Chicago, Burlington and Quincy No. 4000, also known as ''Aeolus'', is a preserved S-4a class

4-6-4 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels and four trailing wheels. In France where the type was first used, it is known as t ...

"Hudson"

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

that was originally built by Baldwin in 1930 as S-4 locomotive No. 3002. It was primarily used to pull fast

passenger A passenger (also abbreviated as pax) is a person who travels in a vehicle, but does not bear any responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination or otherwise operate the vehicle, and is not a steward. The ...

trains before it was rebuilt by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad in 1937 to be re-classified as an S-4a with Streamlining, and it was renumbered 4000 in the process. The streamlining was removed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and the locomotive was later downgraded to secondary passenger and

mail The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letter (message), letters, and parcel (package), parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid ...

service. In 1956, No. 4000 pulled two

excursion train An excursion train is a chartered train run for a special event or purpose. Examples are trains to major sporting event, trains run for railfans or tourists, and special trains operated by the railway company for employees and prominent customer ...

s out of Chicago, Illinois before it was retired. The locomotive was donated to the city of

La Crosse La Crosse is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of La Crosse County, Wisconsin, La Crosse County. Positioned alongside the Mississippi River, La Crosse is the largest city on Wisconsin's western border. La Crosse's populat ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

in 1963, and it remains on static display in

Copeland Park Copeland Park, also referred to as "The Lumber Yard", is a stadium in La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA. It is primarily used for baseball and is the home field of the La Crosse Loggers baseball team. The current stadium was built in 2003, although a ...

, as of 2023.

History

Revenue service

Between 1930 and 1935, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CB&Q) ordered twelve S-4 class 4-6-4s from the Baldwin Locomotive Works of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, as well as one from their own West Burlington,

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

shops, and they were numbered 3000–3012. No. 4000 was numbered 3002 at the time, being the third locomotive of the class, and it was designed to pull the CB&Q's premier passenger trains across the road's system, such as the ''Chicago Limited'' between

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

and

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

, and the ''American Royal'' between Chicago and

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. As the 1930s progressed, the CB&Q also purchased a fleet of

diesel locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...

s from the Electro-Motive Corporation (EMC) as the first locomotives to ever be built with aerodynamic streamlining, and they were used to pull the CB&Q's newer trains that would become known as the ''Zephyrs''. However, some of these units would occasionally break down, and a conventional steam locomotive would be needed to take it's place, resulting in the train to be de-streamlined from the front end, and the train wouldn't go as fast as the ''Zephyrs'' were designed to go. To that end, the CB&Q decided to streamline one of their own steam locomotives as back-up power for their diesel units; in late 1936, No. 3002 was taken to the CB&Q's West Burlington shops to be rebuilt with the application of a new

valve gear The valve gear of a steam engine is the mechanism that operates the inlet and exhaust valves to admit steam into the cylinder and allow exhaust steam to escape, respectively, at the correct points in the cycle. It can also serve as a reversing g ...

frame A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...

, a middle Boxpok

driving axle On a steam locomotive, a driving wheel is a powered wheel which is driven by the locomotive's pistons (or turbine, in the case of a steam turbine locomotive). On a conventional, non-articulated locomotive, the driving wheels are all coupled ...

, lightweight roller bearing rods, roller bearing trailing bogies, and tender bogies. The locomotive also became the very first steam locomotive to be shrouded with

stainless steel Stainless steel is an alloy of iron that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. It contains at least 11% chromium and may contain elements such as carbon, other nonmetals and metals to obtain other desired properties. Stainless steel's corros ...

streamlining in the United States. Aeolus at head of Denver Zephyr Otto Perry 1938

With the modifications increasing the locomotive's tractive effort to 47,700 pounds and top speed to over one hundred miles per hour, No. 3002 was reclassified as an S-4a, and it was renumbered to 4000. It was also given the official name ''Aeolus'', being named after an ancient

Greek God The following is a list of gods, goddesses, and many other divine and semi-divine figures from ancient Greek mythology and ancient Greek religion. Immortals The Greeks created images of their deities for many purposes. A temple would house the ...

of the same name, as the CB&Q was giving Greek names to most of their ''Zephyr'' locomotives. After rolling out of the shops in April 1937, No. 4000 was reassigned to provide as an emergency backup locomotive to pull the ''Zephyr'' trains, such as the ''

Denver Zephyr The ''Denver Zephyr'' was a streamlined passenger train operated by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad between Chicago, Illinois, and Denver, Colorado. In peak years it ran to Colorado Springs. It operated from 1936 to 1973. The ''Denve ...

'', the '' Silver Streak Zephyr'', and the ''

General Pershing Zephyr The ''General Pershing Zephyr'' was the ninth of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad's ''Zephyr'' streamliners, and the last built as an integrated streamliner rather than a train hauled by an EMD E-unit diesel locomotive. It was constr ...

''. No. 4000 received a classmate in 1938 in the form of No. 4001, which was also an S-4a that was shrouded with the "shovel-nose" streamlining. Eventually, No. 4000 was also nicknamed after a Popeye cartoon character "Big Alice the Goon", as a result of the locomotive's official name having a slight resemblance to "Alice". The streamlining on the S-4as were removed in 1942, as the CB&Q was contributing to the

effort by scrapping most of their unnecessary equipment in favor of the war's steel drive. No. 4000 was also reassigned again to pull heavier trains that would carry military soldiers and

military equipment A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

. Once World War II ended, the CB&Q began investing in adding additional diesel locomotives to their fleet, and they began to dieselize their passenger trains. The CB&Q dieselized their entire passenger fleet on September 26, 1952, and No. 4000 and other 4-6-4's were subsequently retained as emergency backup power for when diesel locomotives broke down.

Excursion run and preservation

On July 1, 1956, No. 4000 was used to pull a railfan special train out of Chicago. The locomotive subsequently pulled another trip out of Chicago on September 2. With the success of the early fan trips, the CB&Q's president, Harry C. Murphy, eventually decided to start a steam excursion program on the railroad that would last until it was cancelled by a new president in 1966. Despite having pulled some of the 1956 fan trips, however, No. 4000 never took part in the program; the program mostly consisted of

2-8-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and two trailing wheel ...

No. 4960 and

4-8-4 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and four trailing wheels on two axles. The type w ...

No. 5632. Instead, No. 4000 spent six years sitting idle in Galesburg before it became secured for preservation. With the desire to preserve pieces of railroad history, a group of railroaders and enthusiasts in

organized and founded The La Crosse Short Line Railroad Company. They requested the CB&Q to donate ''Aeolus'' to the city of La Crosse for static display in Copeland Park, a stadium park that takes place in North La Crosse. CB&Q 4000 was Static Display

After a two-year fundraising campaign, the locomotive was cosmetically restored and towed to its new home in Copeland Park along with a

Milwaukee Road The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P), often referred to as the "Milwaukee Road" , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States, Midwest and Pacific Northwest, Northwest of the United States fr ...

caboose A caboose is a crewed North American railroad car coupled at the end of a freight train. Cabooses provide shelter for crew at the end of a train, who were formerly required in switching and shunting, keeping a lookout for load shifting, damag ...

on August 19, 1963. Subsequently, the locomotive has remained on outdoor static display, being exposed to the elements. Throughout the 1990s, a group of volunteers gathered to cosmetically refurbish the locomotive to make it look as good as it did during its revenue career. As of 2023, No. 4000 remains in Copeland Park while under the care of the 4000 Foundation. Occasionally, the foundation would host special events that would take place around No. 4000's display site. Although there are no future plans for the locomotive to be brought back under steam, No. 4000 is in good enough condition to be rebuilt for operational purposes.

External links

4000 Foundation Ltd official website

References

Bibliography

* {{Cite book , last=Stagner , first=Lloyd , title=Burlington Route Steam Finale , publisher=South Platte Press , year=1997 , isbn=0-942035-38-0 , location=

David City, Nebraska David City is a city in Butler County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 2,995 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Butler County. David City was founded in 1873 to serve as the county seat when county residents desired a more ...