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When the steam power era ended most railroads scrapped their locomotives. The PRR however took pride in their engineering and mechanical legacy. PRR historian Dan Cupper gives much credit to a former Chief of Motive Power for the initiative to preserve examples of their most successful engines at their Northumberland, Pennsylvania roundhouse. In 1975, PRR 3750 was moved to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg, Pennsylvania. The entire PRR collection came under threat in the 1980s when the PRR's successor, the Penn Central estate, sought to raise cash by selling them for scrap. The Pennsylvania Legislature intervened and forgave some back taxes in exchange for deeding the collection to the state.
The Pennsylvania General Assembly designated 3750 and 1361 the official state steam locomotives on December 18, 1987, while also designating the GG1 4859 the state electric locomotive in the same bill.
As of 2019, the 3750 sits on outdoor static display at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania outside of Strasburg, Pennsylvania. The museum's volunteer group plans to have 3750 cosmetically restored prior to it being placed in a planned roundhouse.
The Great Northern S-2 was a class of 14 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotives built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1930 and operated by the Great Northern Railway until the late 1950s.
The locomotives were built to haul passengers on the GN mainline, pulling the "Empire Builder" and the "Oriental Limited" and were assigned to the Montana division for service between Williston, North Dakota and Havre, Montana and the Spokane division for service between Spokane, Washington and Wenatchee, Washington, then assigned to the Divide between Havre and Whitefish, Montana, of which mostly runs through the famed Marias Pass, though they were also used on GN tracks outside of their assigned areas.
Today, only one S-2 survives, No. 2584. It was retired in December 1957 and moved to the Havre depot in Havre, Montana in May 1964 where it still resides today.
By 1949, the Great Northern had dieselised its premier passenger trains and the S-2s were then reassigned to secondary passenger runs and freight service, of which the latter service proved to be rather unsuitable for them due to their passenger locomotive design. Retirement started on August 25, 1955 and engines 2577 and 2584 made their last revenue runs in 1956 before being retired a year later. By April 1958, all of the S-2s have been retired.
Only one S-2 survived into preservation today, No. 2584. It made its final run in late 1956 and it was stored in a roundhouse in Superior, Wisconsin. It was then retired in December 1957 and on March 21, 1958, the Great Northern had decided to hold it for historical purposes and it was eventually repainted to its original Glacier Green paint scheme. On May 15, 1964, it was put on display at the Havre depot in Havre, Montana and was dedicated there. Today, it is still on display there. It also has a marker describing the locomotive and the S-2 class in general on the engineer's side of the locomotive's tender. It is the sole surviving Great Northern "Northern" type and the largest surviving Great Northern steam locomotive.
The tender from S-2 No. 2575 also survives, it is currently used as an auxiliary tender for Spokane, Portland and Seattle 700.
List of preserved Southern Pacific Railroad rolling stock
A large quantity of rolling stock formerly owned and operated by Southern Pacific Railroad has been preserved in museums and on tourist railroads across North America.
Southern Railway 401 is a steam locomotive built in December 1907 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works for Southern Railway. It is a 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type of Southern's "H-4" class.
Southern Railway #401 is one of 25 class "H-4" 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type steam locomotives built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in December 1907. The H4 class was generally used in mixed train service, to haul branch line freight trains, and later, as yard switchers. In 1949, #401 was sold to the Alabama Asphaltic Limestone Company in Margerum, Alabama. She switched hopper cars of stone until the company brought in a diesel locomotive in 1963. The #401 was then placed on standby service in case the diesel broke down. Sometimes, she would be fired up for company picnics so children could blow the whistle. In 1965, #401 was officially retired from service.
Southern Pacific #9 is a oil-fired narrow gauge steam locomotive, built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in November 1909.
It was originally built for the Nevada–California–Oregon Railway and was sold to Southern Pacific in the late 1920s. The engine worked the rest of its career on the SP narrow gauge. The locomotive, along with sisters #8 and #18, were nicknamed "The Slim Princess" for riding along the western and eastern deserts of Nevada and California.
In 1954, there was a plan to purchase a new narrow gauge diesel from GE as SP #1, to replace numbers #9, #8 and #18. Whilst #8 and #18 were sold off, #9 was kept on as a standby locomotive to support diesel locomotive #1 in case of a breakdown.
The engine and the two others, #8 and #18, survived into preservation. Southern Pacific #9 is now on display at the Laws Railroad Museum in Laws, California.
The engine was also used in the 1948 film 3 Godfathers, starring John Wayne, Pedro Armendáriz, and Harry Carey Jr.; as well as cameoing the 1954 - 1957 TV western series Annie Oakley, starring Gail Davis.
Baldwin 60000 is an experimental steam locomotive built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Eddystone, Pennsylvania, in 1926, during the height of the railroading industry. It received its number for being the 60,000th locomotive built by Baldwin.
It was designed to be the best locomotive that Baldwin ever made. It boasts three cylinders, weighs about , including tender, and can pull a load of up to . Its top speed is .
60000 was very innovative, carrying unusual technology, including a water-tube firebox. This was intended to improve efficiency but the tubes were prone to burst inside the firebox. It is also a compound, expanding the steam once in the inside cylinder and then again in the two outside cylinders. Although compounding increases efficiency, it was an extra complication that the US railroads had mostly rejected by the middle twenties. The weight and length of the engine were too much for all but the heaviest and straightest tracks.
This locomotive was experimental and was meant to be the model for future development. However, its demonstration runs never persuaded railroads to purchase more. In 1933, it was donated to the Franklin Institute Science Museum. and remains there today.
After a series brief test runs following construction, the 60000 was sent to the Pennsylvania Railroad's Altoona Test Plant in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Placed on rollers without its tender, it was tested on the traction dynamometer to measure its performance, which included maximum drawbar horsepower. Following tests at the Altoona Test Plant, the Pennsylvania Railroad placed the engine in freight service between Enola Yard near Harrisburg and Morrisville Yard via the Trenton Cutoff. During testing on the PRR, 60000 pulled a maximum of 7,700 tons.
Following testing on the PRR, the 60000 was sent for additional testing on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Between November and December 1926, the 60000 was tested on the Cumberland Division between Brunswick and Keyser, Maryland, the Connellsville Division between Cumberland, Maryland, and Connellsville, Pennsylvania, and the Pittsburgh Division, which included the Sand Patch and Seventeen-Mile grades.
In February 1927, the 60000 was sent to the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad's Beardstown Division of Illinois. The 60000 was run in tandem with the CB&Q's own M2-A Class 2-10-2 number 6157, in order to compare coal and water consumption. Overall, the 60000 was superior in its coal and water consumption.
On 24 February 1927, the 60000 was sent to the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. Testing was performed on the Pecos division between Clovis and Belen, New Mexico. As with the CB&Q, the AT&SF compared the performance of the 60000 with that of its own power in the form of two 3800-Class 2-10-2s. Once more the 60000 demonstrated superior fuel consumption than the locomotives of the host railroad.
In the summer and fall of 1927, the 60000 was sent to the Southern Pacific Railroad, which overhauled the locomotive and converted it to an oil burner at its Sacramento Shops. Following its conversion, the 60000 was tested in both freight and passenger service on the Sacramento Division, during which the engine carried a Southern Pacific tender. Following tests on the SP, the 60000 was sent to the Great Northern Railway between Everett, Washington and Minot, North Dakota. Overall, the 60000 did not perform as well on oil as it did on coal.
Converted back to coal, the 60000 was then returned to the Baldwin Locomotive Works and used as a stationary boiler before being donated to the Franklin Institute. The locomotive was moved from the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad tracks at 24th and Vine Street over temporary tracks to the museum building which was then still under construction. The locomotive was placed in the building through an opening in the western wall.
Conway Scenic Railroad (Canadian National) No. 7470 is a preserved class "O-18-a" 0-6-0 "Switcher" type steam locomotive at the Conway Scenic Railroad in North Conway, New Hampshire.
The locomotive was built by the Grand Trunk Railway at Pointe-Saint-Charles in June 1921. The Grand Trunk classified the switcher as F9 Class and numbered it as 1795. When the Canadian National Railway absorbed the Grand Trunk in 1923, they reclassified it as an O-18-a and renumbered it as 7470.
After retirement, 7470 was spared scrapping by being sold to Canada Dominion Sugar, where it spent some additional years as a switcher, it was renumbered as 303. In May 1963, it was purchased by the Ontario government for a transportation museum that never came to fruition. In 1965, it was sold to a man named Charles Weber, he had the engine placed in storage in Wallaceburg for several years untouched. It was later purchased by a rail collector named Fred Stock, the engine was put in storage at the Canadian National rail yard in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. In April 1968, Stock sold the engine to Dwight Smith.
Dwight Smith was working on founding the Conway Scenic Railroad, which opened in 1974. After purchasing the engine, it was moved to Rigby Yard in South, Portland Maine in October 1968. After sitting in Portland for three years, it was moved to North Conway, New Hampshire in 1971 were it went through a three year restoration. After three years of restoration work, 7470 return to active service on August 3, 1974 and was renumbered as Conway Scenic 47, it made its excursion return run on August 4, 1974. it was the new railroad's only locomotive in its earliest years. The old number 7470 and Canadian National paint scheme were restored in 1988 according to Railfan & Railroad magazine.
Today, 7470 mainly operates in mid-September and October seasons only, for Railfan's Weekend and Steam in the Snow in January where it is hosted by the Mass Bay Railroad Enthusiasts. It used to run during summer months as well, but ended in 2007, excluding special excursions. 7470 has also pulled the Notch Train on rare occasions for special events, once in 2007, 2011, and twice in 2019.
In July 2014, it was announced that 7470 was going to be coming out of service due to a major federally mandated inspection and overhaul. 7470 ran its last train on January 3, 2015, and its overhaul work began the following day. It returned to active service on June 1, 2019 and made its first test runs under its own power for the first time since January 3, 2015. 7470 made its excursion return on June 29, 2019. 7470 also made another notch appearance on September 1st, 2019. It pulled its first ever Steam in the snow event since 2015 on January 4th, 2020.
7470 is being prepared for the 2021 season for the engine's 100th birthday and will be seeing operation for most of the season June-December. Conway Scenic Railroad is running its own Winter Steam event since the annual Massachusetts Bay Railroad Enthusiasts version was cancelled due to Massachusetts-New Hampshire travel restrictions.
7470 is expected to run fifteen more years until 2034, when its next overhaul work is due.
7470 made its first ever film appearance in the 1972 Paramount Pictures film "A Separate Peace", lettered as Boston & Maine 47.
Boston and Maine No. 3713, also known as the "Constitution", is a class "P-4a" 4-6-2 heavy "Pacific" type steam locomotive built by the Lima Locomotive Works for the Boston and Maine Railroad in December 1934. This locomotive is currently being restored to operating condition at the Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, Pennsylvania as a part of their operating fleet for use on excursion trains. It is the focus of Project 3713, a partnership between the National Park Service and the Lackawanna & Wyoming Valley Railway Historical Society.
No. 3713 was one of five "P-4a" class heavy 4-6-2 "Pacifics" (Nos. 3710-3714) ordered by the Boston and Maine (B&M) in December 1934 at the Lima Locomotive Works (LLW) in Lima, Ohio. These locomotives were originally built with smoke deflectors, a single air compressor mounted on their pilot deck, and a metal sky-lining shroud covering up the top of their boiler thus giving them a semi-streamlined appearance. In 1936, B&M ordered the final batch of five Pacifics (Nos. 3715-3719) which were delivered in March 1937. These were the last Pacifics built by Lima to date. Slightly classified as P-4b, they were delivered with smoke deflectors, but without the sky-lining shroud.
Designed with 80" drivers, a large firebox, and massive boiler, P-4 Heavy Pacifics would easily cruise at a speed of 70 miles per hour, carrying enough coal to pull a 14-car train for about 250 miles, and enough water to last about 125 miles. Due to wartime conditions with World War II, P-4s were all de-shrouded along with their smoke deflectors removed for easier maintenance. Around 1944 or 1945, a second air compressor was added on all of the locomotives' pilot deck.
B&M sponsored the New England students a contest to name all five P-4a and five other P-4b after their schools. On December 11, 1937, No. 3713 was officially named "The Constitution" by J. Schumann Moore, a 14-year-old student from Eastern High School in Lynn, Massachusetts. Between 1940 and 1941, other winning names were selected to P-4a Pacifics No. 3710 as "Peter Cooper", No. 3711 as "Allagash", No. 3712 as "East Wind", and No. 3714 as "Greylock". While the P-4b Pacifics Nos. 3715 to 3719 were also named "Kwasind", "Rogers’ Rangers", "Old North Bridge", "Ye Salem Witch", and "Camel’s Hump", respectively. Each locomotives all have a plaque representing the students' name and their respective educated school.
Stockton Terminal and Eastern No. 1 is a 4-4-0 steam locomotive originally built in 1864 by Norris-Lancaster for the first Western Pacific Railroad. The railroad's engines were lettered rather than numbered, and as such this engine received the "G" designation, as well as given the name ""Mariposa." The engine operated on the Western Pacific until the late 1860s when the road went bankrupt and was subsequently purchased by the Central Pacific Railroad.
In 1869, the Central Pacific had re-designated the engine as the road's second number 31, replacing another engine of that number which was destroyed in an accident that year, and continued to serve the CP, as well as the Southern Pacific Railroad (which absorbed the road in 1885), until 1914. The engine is believed to have been stripped of its name in the 1870s, when the CP had ceased its practice of naming engines, and has been renumbered 1193 in 1891. The engine was renumbered 1215 in 1901, then again as 1488 in 1907.
In 1914, the engine was sold to the Stockton Terminal and Eastern Railroad, and served that road until 1953. In that year, the engine was retired from 89 years of revenue service and donated to the Travel Town Museum, where it is currently displayed.
Milwaukee Road 1004 is a preserved 4-6-0 steam locomotive built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in September 1901 as a class B4 four-cylinder Vauclain compound locomotive for the Milwaukee Road who numbered it 385.
It was renumbered 1735 in 1907, and renumbered again in 1912 as 4335. Like most of the Milwaukee Road's Vaulclain compounds, it was rebuilt as a two-cylinder simple locomotive; for 4335 this happened in February 1920 when it was reclassified as class G8 and renumbered 2604. In the Milwaukee Road's 1938 renumbering, it received its last number — 1004. It was finally retired in April 1957.
The locomotive was mostly a freight locomotive while working on the Milwaukee Road; A "Railroad" article from around 1957 believed that Milwaukee Road 1004 was the last steam locomotive to retire and leave the system.
Today the 1004 is preserved non-operational at the Fairgrounds, in Austin, Minnesota. It is also the only surviving member of its class, and it is one of only five surviving Milwaukee Road steam locomotives.
Southern Pacific Railroad 2479 is one of six 4-6-2 heavy "Pacific” type steam locomotives built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1923 for the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP), designated the P-10 class. No. 2479 was retired from service in 1956. The locomotive is currently undergoing restoration to operating condition by the California Trolley and Railroad Corporation.
The six locomotives in 2479's class were designed to pull such trains as the "Overland Limited" between Sparks, Nevada, and Ogden, Utah, a total , without changing engines. Average speed was 35 mph including stops. This would require road speeds of about .
Performance proved most satisfactory and thereby set the basic design for all remaining Pacifics built for Southern Pacific Railroad (SP). The Pacific held many long distance assignments including the "Daylight Limited" between San Francisco and Los Angeles, the "Sunset Limited" between Los Angeles and El Paso, Texas, and the Sparks to Ogden run. As larger 4-8-2 class locomotives were assigned to these name trains, the 4-6-2 classes were reassigned to local passenger runs between Sacramento and Oakland and the San Francisco-San Jose, California, commuter service. The 2479 ended its service on these routes.
Since 1989, the volunteers of the Santa Clara Valley Railroad Association (SCVRRA) have averaged over 5,000 hours per year on the restoration of SP 2479. This amounts to approximately twenty-five person years expended. This time represents time spent directly on the locomotive and does not include the many hours spent attempting to raise funds, recruit and train volunteers, and do the administrative tasks that are required of any organization whether for profit or not.
At the end of 1994, the SCVRRA merged with the San Jose Trolley Corporation to form the California Trolley and Railroad Corporation (CTRC), a not-for-profit educational organization with the mission to preserve historic rail equipment of importance to the history of the Santa Clara Valley and to provide and interpretive venue. One of the underlying reasons for the merger was that the new organization could be a more effective fund raising vehicle.
To date, the principal source of funding for the locomotive restoration has been the Santa Clara County Historical Heritage Commission and volunteer fund raising efforts over the years. Approximately, $350,000 has been raised to date. Of this amount $230,000 represents the cost of the boiler repair done by a professional boiler contractor required by federal and state law. The work on the boiler was begun by Manley Boiler Repair in May 1998. Work continues to progress as 2479's pistons are removed from its cylinders. At the end of October 2008 the CTRC passed a major milestone as 2479's front and rear trucks, the 6 main drivers where reinstalled below the locomotive and the locomotive was lowered to the ground for the first time in 15 years.
2479's current location is at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds in San Jose, California. Its future home will be the San Jose Railroad Museum, which is currently looking for a location.
Pioneer is the name of the first railroad locomotive to operate in Chicago, Illinois. It was built in 1837 by Baldwin Locomotive Works for the Utica and Schenectady Railroad (U&S) in New York, then purchased used by William B. Ogden for the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad (G&CU, the oldest predecessor of Chicago and North Western Railway). The locomotive arrived in Chicago by schooner on October 10, 1848, and it pulled the first train westbound out of the city on October 25, 1848.
When the locomotive was built by Baldwin #184 in 1837 for the U&S which gave it the name Alert. It worked almost a decade before it was sold in 1848 to the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad. The G&CU renamed the locomotive "Pioneer" and used it in the construction of the G&CU until 1850, at which time the locomotive was loaned to the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad for work laying the first track in Chicago that summer. The Pioneer was returned and became its road work locomotive until it was retired in 1875 at West Chicago, IL
The locomotive has been preserved and is on display at the Chicago History Museum.
Santa Fe 3415 is a class 3400 4-6-2 "Pacific" type steam locomotive built in 1919 by Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Retired in 1954, it sat in Eisenhower Park in Abilene, Kansas until April 1996. At that point, it was donated by the City of Abilene and put on display in the Abilene and Smoky Valley yard. Restoration began in 2005 and was completed in early 2009. It is planned for the locomotive to operate about once a month during the normal operating season. Its first revenue trip was on May 23, 2009. Today, No. 3415 is owned and operated by the Abilene and Smoky Valley Railroad in Abilene, Kansas.
The Olomana is a narrow gauge locomotive built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1883 for the Waimanalo Sugar Company in Hawaii. It is currently in the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, on loan from the Smithsonian Institution. It was the third self-propelled vehicle to operate in Hawaii.
The "Olomana" arrived in the Kingdom of Hawaii in August 1883, after a two-month journey sailing around Cape Horn. It was owned by the Waimanalo Sugar Company on the island of Oahu, and hauled sugar cane from the fields to the refinery. The "Olomana" was operated by a lone engineer and ran at an average speed of on sets of prefabricated, gauge railroad tracks that could be taken apart and reassembled at a different location. Originally burning coal, the "Olomana" was converted to run on oil in 1928. Dried cane was tried, but it left hard-to-remove residue inside the engine. The "Olomana" and two similar locomotives were replaced by trucks and retired in 1944.
Pennsylvania Railroad 1361 is a 4-6-2 "Pacific" type steam locomotive built in 1918 for the Pennsylvania Railroad by their own Altoona Works. It is one of the only two remaining K4s locomotives and, along with PRR 3750, was designated the official state steam locomotive in 1987 by the Pennsylvania General Assembly.
As a member of the K4s locomotive class, it served its active career hauling mainline passenger and mail trains. Retired from revenue service in 1956, it was restored to operating condition for excursion service in 1987 when mechanical problems sidelined the locomotive after only a year and a half of operation. The engine is currently owned by the Railroaders Memorial Museum in Altoona, Pennsylvania, which is currently attempting another restoration for the locomotive back to operating condition.
The K4s is considered the Pennsylvania Railroad's most famous class of steam locomotives, with a total of 425 engines produced from 1917 to 1928 and including the prototype that was built in 1914. The last of K4s stayed in service well into the late 1950s, until being replaced with diesel locomotives.
In April 2010, it was decided to cancel the restoration plans for 1361. Instead of rebuilding it and placing the locomotive back into service as an excursion train, the museum decided on "semi-static display." The museum hoped to still be able to reconstruct the boiler so that it could still be fired and produce enough steam pressure to operate at low speeds around museum property and blow the whistle. The "semi-static" restoration would also be canceled but because the boiler would have had to have been rebuilt to current specifications required by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), which have drastically changed since the engine was first completed in 1918.
By 2013, the engine had been removed entirely from Scranton, with the frame, tender and various small components stored in Altoona, while the boiler was stored at the East Broad Top Railroad. By early 2015, the museum had completed construction of their "quarter-roundhouse" and began to place the 1361's tender, frame and other components inside. In late July 2015, the 1361's boiler was moved to Altoona and placed in the roundhouse with the remainder of the engine.
The Age of Steam Roundhouse Museum, Sugarcreek, Ohio, United States, is a museum roundhouse housing steam and diesel locomotives, passenger cars and other railroad equipment.
The project was paid for by Jacobson and his wife, Laura. They set up an endowment to support the museum. Architect F. A. Goodman says the building is 48,000 square feet and of "solid masonry walls" and "heavy timber framing". It has 18 stalls, each of which is large enough for a locomotive and its tender. The Goodman company says the roundhouse is one of the largest heavy timber structures in America.
The Bluewater Michigan Chapter of the National Railroad Historical Society, colloquially called Bluewater, was a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization which offers events/trips involving historical railroads.
Bluewater Michigan Chapter was originally intended to exist in the Port Huron, Michigan area and thus named "Bluewater." Shortly after, however, it leased the former SEMTA Commuter Rail maintenance facility in Pontiac, Michigan, adjacent to the large Grand Trunk Western yards.
Bluewater focused on railway excursions around and beyond the state of Michigan, usually hauled by the host railroad's locomotives. They also loaned their coach fleet out to other excursion operators. An example of a Bluewater excursion would be from Detroit to Fort Wayne, Indiana on July 28 and 29, 1984, where the Norfolk and Western 611 steam locomotive hauled 24 cars including Bluewater coaches.
Many Bluewater members stored and maintained their privately owned coaches at Bluewater's yard locations. This proved to be a symbiotic relationship, as Bluewater was able to use these coaches in their excursions, allowing passenger trains longer than 20 cars.
In Owosso, Michigan, Project 1225 had restored the steam locomotive Pere Marquette 1225 and allied with Bluewater to run excursion trains in 1988.
Bluewater lost the lease to the SEMTA rail facility, and a search for a new location led them to the former Pere Marquette roundhouse/locomotive shops in Saginaw, Michigan which they lease from the Lake State Railway. However, the lease was cancelled in 2009 and the Bluewater shops have moved to another facility in the Saginaw area. This lease was also lost, which resulted in selling all of the rail car fleet (both freight and passenger cars).
Bluewater operated occasional trips around Michigan into the late 2000s (decade). They also held a monthly membership meeting in Royal Oak, Michigan. Bluewater NRHS ceased to operate at the end December 2019.
Robert W. Richardson, also known as Bob Richardson (May 21, 1910, Rochester, Pennsylvania – February 23, 2007, Bellefonte, Pennsylvania) was an American writer and narrow gauge railway preservationist.
Robert W. Richardson was born on May 21, 1910, in Rochester, Pennsylvania. He moved with his parents to Akron, Ohio in 1915, and attended high school there. As a teenager, he enjoyed watching and photographing trains in Ohio and Pennsylvania: his photographic archiving of soon-to-vanish railroads began in May 1931 when he borrowed a camera to record a day with the Ohio River & Western Railway near Key, Ohio. Diverted from a college education, he worked for a local hardware concern before starting his own small print shop. The Depression years were especially hard for printers, and his shop closed in 1937. A keen philatelist, he then worked for George Linn as the second editor of "Linn's Weekly Stamp News".
Fortunately for rail hobbyists and historians, Richardson kept up his interest in railroad operations and history. Journeys to northwestern Pennsylvania during the 1930s and early 1940s took him to the Sheffield and Tionesta Railway, the Tionesta Valley Railway and the Clarion River Railway. Anticipating military service, he quit his job with "Linn's". Subsequently learning that he would not be called up for some time, he took a job as an advertising representative for the Seiberling Rubber Company, which required him to travel extensively through the southern states.
In the summer of 1941, Richardson and a friend came to Colorado for the first time, making an unforgettable circle tour on the narrow gauge. He became completely enamored of the slim gauge railroads of Colorado. After military service during World War II with the Army Signal Corps in Iran, where he studied the Persian railroads and learned to read Persian, he returned to his job with Seiberling, but made repeated vacation trips touring the Colorado's narrow gauge railroads in 1945, 1946 and 1947, eventually deciding to make his home there.
Quitting his job in 1948, Richardson and an Ohio friend pooled their resources to open the Narrow Gauge Motel in Alamosa. The grounds offered a fine place to display some of the narrow gauge equipment he had purchased, along with that saved by the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club. From 1948 to 1958 he sporadically published "Narrow Gauge News", a newsletter which later became the Colorado Railroad Museum's "Iron Horse News". At Alamosa, Bob Richardson tirelessly railed against the abandonment of the historic narrow gauge lines: his untiring efforts and the publicity he generated were among the primary reasons that the Silverton Train and the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad were preserved for future generations.
Richardson wrote for both "Trains" and "Railroad" magazines, and throughout his life published books chronicling narrow gauge railroads. It is no exaggeration to say that he did more than any other individual to preserve Colorado's unique railroad heritage. Robert W. Richardson died on February 23, 2007, in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, at the age of 96.
The Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society (FWRHS) is a non-profit group in New Haven, Indiana that is dedicated to the restoration and operation of the ex-Nickel Plate Railroad's steam locomotive no. 765 and other vintage railroad equipment. Since restoration, the 765 was added to the National Register of Historic Places as no. 96001010 on September 12, 1996 and has operated excursion trains across the Eastern United States. In 2012, the FWRHS's steam locomotive no. 765 was added to the Norfolk Southern's 21st Century Steam program.
The Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society was formed in 1972 and currently has over 400 members and over 70 volunteers. The group was formed with one purpose in mind: to restore an old steam locomotive to operational use and see it running down the tracks again. The history of the group actually begins before the FWRHS was formally conceived.
In September 1971, at a convention for the Nickel Plate Railroad Historical & Technical Society, a group of individuals decided they wanted to discuss the possibility of restoring the 765, the 767, and a Wabash Railroad locomotive (no.534) cosmetically. By November of the next year, four individuals, Wayne York, Glenn Brendel, Walter Sassmannshausen, and John Eichman drafted incorporation paperwork with Allen County and the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society, INC. was born.
Railroads commonly relied on drag freights with engines that could pull heavy tonnage, but at low speeds. Following experiments with existing designs, Lima Locomotive Works developed a new wheel arrangement, the 2-8-4, to accommodate an increase in the size of the locomotive's firebox. An increase in the firebox size allowed more coal combustion and subsequent heat output, improving the amount of steam developed and increasing horsepower. These and other modifications created the concept of "horsepower at speed."
The NKP 765 is a steam locomotive built for the Nickel Plate Road in 1944 by the Lima Locomotive Works. Classified as an "S-2" Berkshire-type steam locomotive, the locomotive is based on a 2-8-4 wheel arrangement. It operated freight and passenger trains until retirement in 1963. The Berkshire locomotives earned their name from the Berkshire Mountains in Southwest Massachusetts.
The Berkshire class of locomotives was not the heaviest, fastest, or most powerful, but was a popular all-around type intended for fast freight service. It survived in regular use until 1958, between Chicago, Fort Wayne, Cleveland, and Buffalo. The Nickel Plate was one of the last Class I railroads to regularly use steam locomotives, only the Illinois Central, Norfolk & Western, and Grand Trunk Western were to continue longer, until spring 1960.
The Nickel Plate Road had a fleet of 112 of the 2-8-4 Berkshire type steam locomotives. After retirement, most obsolete locomotives were cut up for scrap and melted down. A total of six were saved by various means. Five survivors were from the second batch of the S-2 Class, 755-769, which were built at the height of World War II in summer and fall 1944. The sixth survivor was from the S-3 Class, 770-779, built in spring 1949. The 779 was requested to be saved because it was the last steam locomotive of any type built by the Lima Locomotive Works, Lima, Ohio, the third largest commercial builder of steam locomotives in the United States.
The 765 was on display from 1963-1974 in Fort Wayne, Indiana's Lawton Park before being leased by the FWRHS. From 1975 to 1979, 765 was restored to operating condition at the corner of Ryan and Edgerton Roads in New Haven, IN. The restoration site lacked conventional shop facilities and protection from the elements, but on September 1, 1979 the 765 made its first move under its own power.
Later that winter it ran under its own power to Bellevue and Sandusky, Ohio for heated, indoor winter storage. In spring of 1980, 765 underwent a series of break-in runs followed by its first public excursion, making 765 the first mainline steam locomotive to be restored and operated by an all volunteer non-profit organization.
From 1993 to 2005, the 765 was completely rebuilt at a total cost of $750,000, which involved over 13,000 volunteer hours. The Society has an outstanding safety record and a professional, experienced crew of determined volunteers, several of whom have been with the Society since its inception. This rebuild included adding an MU stand and in-cab signalling to allow the crew to know what the line-side signal aspect says before it comes into view.
On average, the locomotive experiences 3,000 visitors a day when operating, with visitor and passenger numbers running between 40,000 and 60,000 ticket buyers in 2009 and 2011 in less than 30 days, respectively. Typical passenger trains carry anywhere from 600-1,000 people at a time with tickets for many trips selling out in 24 hours.
Press reports indicate the continuous presence of large crowds of "locals and out of towners" and on 765's ability to boost tourism in the towns that it travels through. In 2012, the Pittsburgh Tribune's headline photo proclaimed that the 765 was the "engine that still can" with CBS Pittsburgh describing it as "400 tons of Americana". When not operating excursions, 765 is maintained in a restoration shop in New Haven and maintained by a crew of 70-100 volunteers throughout the year. The shop is open to the public and houses a variety of other railroad equipment including vintage steam and diesel locomotives, passenger cars, cabooses, and more.
The Bellefonte Historical Railroad Society (BHRS) is an all-volunteer historical society dedicated to promoting, preserving, and fostering a public appreciation of the railroading heritage of Bellefonte and Centre County, Pennsylvania. The Society is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation with no paid employees or administrators.
The Society owns several historic pieces of rolling stock including two Budd RDC-1 rail diesel cars (BHRX 9153 and BHRX 9167), an NE class wooden caboose, originally built for the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, a Russell snow plow, and four speeder cars. The caboose and snow plow are on static display in Talleyrand Park, Bellefonte, Pennsylvania adjacent to the former Bellefonte Pennsylvania Railroad train station. The caboose and snowplow are currently on display, but being repaired.
The Bellefonte Historical Railroad Society hosts two annual passenger excursion weekends, in October and December, in addition to special events involving operation of the speeder cars. The Society began overhaul of Budd RDC-1 BHRX 9167 in 2014. The Society hopes to resume excursion operations with this equipment in the near future.
Volunteers also maintain the track structure and right-of-way on approximately 1 mile of Society owned track in and near the village of Lemont. The track is a portion of the historic Lewisburg and Tyrone Railroad, a branch line of the Pennsylvania Railroad.
List of open-air and living history museums in the United States
This is a list of open-air and living history museums in the United States.
The list of forts lists both historical, preserved and currently operational military posts. Not all are open to the public. Some of those open to the public will have living history guides.