
Pere Marquette Railway Steam Locomotive No. 1225
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S5280ft
N 42° 59.648 W 084° 10.242
16T E 730640 N 4764048
A rolling historic place. These coordinates are the entrance to the Steam Railroading Institute in Owosso, MI, which offers excursions on the 1225 (North Pole Express). Their website is mstrp.com
Waymark Code: WM11PC
Location: Michigan, United States
Date Posted: 12/16/2006
Views: 128
From the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office website:
Narrative Description:
Pere Marquette Railway No. 1225 is a fast freight locomotive from the last generation of steam locomotives. It was built in November, 1941 for Michigan's Pere Marquette Railway by the Lima Locomotive Works of Lima, Ohio. It is of the 2-8-4, or Berkshire, type, of Class N-1 on the Pere Marquette. The Locomotive is 101 feet long, and weighs 802,500 pounds (engine and tender, loaded). Cylinder bore and stroke are 26x34 inches, with Baker freight valve gear. Driving-wheel diameter is 70 inches. Coal and water capacity are 22 tons of soft coal and 22,000 gallons. Calculated horse-power is 2,379. Tractive effort is 69,350 lbs. Usual operating speed is 40-60 m.p.h.
Statement of Significance:
Pere Marquette 1225 embodies the characteristics of the last and most powerful steam locomotives. The "super-power" steam locomotive was the engineering response by steam-locomotive builders to the demand by railroads for economical transportation of freight at high speeds. Locomotive 1225 was built by the Lima Locomotive Works of Lima, Ohio, which developed the 2-8-4 or Berkshire-type locomotive. In the 1940's, Berkshires like the 1225 became emblematic of that firm's reputation as the innovator of super-power locomotives, but the Berkshire design was the product of a unique partnership between the builder and the engineering staff of a group of its customers. Pere Marquette 1225 is representative of the steam locomotives which once accomplished almost all of this country's transportation, but which are now very rare. Locomotive 1225 is one of two survivors of the 39 engines of this design on the Pere Marquette Railway, and the only one complete and operational. These two engines are the only large Michigan steam locomotives still in the State of Michigan. The 1225 is one of fewer than 15 large steam locomotives operational in the United States in 1994. Locomotive 1225 is at the center of its owners' program of demonstrating steam railroading for the public, and of keeping steam-locomotive technology in use and available.
Street address: 405 South Washington Street Owosso, MI U.S.A. 48867
 County / Borough / Parish: Shiawassee
 Year listed: 1994
 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Architecture/Engineering, Event
 Periods of significance: 1925-1949, 1950-1974
 Historic function: Transportation / Rail-Related
 Current function: Recreation And Culture (Rolling museum)
 Privately owned?: yes
 Primary Web Site: [Web Link]
 Secondary Website 1: [Web Link]
 Season start / Season finish: Not listed
 Hours of operation: Not listed
 Secondary Website 2: Not listed
 National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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