![]() ![]() The 1225 made a notable movie appearance in 2004, when an animated version of the engine starred in the blockbuster holiday movie “ The Polar Express,” based on the popular children’s book by Chris Van Allsburg. In recent years, it received practically an entirely new firebox. In the past 40 years the boiler has been rebuilt three times. The locomotive ran again under its own power in 1988. In 1983, the 1225 was moved to Owosso, where the SRI established a headquarters in a former Ann Arbor Railroad Shop. The MSU group labored on for several years until the 1225 was conveyed to a new organization called the Michigan State Trust for Railway Preservation, now known as the Steam Railroading Institute. The unlikely revival of 1225 began in 1970, when a student organization called the Michigan State University Railroad Club began to tear down and restore the locomotive. Today the 1223 resides in a park in Grand Haven, Mich. A second PM Berkshire, 1223, also was saved and displayed at the Michigan State Fairgrounds in Detroit. Most of the Pere Marquette engines ultimately went to scrap, but the 1225 won a reprieve when it was donated in 1957 to Michigan State University and displayed on campus near Spartan Stadium. As it turned out, the PM 2-8-4s had relatively short careers: C&O acquired the PM in 1947 and by late 1951 had dieselized its Michigan subsidiary. Finally, in 1944, PM acquired 12 more locomotives in the N-2 class. The railroad bought 12 more N-1 engines in 1941 this group included the 1225. Pere Marquette bought its Berkshires in three separate classes, the first 15 arriving in 1937 as the N class. The performance of the PM Berkshires was similar to that of the nearly identical 2-8-4s of the Nickel Plate, famous for transforming the Nickel Plate into an ultra-competitive bridge carrier between Chicago and Buffalo, N.Y. With its 90-square-foot firebox, its four-wheel trailing truck, and its 69-inch driving wheels, the 1225 easily met the Super Power standard, giving Pere Marquette an opportunity to expand its business by offering faster freight service between Toledo, Ohio Detroit Grand Rapids, Michigan and Chicago. All AMC engines featured the main feature of Super Power: a large firebox supported by a four-wheel trailing truck, capable of generating the volume of steam required for high-speed, high-horsepower operation. Together, the Van Sweringen roads developed several specific locomotive designs under the supervision of the company’s Advisory Mechanical Committee. The PM was owned by the Van Sweringen interests of Cleveland, which also owned the Nickel Plate Road, Erie Railroad, and Chesapeake & Ohio, among others. The 1225 was one of 39 Berkshire-type locomotives fielded by Michigan’s Pere Marquette Railway, a relatively small but heavy-duty railroad serving the state’s vast industrial scene. Every time it runs, it exhibits the traits that helped the Super Power concept transform the closing decades of steam. 1225 is now the pride and joy of the Steam Railroading Institute, based in Owosso, Mich. ![]() Built in November 1941, Pere Marquette 2-8-4 No. Not only is it one of the most active mainline steam locomotives of the past 25 years it is also an iconic symbol of steam’s greatest technological leap forward: the development of Super Power technology, introduced in the 1920s by Lima Locomotive Works of Lima, Ohio. Jeff Mast photographĪ Pere Marquette 1225 steam locomotive profile is long past due. The locomotive is owned and operated by the Steam Railroading Institute. ![]() Pere Marquette 1225 operates on a photo freight near Owosso, Mich. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |