-silver painted 4449 was removed from storage and donated on April 24, 1958, to the City of Portland, Oregon, where it was placed on outdoor public display in Oaks Park. Since the equipment was considered obsolete, 4449 was not actively chosen for static display. It was picked only because it was the first in the dead line and could be removed with the fewest switching moves.
During its time on display, 4449 was repeatedly vandalized and had many of its external parts stolen, including its builder's plates and whistle. As a result, the locomotive quickly deteriorated. However, Jack Holst, a Southern Pacific employee, looked after SP 4449 along with two other steam locomotives, Spokane, Portland and Seattle 700 and Oregon Railroad and Navigation 197. Holst kept the engines' bearings and rods oiled in case they were ever to move again. Holst died in 1972 and sadly never got to see 4449 return to operation.
In 1974, 4449 was evaluated for restoration after becoming a candidate to pull the "American Freedom Train", as its size, power and streamlining made it a good fit for that Bicentennial train. After the evaluators determined that 4449's bearings and rods remained in good condition, they selected the locomotive for that task.
4449 was removed from display on December 13, 1974 and restored at the Burlington Northern Railroad's Hoyt Street roundhouse in Portland. The locomotive returned to operation on April 21, 1975 wearing a special paint scheme of red, white and blue. Because the original whistle was stolen, two replacement whistles were fitted to the locomotive: a Hancock 3 chime from a Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway Challenger which was taken off the Spokane, Portland and Seattle 700 and a Southern Pacific Railroad 6 Chime whistle.
As part of the "American Freedom Train", the locomotive pulled a display train through most of the contiguous United States. The 4449 only pulled the Freedom Train in the Western portions of the country, whereas in the Eastern portions, the train was pulled by Reading 2101, which was recently restored by Ross Rowland, and in Texas, the train was pulled by Texas and Pacific 610.
After the Freedom Tour ended, 4449 pulled an Amtrak special, the "Amtrak Transcontinental Steam Excursion" during 1977. After nearly two years on the road, 4449 was returned to storage in Portland, this time under protective cover and not exposed to the elements.
In 1986, 4449 went to Hollywood to appear in "Tough Guys" and pulled business trains for the Southern Pacific. 4449 had a notable moment in 1989 when it and another famed locomotive, Union Pacific 844, made a side-by-side entrance into Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal in 1989 for the station's 50th anniversary celebrations. The two locomotives then ran side by side on Santa Fe's and Southern Pacific's parallel main lines through Cajon Pass, although 4449 eventually had to stop due to a hot axle box.
Sometime between May and July 1989, the 4449's SP&S whistle was set aside for the SP&S 700 and a Northern Pacific Hancock 3 chime was fitted on the engineer's side. This whistle would remain on the locomotive for the next 21 years. Later that same year, 4449 would later appear in the 1990 drama film "Come See the Paradise". In late 1990 or early 1991, the SP 6 chime on the fireman's side was stolen off the engine while sitting in the Brooklyn Roundhouse.
No. 4449 was repainted into the American Freedom Train paint scheme again in early 2002 after the events of the September 11th terrorist attacks. In the fall of 2004, 4449 returned to the classic Daylight paint scheme, this time in its "as delivered" appearance. It appeared in the autumn of 2004 with the then-extant Montana Rockies Rail Tours company pulling (with a diesel helper behind it) two summer excursion trips between Sandpoint, Idaho and Billings, Montana, including stops at the Livingston Depot.
On May 18 and May 19, 2007, SP 4449 made another appearance with UP 844 in the Pacific Northwest for the "Puget Sound Excursion", on BNSF Railway tracks from Tacoma to Everett, Washington, round-trip.
On March 24, 2009, it was announced that 4449 would attend Trainfestival 2009 in Owosso, Michigan from July 23–26 with an all-day excursion planned on the 23rd and 24th and a photo run-by planned for each trip. The engine was then placed on display for the rest of the event.
The historic 2,500-mile move from Portland to Owosso was arranged by the "Friends of the 4449", Amtrak, Steam Railroading Institute of Owosso and the Friends of the 261. The Milwaukee Road 261 organization loaned some of their first-class passenger cars, including the former Milwaukee Road Super Dome #53 and the Cedar Rapids Skytop Lounge for the 4449 and for the other excursion trains at the festival.
The train left its home at Brooklyn Roundhouse on July 2nd and left the city of Portland the following day on July 3rd. It returned to the city Portland and Brooklyn Roundhouse on October 20. In December 2010, 4449's whistle, greatly worn from years of use with only one Chime working properly, was replaced with an authentic Hancock 3-chime that had been used on a long-lost brother locomotive or sister locomotive.
Following a two-year hiatus needed to accommodate the locomotive's mandatory 15-year inspection and overhaul, SP 4449 returned to service on November 25, 2015. From 2016 to 2019, SP 4449 pulled several excursion trains during each year. In late 2019, the locomotive was scheduled to haul the annual 40 minute round trip "Holiday Express" fundraisers through Portland's Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge along the Willamette River during November and December of that year.
As of 2021, the locomotive is most commonly pulled out for the Holiday Express in late November and December, as well as the occasional mainline excursion. The reason 4449's mainline runs are limited is due to Amtrak's policy against special excursions.
4449 is maintained by Doyle McCormack, a retired Union Pacific engineer and collector, along with many others volunteers. From 1981 to 2012, No. 4449 resided at Union Pacific's (formerly Southern Pacific) Brooklyn roundhouse in Portland along with several other historic steam and diesel locomotives. The Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation, a partnership of non-profit organizations that owned or maintained historic rolling stock at the roundhouse, began a campaign in late 2009 to construct a permanent, publicly accessible engine house for the City of Portland's steam locomotives.
Upon the closing of the Brooklyn Roundhouse in June 2012 in order to make the yard larger, the 4449 was moved with its stablemates SP&S 700 and OR&N 197 to the Oregon Rail Heritage Center (ORHC), a new restoration facility and public interpretive center adjacent to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) in southeast Portland. The ORHC opened to the public on September 22, 2012.
Only one other true Southern Pacific GS-class steam engine survives, Southern Pacific 4460, a GS-6, which is on static display at the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri. She was built during World War II, but was never painted in the famous Daylight paint scheme. Instead, she was painted black and silver, thus giving she the nicknames "War Baby" and "Black Daylight". No. 4460 has the third nickname of "Forgotten Daylight", as it remains unrestored.
Nickel Plate Road 779 is a 2-8-4 or "Berkshire" type steam locomotive built for the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad in May 1949, for use on fast freight trains. It was the last new steam locomotive to be delivered to the Nickel Plate Road, and alongside L&N 1991, another 2-8-4 for the Louisville and Nashville, is the last steam locomotive ever completed by Lima Locomotive Works, and the final 2-8-4 locomotive on standard gauge completed in the world.
Upon her retirement in early 1958, the locomotive had logged 677,095 miles.
In 1966, she was donated to the City of Lima, Ohio and placed on display in Lincoln Park, where she remains to date.
St. Louis Southwestern No. 819 is a class "L1" 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotive and is also the official state locomotive or Arkansas. It was completed in 1943 and was the last engine built by the St. Louis Southwestern Railway, which was affectionately known as "The Cotton Belt Route" or simply "Cotton Belt". It was also the last locomotive built in Arkansas. It was restored to operating condition in 1986 and operated in excursion service until October 1993. Today, it is now located at the Arkansas Railroad Museum, currently being restored back to a static display condition with an intention to restore the locomotive for an eventual second excursion career.
The Cotton Belt initially purchased ten "Northern" 4-8-4 engines (#800–809) from Baldwin Locomotive Works located at Eddystone, Pennsylvania in 1930. Seven years later, the Cotton Belt built five more Northern engines (#810–814) from their own shops in Pine Bluff, Arkansas in 1937. These Northern locomotives were Class L1 on the Cotton Belt.
In 1942, Cotton Belt officials petitioned the War Production Board for authorization to buy five new EMD FT diesel locomotives for their growing freight business. Instead, they were granted approval to produce five more 4-8-4 type locomotives (#815–819). Although similar to the previous set of five steam engines, these new locomotives had many modern improvements.
Since 819 was built during World War II, some materials were in short supply. The Cotton Belt emblems, which would have normally been made of brass, were made of steel to save brass for the war effort. Decorative emblems, numbers, etc., were also made of steel and chromium plating was entirely eliminated. Work on the new L1 Northerns began on Tuesday June 2, 1942. But delivery of the boilers from the Baldwin Locomotive Works lagged. The five new boilers were shipped by Baldwin to Pine Bluff between November 5 and December 12, 1942. The rail journey from Philadelphia to Pine Bluff took about five days for each boiler. Work by the Cotton Belt shop forces took an additional five or six weeks to complete each new locomotive.
On Monday February 8, 1943, the last of these five steam locomotives, Engine 819, was placed in active service. It was the final locomotive constructed by the Cotton Belt's own staff of mechanical engineers, mechanical officers, foremen and workers in the company shops at Pine Bluff, Arkansas. The cost to build was $143,607.00 and it was to be the last locomotive produced in Arkansas.
Engine 819 traveled more than 804,000 miles during its 10½ years of service, before being forced aside by the more modern diesel locomotives. On July 19, 1955 Cotton Belt's President H. J. McKenzie presented retired Engine 819 to the City of Pine Bluff to show the Cotton Belt's gratitude for the part the city had played in their steam locomotive operations. McKenzie commented that this model engine is generally conceded to be one of the best designed and most attractive of its type ever built. He recalled how the engine had been built by local craftsmen, who were very proud of them and he hoped that the people of Pine Bluff would be equally proud to display it in their public park.
However, just four years later, the "Pine Bluff Commercial" ran this note in the October 6, 1959 edition:
It took most of a year to get 819's situation improved. It was decided to move the engine to a new location approximately 150 yards west of its old spot, near the front of the Reserve building. The Pine Bluff Jaycees spearheaded the drive to build a green and white steel shed at the new location, while the move and reconditioning was being coordinated by members of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen and Cotton Belt employees. Several civic organizations talked of undertaking the project of restoring the engine to better condition, only to find out that such a project required technical know-how that only railmen possessed. That was when BRT stepped in and offered to assist with the engine.
"Before we're through," one of the men said "that old engine will look just like it did the day it rolled out of the shop she was built in. We hope to have her fixed where she'll be better taken care of, too."
During the move to her new location between Townsend and Oakland Parks, Engine 819 "broke loose" and coasted down an incline on her temporary track. The locomotive, after starting to coast, rammed the park's lake embankment and finally stopped against a large black oak tree. The workmen labored the next day to get the engine back on her rails and into place. Crews stated they expected to have the locomotive in her new quarters in about two more weeks.
Upon completion of Engine 819's new home in 1965, Mayor Austin Franks shared one of the two keys to the gate with long-time railfan James Norris. Norris' father had taken the locomotive out for her first run in 1943 and young James always remembered his late-father when he saw the engine. Despite being in his late 50s and in failing health, James Norris faithfully visited the locomotive every week to knock off the bird nests and occasionally replace some broken glass in the cab. He would open the gate on Sundays while he was there to let kids climb on the locomotive, ring the bell and answer their many questions.
"Every time I come out here I can see my daddy standing right on that step." Norris said "It kinda gets down in your heart."
It is uncertain when Mr. Norris' health got so bad that he could no longer continue his weekly maintenance visits to the 819, but he admitted in 1965 that his doctor had told him to stay away from the locomotive. Records indicate that Mr. Norris died in 1970 and by 1983 the "Arkansas Democrat" described the locomotive as "covered in graffiti and vandals have removed, or tried to take, whatever wasn't too heavy to carry off." Miss Arkansas of 1958, Sally Miller Perdue, from Pine Bluff complained "It had been abandoned and stripped of all its dignity. It has become the iron-horse that was put out to pasture, neglected and abused."
Ms. Perdue, whose family had a long history with the railroad, agreed to chair a sub-committee of the Chamber of Commerce's Publicity & Tourism to get the 819 rejuvenated and relocated. With a slogan of "Let's Put the Steam Back in Pine Bluff", she felt that a lot of volunteers, mainly retired Cotton Belt craftsmen and engineers, would be interested in working to restore the 819. Superintendent R. R. McClanahan of the Cotton Belt Pine Bluff Division worked hard to get the locomotive and tender transported from the park back to the shops to make those repairs.
On December 1, 1983, a force of between 50 and 100 Cotton Belt employees, most of them volunteers, assisted railfans and rail historical groups, placed Engine 819 back on Cotton Belt rails for the first time in nearly three decades and transported the engine from the park back to the site of its manufacturing 40 years earlier. Members of the newly formed Cotton Belt Rail Historical Society moved the locomotive back to the Cotton Belt shops, where it was to be restored in a bold project to show Arkansans what past gigantic locomotives looked like.
Although the ownership of the locomotive was retained by the city, the restoration of the 819 was the responsibility of "Project 819", an all-volunteer effort by two rail historical preservation groups: the Arkansas Railroad Club and the Cotton Belt Rail Historical Society. The project leased space needed at the Cotton Belt shops in Pine Bluff to complete the restoration, which was projected to take 18–24 months.
While the engine languished in the park, various parts disappeared including its bell, whistle, Cotton Belt emblems and many of the gauges. Jake Commer, President of the Cotton Belt Rail Historical Society at the time, offered a "no questions asked" policy for the return of these items and received many of the parts back, including the whistle and one of the emblems. The original bell was never located however and the one currently on the engine is from another 800 class locomotive. That bell was used for many years by the Wesley United Methodist Church in Pine Bluff before being donated to Project 819.
Led by Bill B. Bailey, the Restoration Director for "Project 819", seven separate volunteer groups worked six days a week on various sections of the locomotive and tender in hopes of getting the engine totally restored and federally certified as worthy to run on the rails again. Mr. Bailey estimated that about 20% of the volunteers had actually worked on the locomotive or went through an apprenticeship in the early 1940s when the 819 or other 800-class steam locomotives were built in the Cotton Belt Shops at Pine Bluff.
Twenty days later, on April 26, 1986, Engine 819 pulled into Fordyce on her first full-fledged trip out of Pine Bluff in 31 years. School children from Pine Bluff, Rison, Kingsland and Fordyce waved and shouted their delight at the engine. Cars of railfans followed the train's path, taking pictures.
During the summer of 1986, film crews came to Pine Bluff for the production of the movie "End of the Line". Engine 819 played a minor role along with 35 Pine Bluff residents turned-actors, many of them members of the Cotton Belt Rail Historical Society who had helped restore the steam engine. Arkansas-born actress Mary Steenburgen was the film's executive producer, who worked hard to be able to use the newly restored locomotive for the movie. On August 27, Pine Bluff residents were treated to a special premiere showing of the Orion Pictures film at the Pine Mall Cinema. Proceeds from the $5.00 tickets were given to the Cotton Belt Rail Historical Society.
For the next seven years, the locomotive traveled on numerous excursions, including a trip to the 1990 NRHS convention in St. Louis, where it stood at Union Station with Union Pacific Railroad's No. 844, Frisco No. 1522 and Norfolk & Western No. 1218. No. 819 ran its final excursion train to Tyler, Texas and return in October 1993.
Engine 819 was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in May 18, 2003.
The locomotive is partially disassembled for its mandated 15-year Federal Railroad Administration inspection. The boiler has been “ultra-sounded” and documented, with only a small area of the firebox remaining to be checked. The flue tubes were removed with plans made for their replacement. A sudden increase in material costs and various emergency repairs needed at the museum over the years have exhausted funds that were hoped to be used to complete the project. The locomotive is sat idle inside the museum, awaiting its return to steam and possible future travels although current plans only call for the restoration of the locomotive to a static display condition.
In March 2021, the Arkansas State Legislature passed an act designating the 819 the official locomotive of Arkansas with the hope that the passing of this act would encourage and provide for future funds for restoration and protection for the locomotive.
Southern Railway 4501 is a class "Ms" 2-8-2 "Mikado" type steam locomotive built in October 1911 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as the first of its wheel arrangement type to be built for the Southern Railway. In 1948, the locomotive was retired from the Southern in favor of dieselization and was sold to the shortline Kentucky and Tennessee Railway (K&T) in Stearns, Kentucky to haul coal trains.
No. 4501 worked on many different divisions of the Southern Railway system from Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, and Indiana. In October 1948, the Kentucky and Tennessee Railway (K&T) headquartered in Stearns, Kentucky purchased the locomotive and renumbered it as their No. 12. When the Kentucky and Tennessee Railway purchased three ALCO S-2s from the Denver & Rio Grande Western in February 1964, the locomotive, along with the K&T's other steam locomotives, were retired from revenue service. Railfan Paul H. Merriman bought the locomotive for the 4501 Corporation with $5,000 of his own money and restored it for excursion use on the Southern Railway System.
On June 6, 1964, after running to Chattanooga from the K&T, an initial restoration was done by Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum (TVRM) volunteers at the facilities of the Lucey Boiler Company in Chattanooga near the TVRM's storage facilities, which were at the time located on former Western Union Company tracks.
No. 4501 was stripped down for an extensive overhaul with the thin cab floor, the rotted ash pan, and the rusty smokebox front replaced. The dented cab roof was straightened and a radio antenna was installed. In addition, the cylinder cocks were reworked and the throttle was lapped with a new airline run to the repacked reverse gear. With the blessing of Southern Railway executives, the No. 4501 was repainted in Southern's Virginia green with gold lining instead of its original freight black livery.
After the restoration was completed in August 1966, the No. 4501 launched its first public run between Chattanooga and Richmond, Virginia. In 1969, No. 4501's tender, which could hold of coal and of water, was replaced by a larger ex-Central of Georgia (CG) tender from a maintenance of way wreck train in Georgia. The new tender holds of coal and of water.
In November 1969, during the 75th anniversary of the Southern Railway, a historic photo session, which featured three steamers, took place in Anniston, Alabama, along the Birmingham to Atlanta mainline. This event was dubbed “Steam-O-Rama”. It featured the 4501, as well as, Savannah and Atlanta 4-6-2 No. 750, which also recently returned to steam by the Railway, and London and North Eastern Railway A3 No. 4472 “Flying Scotsman”, which was in the course of its USA tour at the time.
In the 1970s, No. 4501 was run off of Southern Railway property for a series of excursion trips on the Illinois Central (IC), the Chicago and North Western (CNW), the Milwaukee Road (MILW), the Rock Island Line (RI), and the Norfolk & Western (NW). The locomotive became famous for pulling the "Old Milwaukee Special" Circus World Museum train via the CNW line between Baraboo, Wisconsin and Madison, Wisconsin and the MILW line to Milwaukee, Wisconsin in summer 1973. On March 28, 1979, No. 4501 was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
On April 11, 1981, the locomotive suffered a cracked front flue sheet at Dalton, Georgia during an excursion trip from Atlanta, Georgia to Chattanooga. A diesel locomotive pulled the remainder of the trip and No. 4501 was towed back to the Irondale Workshop in Birmingham, Alabama for a long-term rebuild. The locomotive would not operate again until November 1984. Following the rebuild, No. 4501 received a newly-welded tender body with the water tank capacity decreased to and the tender's old Andrews pilot trucks were replaced with modern roller bearing trucks. At the same time, No. 4501 was repainted into a lighter Sylvan Green (later diesel era) scheme with dark gray smokebox, black wheel centers, unpolished rods, and no bell acorn.
In 1985, the locomotive was retired from main line excursion service and moved back to TVRM due to the steam program being expanded by Southern's successor, Norfolk Southern with larger Norfolk & Western steam locomotives, 4-8-4 J Class No. 611 and 2-6-6-4 A Class No. 1218.
On November 3, 1991, during Norfolk Southern's 25th anniversary steam program, No. 4501 returned to main line excursion service and joined Norfolk & Western No. 611 and No. 1218 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.
In 1994, Norfolk Southern announced that they would discontinue their steam program due to serious safety concerns, rising insurance costs, the expense of maintaining steam locomotives, and decreasing rail network availability due to a surge in freight traffic. No. 4501 made its last public Norfolk Southern main-line steam excursion trip from Birmingham to Columbus, Georgia on April 30, 1994. The locomotive was taken off the excursion trip at Alexander City, Alabama due to overheated bearings, and the Norfolk Southern GP59 diesel locomotive No. 4610 finished the rest of the trip. After its last excursion on the Norfolk Southern, the No. 4501 returned to the TVRM on May 25, 1994.
After Norfolk Southern ended their steam program in late 1994, No. 4501 remained at TVRM operating their excursions through North Georgia on the former Central of Georgia ’C’ line that became the Chattooga and Chickamauga Railway shortline. In 1996, the locomotive was repainted into its circa 1930s freight black livery during TVRM's 35th anniversary, until it was retired due to the expiration of its boiler ticket on September 20, 1998.
In June 2010, Norfolk Southern announced that they would run excursions with No. 4501 and 2-8-0 "Consolidation" No. 630 with their new 21st Century Steam program. In March 2011, Southern No. 630 returned to service pulling tourist trains for the TVRM and some of the first main-line excursion trips for the 21st Century Steam program. With No. 630 in operating condition, the restoration of No. 4501 began in 2012.
During the restoration of No. 4501 around 2013, the locomotive received upgrades to its trailing wheels that included the addition of roller bearings to help guide the locomotive through track curves. A replica of a Worthington SA type feedwater heater from a China Railways QJ Class 2-10-2 was built to improve the locomotive's performance. Its tender was given a mechanical stoker from Canadian National Railway No. 5288, a 4-6-2 steam locomotive that was also on display at TVRM. The Armstrong lubricators that spring-loaded the driving wheels were replenished by an automatic lubricator from the North Yorkshire Moors Railway in North Yorkshire, England. No. 4501's boiler also received attention and was recertified from its operating pressure of to , which created a slight increase in tractive effort.
On September 6, 2014, No. 4501 was steamed up for the first time since 1998 and its first public debut took place at TVRM's 2014 Railfest. The locomotive made a test run from Chattanooga to LaFayette, Georgia on the Chattooga and Chickamauga Railway line on September 25, 2014 to prepare it for the TVRM's upcoming seasonal "Summerville Steam Special" on October 4 that year.
On May 1, 2015, No. 4501 successfully completed a test-run on the Norfolk Southern mainline from TVRM to Cleveland, Tennessee and back.
On June 26, 2015, No. 4501 ran the "Radford Rambler" excursion from Bristol, Virginia to Radford, Virginia. On June 27, the locomotive pulled the "Lonesome Pine Special" excursion from Bristol, Tennessee to Bulls Gap, Tennessee, and ran the "Radford Rambler" excursion again on June 28.
On September 12 and 13, 2015, No. 4501 ran a round-trip excursion from Chattanooga to Cleveland, during TVRM's 2015 Railfest. Two weeks later, the locomotive ran the "Nancy Hanks Special" excursion from Macon, Georgia to Tennille, Georgia.
No. 4501 was also planned to run the "Piedmont Limited" excursion from Atlanta to Toccoa, Georgia on October 3 and 4, 2015. However, it was cancelled on October 1 due to Hurricane Joaquin. As a result, Norfolk Southern officially concluded their 21st Century Steam program. Despite this, the N&W J Class No. 611 locomotive, which had been restored since 2015, continued to run various excursions across the Norfolk Southern system in Virginia and North Carolina. No. 4501 remained at the TVRM to continue regular operations and became the main motive power for its annual "Summerville Steam Special" excursion from Chattanooga to Summerville, Georgia.
In September 2019, No. 4501 was dressed up as Louisville & Nashville steam locomotive J-3 class No. 1593 for the L&N Historical Society annual convention.
The Great Northern O-1 was a class of 145 2-8-2 "Mikado"-type steam locomotives built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works between 1911 and 1919 and used by the Great Northern Railway until the late 1950s.
The O-1s, along with other O Class Mikados of the Great Northern, were used system-wide to pull freight trains. As of today, only one O-1 has been preserved, No. 3059, from the second batch of O-1s. It was retired in December 1957 and is on display near the Williston depot in Williston, North Dakota.
The class featured a Belpaire firebox deep by wide; giving a grade area of . This was attached to a tapered boiler that was pressed to – even though it had been designed for – feeding steam to two cylinders, which were connected to diameter driving wheels by Walschaerts valve gear. The last five locomotives were delivered with Southern valve gear; however, these were later replaced with Walschaerts.
All 145 locomotives were built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in four batches between August 1911 and February 1919. Baldwin class 12-50--E was assigned.
Two engines were built as oil burners: 3020 and 3021.
All were assigned to haul freight trains system wide. During the 1940s, twelve (3004, 3022, 3033, 3048, 3071, 3100, 3106, 3135, 3137, 3138, 3142, 3144) were equipped with boosters, which added between of tractive effort; these were removed in the early 1950s. Between 1925 and 1944, thirteen O-1s (Nos. 3023, 3024, 3026, 3028, 3029, 3039, 3043, 3064, 3099, 3108, 3121, 3122 and 3134) were sold to the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway.
Two engines were retired after being involved in wrecks: 3113 in 1946, and 3128 in 1949; the latter was so badly damaged it was scrapped on site.
The remaining locomotives were retired between 1948 and 1958. The Great Northern were in no hurry to scrap them as it was as late as 1963 that the last locomotive to be scrapped was cut up.
The Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway scrapped its O-1s between 1945 and 1950.
Only one O-1 has survived into preservation, No. 3059 of the second batch. It was built in February 1913 and retired in December 1957. On August 2, 1958, it was donated for display near the Williston Depot in Williston, North Dakota and currently resides there. It is the sole surviving Great Northern "Mikado" type steam locomotive.
Baltimore and Ohio 4500 is a 2-8-2 "USRA Light Mikado" steam locomotive built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in July 1918 for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) as a member of the Q-3 class.
The locomotive hauled freight for the B&O until retirement in August 1957 and was donated for display at the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the sole surviving Baltimore and Ohio Mikado type steam locomotive.
The locomotive was the very first USRA locomotive built and it was constructed in. It was also finished on July 4th, 1918 and it was decked out with American Flags for the occasion. While is remained as built mechanically, it received some of B&O's distinctive cosmetic changes throughout its service life, but the locomotive retains the original tender and trailing truck. During its service life, the locomotive was in freight service primarily on the Ohio and St. Louis divisions of the railroad. In 1957, the locomotive was renumbered 300 to make room for four-digit diesel locomotives.
In August 1957, 4500, still numbered 300, was retired and in 1964, it was put on display at the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, Maryland and was renumbered back to 4500, its original number. In 1990, the locomotive was designated as a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark. Today, it still resides there on display.
Soo Line No. 2645 is a preserved class E-25 4-6-0 "Ten Wheeler" type steam locomotive. It was built in November 1900 by the Brooks Locomotive Works as part of the E-25 class for the Wisconsin Central as No. 247. In 1909, the Wisconsin Central leased by the Soo Line Railroad, and from there on, the locomotive was renumbered 2645. No. 2645 spent its entire career in Wisconsin. Often it was stationed in Manitowoc and, Fond du Lac. The locomotive also received a class 5 overhaul in early 1952, and it was reassigned to Neenah.
Its last revenue freight assignment occurred on October 29, 1952, and it was afterwards donated to Frame Park in Waukesha, Wisconsin, where it remained on static display until 1972. That year, it was moved to the nearby ex-Chicago and North Western station that eventually became a restaurant. On September 20, 1988, the Waukesha City Council donated No. 2645 to the Mid-Continent Railway Museum. The following year, a realignment of ex-C&NW trackage was made for a new connection on the Wisconsin Central mainline, and the Wisconsin & Calumet Railroad ordered the locomotive to be moved, so when volunteers arrived at Waukesha, they quickly prepped the locomotive for movement to North Freedom on its own wheels.
No. 2645 arrived on the property in July of 1989. During the Soo Line Historical & Technical Historical Society’s annual convention during the summer of 2004, it received a cosmetic restoration to improve its overall appearance as a static display. As of 2021, No. 2645 continues to reside at North Freedom for static display. Whether or not it will be restored for operational purposes is yet to be determined.
Southern Railway 1401 is a steam locomotive that is the sole survivor of Southern Railway's Ps-4 class. Today it is on permanent display at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. It has a Pacific-type or 4-6-2 (Whyte notation) wheel arrangement and was built in 1926 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) at their Richmond works.
Today Southern Railway 1401 is one of the exhibits in the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. Southern cosmetically restored the locomotive just before sending it for display at the Smithsonian, and it was probably stored serviceable when it was retired from active service, but it has not operated in more than half a century. When Graham Claytor was a Southern executive in the mid-1960s, he attempted to lease 1401 from the Smithsonian for operational use in Southern's steam excursion program. The Smithsonian refused, and Claytor leased Southern Railway No. 4501 (originally a freight locomotive with a 2-8-2 wheel arrangement) and painted it in the green, gold, and silver scheme instituted for the Ps-4s.
In 2012, the locomotive made an appearance in an episode of "Parks and Recreation". Andy (Chris Pratt) mistakes it for Sierra #3, the locomotive seen in "Back to the Future Part III", and attempts to climb on it.
Sierra Railway No. 3, often called the "Movie Star locomotive", is a 19th-century steam locomotive owned by the State of California and preserved at Railtown 1897 State Historic Park in Jamestown, California. Former Transportation History curator at the Smithsonian Institution William L. Withhuhn described the locomotive's historical and cultural significance:
Sierra Railway No. 3 has appeared in more motion pictures, documentaries, and television productions than any other locomotive. It is undisputedly the image of the archetypal steam locomotive that propelled the USA from the 19th century into the 20th.
Built in 1891, the locomotive returned to operation in July 2010 after a fourteen-year absence from service and a three-year-long overhaul, requiring the replacement of its original boiler.
The locomotive, a 4-6-0 ten-wheeler, was built by the Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works of Paterson, New Jersey. Construction of the locomotive was completed on March 26, 1891, and it was given Rogers construction number 4493. It has cylinders, driving wheels and weighs in working order. It was built for the Prescott & Arizona Central Railway (P&AC) as their locomotive #3 and named "W.N. Kelley" after the company's treasurer.
The P&AC went bankrupt in 1893 and its owner, Thomas S. Bullock, relocated to California bringing much of his railroad equipment, including the No. 3. He then entered into a partnership with Prince André Poniatowski and William H. Crocker, and together in 1897 they incorporated the Sierra Railway Company of California to connect Oakdale, California with the timber producing regions of Tuolumne County and Calaveras County.