Great Northern 2584 is a

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 ...

" Northern" type

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 ...

built by the

Baldwin Locomotive Works The Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) was an American manufacturer of railroad locomotives from 1825 to 1951. Originally located in Philadelphia, it moved to nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania, in the early 20th century. The company was for decades t ...

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 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 ...

in March 1930 for the Great Northern Railway (GN) as a member of the S-2 class. The locomotive was built for fast passenger service and was assigned to pull the Great Northern's mainline passenger trains such as the ''

Empire Builder The ''Empire Builder'' is an Amtrak long-distance passenger train that operates daily between Chicago and either Seattle or Portland via two sections west of Spokane. Introduced in 1929, it was the flagship passenger train of the Great Northe ...

'' and '' Oriental Limited''. It was then retired in December 1957 and put on display at the Havre station in

Havre, Montana Havre ( ) is the county seat and largest city in Hill County, Montana, United States. Havre is nicknamed the crown jewel of the Hi-Line. It is said to be named after the city of Le Havre in France. As of the 2020 census the population was 9,362 ...

for display in May 1964. It is the sole surviving Great Northern S-2 Class "Northern", the sole surviving Great Northern "Northern" type and the largest surviving Great Northern steam locomotive.

Service history

When delivered to the Great Northern in April 1930, 2584 was assigned to the railroad's premier passenger trains such as the ''Empire Builder'' and ''Oriental Limited'' between St. Paul, Minnesota and

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

as well as fast mail trains. Initially, the locomotive was assigned to the flatter districts due to the districts having long tangents, easy curves and light grades, then a test in 1931 proved the class was capable of pulling the ''Empire Builder'' over the Divide between Havre and

Whitefish, Montana Whitefish (Salish: epɫx̣ʷy̓u, "has whitefish") is a town in Flathead County, Montana, United States. According to the 2020 United States Census, there were 7,751 people in the town. History Long before the first Europeans came to Whitefish, ...

where grades are up to 1.8% and the locomotive was also assigned to the Divide and eventually as far east as St. Paul, Minnesota, where the ''Empire Builder'' starts on the Great Northern's mainline. In 1945, the locomotive was fitted with Timken

roller bearing In mechanical engineering, a rolling-element bearing, also known as a rolling bearing, is a bearing which carries a load by placing rolling elements (such as balls or rollers) between two concentric, grooved rings called races. The relative m ...

s on every axle, including every axle on its tender, replacing its original plain bearings. By 1949, despite performing excellently in passenger service, the railroad had dieselised its premier passenger trains and the locomotive was then reassigned to secondary passenger trains and freight service, of which the latter service was proven to be rather unsuitable for it due to being designed as a passenger locomotive. By the 1950s, No. 2584 and her sister locomotives were repainted from their original Glacier Green to black.http://www.greatnorthernempire.net/index2.htm?GNEGN_S2_Class.htm GN S-2 Class In late 1956, 2584 made its final run and was stored in a roundhouse in

Superior, Wisconsin , native_name_lang = oj , nickname = , total_type = , motto = , image_skyline = Tower Avenue.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = Downtown Superior , ima ...

and had its

axle box A bogie or railroad truck holds the wheel sets of a rail vehicle. Axlebox An ''axle box'', also known as a ''journal box'' in North America, is the mechanical subassembly on each end of the axles under a railway wagon, coach or locomotive; ...

es painted red and sat there for years.

Accident

On August 9, 1945, No. 2584 was involved in a wreck, however, the locomotive was undamaged, as the rear of its train was rear-ended by sister locomotive No. 2588 at 45 mph. No. 2584's tender, however, had suffered from a

hot box A hot box is the term used when an axle bearing overheats on a piece of railway rolling stock. The term is derived from the journal-bearing trucks used before the mid-20th century. The axle bearings were housed in a box that used oil-soaked ...

and has stopped at Petersburg, North Dakota and again at

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, North Dakota prior to the wreck. After the hot box and accident were resolved, both 2584 and 2588 were returned to service.

Preservation

2584 was 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 Park" paint scheme and today is owned by Great Northern's eventual successor,

Burlington Northern Santa Fe Burlington Northern Santa Fe, LLC is the parent company of the BNSF Railway (formerly the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway). The company is an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, which is controlled by investor Warre ...

. On May 15, 1964, the locomotive was put on display at the Havre depot in Havre, Montana and was dedicated there. As of today, it still resides there on display. 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.

References

* {{Great Northern Railway (US) locomotives Great Northern Railway (U.S.) 4-8-4 locomotives Baldwin locomotives Passenger locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1930 2584 Individual locomotives of the United States Standard gauge locomotives of the United States Steam locomotives of the United States Preserved steam locomotives of Montana