Pere Marquette 1225

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Pere Marquette 1225
Power type Steam
Builder Lima Locomotive Works
Serial number 7839
Build date 1941
Configuration 2-8-4
Gauge 4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm)
Driver size 69 in (1.75 m)
Length 101 ft 8 in (30.99 m)
Weight on drivers 278,000 lb (126,100 kg)
Locomotive weight 436,500 lb (198,000 kg)
Locomotive and tender combined weight 794,500 lb (360,400 kg)
Tender capacity 22,000 U.S. gallons (83,000 L) of water, 22 short tons (20 metric tons) of coal
Fuel consumption 1 short ton of coal per 12 miles travelled (1 metric ton every 21 km)
Boiler pressure 245 psi (1.70 MPa)
Fire grate area 90.3 ft² (8.39 m²)
Cylinders 2
Cylinder size 26 in (660 mm) diameter x 34 in (864 mm) stroke
Power output 3,000 hp (2.24 MW)
Tractive effort 69,350 lbf (308.5 MN)
Career PM, C&O
Class N-1
Number in class 12
Number PM 1225, C&O 2659
Locale Michigan
Retired 1951
Restored 1985
Current owner Michigan State Trust for Railway Preservation

Pere Marquette 1225 is a 2-8-4 (Berkshire) steam locomotive built for Pere Marquette Railroad (PM) by Lima Locomotive Works in Lima, Ohio. 1225 is one of only two surviving Pere Marquette 2-8-4 type locomotives and it is the only example in operable condition. PM used 1225 in regular service from the locomotive's construction in 1941 until the railroad was merged into Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) in 1947; it remained in use on C&O's Michigan lines until 1951. Slated for scrapping, 1225 was acquired by the Michigan State University in 1957 and placed on static display.

In 1971, work began to restore 1225 to operation, an effort that culminated in its first excursion run in 1988. 1225's blueprints were used as the prototype for the locomotive image and its sounds were used in the 2004 film The Polar Express. The locomotive, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is now used on excursion trains over the Tuscola and Saginaw Bay Railway, now Great Lakes Central Railroad.

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[edit] History

The locomotive was built in 1941 by Lima Locomotive Works for Pere Marquette Railroad (PM). PM ordered this type of locomotive in three batches from Lima: class N in 1937 (PM road numbers 1201-1215), class N-1 in 1941 (numbers 1216-1227) and class N-2 in 1944 (numbers 1228-1239). 1225 was built at a cost of $200,000 in 1941. Adjusted for inflation, that amount today would be $2.5 million.

All of these locomotives remained on the roster through the PM's merger into Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) in 1947; class N locomotives were renumbered to 2685-2699, class N-1 to 2650-2661, and class N-2 to 2670-2681. Part of the merger agreement, however, included the stipulation that locomotives that were acquired and fully paid for by PM would remain painted for PM after the merger. Although all the Berkshires received new numbers, only class N engines were repainted into standard C&O livery and renumbered. The majority of the class N locomotives were scrapped between 1954 and 1957, but class N-1s 1223 and 1225 were both preserved.

For the first part of its service life, 1225 was used to shuttle steel and wartime freight to and from Detroit, Saginaw, Flint and northern Indiana steel mills.

Retired from service in 1951, 1225 was sent to the scrap line, in New Buffalo, Michigan. In 1955, Michigan State University Trustee, Forest Akers was asked by C&O Chairman Cyrus Eaton if the University would be interested in having a steam locomotive (Eaton didn't want to scrap the engines but was having a hard time finding places that would accept them) so that the Engineering students would have a piece of real equipment to study. Forest Akers thought it to be a good idea and proposed the idea to University President John Hannah. John Hannah accepted the gift of the locomotive. When he told the Dean of the College of Engineering about the gift, the Dean said that Engineering was not interested in an obsolete locomotive. John Hannah then called up Dr. Rollin Baker, director of the MSU Museum and told him that he was getting a locomotive. The C&O then instructed the yardmaster at New Buffalo to send an engine to the Wyoming Shops for a cosmetic restoration and repainting with the name Chesapeake and Ohio on the side. Also added were flying number boards, which the 1225 never had in service but which were standard on C&O engines. Contrary to popular myth, the 1225 was not chosen because of the number. It was chosen because it was the last engine in the line at New Buffalo. Dr. Baker received the gift of the locomotive in 1957 when it was brought to campus. The locomotive remained on static display near Spartan Stadium on the Michigan State campus in East Lansing, Michigan for a decade. During the time that Forest Akers was alive, till 1969, money was allocated to paint and display the engine. In 1969, a group of MSU students formed the Michigan State University Railroad Club as a railfan group. In 1970, at the suggestion of Randy Paquette, the club investigated the possibility of restoring the locomotive to running condition and started on that goal in 1971, with the permission of Dr. Baker. Dr. Baker later stated that he thought having students be occupied with restoring a locomotive was far more in keeping with his idea of the image the university should be presenting than campus protests. Dr. Breslin, the university Vice President, was not so sure. After the Club started removing the sheet metal and exposing a rusty boiler, Dr. Breslin sent Dr. Baker to the engine with two messages. The first was the instruction to get some paint on the engine. The university needs to look good, even when it is being worked on. The second message was, the day the students stop working on the engine is the day the torches come out. The locomotive was safe as long as we kept working on it. To emphasize his point, he had the hopper car stored next to the engine cut up the next week.

The student effort was able to fire up the boiler in 1975 and blow the 1225's whistle for the first time in two decades. The MSU Railroad Club had looked to the 1223 at the State Fair grounds for parts. The Michigan Railroad Club, then custodians of the engine, objected, so needed parts were fabricated. As of 2007, 1223 is preserved in a lake side park in Grand Haven, Michigan.

In 1977, Dr. Edgar Hardin became the University Interim President. Chuck Julian, as President of the MSU Railroad Club went to his reception and made an appointment to see him. Dr. Hardin was asked about the future of the Engine. The Railroad Club had fired the engine and was nearing the time when the engine would be operable. How would that work with the University? Dr. Hardin said that the University was not interested in running a locomotive and if it was, it would be run by all university employees. He said that if we wanted to actually run the engine, we should form a 501c3 and then he would give us the engine.

The MSU Railroad Club and supporters of "Project 1225" formed the Michigan State Trust for Railway Preservation in 1978 and soon after, was given ownership of the 1225 by Michigan State University. The MSTRP moved 1225 to the former Ann Arbor Railroad shops complex in Owosso in 1983.

The 1225 moved under its own power in November 1985 for the first time since its retirement in 1951. The first excursion service occurred in 1988 on a trip between Owosso and Chesaning. In August of 1991, 1225 along with NKP 765 pulled a 31 car excursion train during the National Railway Historical Society's annual convention in Huntington, West Virginia.

As of 2007, 1225 operates excursion trains over the Great Lakes Central Railroad (formally Tuscola and Saginaw Bay Railway) several times per year, including operations that leave Owosso and going to locations such as Alma, Clare, Mt. Pleasant, and Cadillac, Michigan. Occasionally it travels to Grayling, Michigan (via Durand), in a joint operation with the Bluewater Michigan Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society. Since 2004, 1225 has hauled winter weekend excursions between Thanksgiving and the middle of December, first as the "Polar Express," and now due to copyright issues, as the "North Pole Express."

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