New York Central 3001 is a

4-8-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels, eight powered and coupled driving wheels and two trailing wheels. This type of steam locomotive is commonly known as t ...

Mohawk Mohawk may refer to: Related to Native Americans * Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York) *Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people * Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been ...

" (Mountain)-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 in 1940 by the

American Locomotive Company The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer of locomotives, diesel generators, steel, and tanks that operated from 1901 to 1969. The company was formed by the merger of seven smaller locomo ...

(ALCO) for the

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...

. Normally known as "Mountain" types, New York Central 4-8-2 steam locomotives were dubbed "Mohawk" types after the

Mohawk River The Mohawk River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 river in the U.S. state of New York. It is the largest tributary of the Hudson River. The Mohawk f ...

, which the New York Central followed. Built for dual service work, the 3001 was used heavily for freight and

passenger trains In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often know ...

until being retired in 1957. The locomotive is currently on static display at the National New York Central Railroad Museum in Elkhart, Indiana. It is the largest New York Central steam locomotive still in existence and is one of two surviving New York Central ''Mohawks''; the other, No. 2933, which was currently on display at the

National Museum of Transportation The National Museum of Transportation (NMOT) is a private, 42-acre transportation museum in the Kirkwood suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1944, it restores, preserves, and displays a wide variety of vehicles spanning 15 decades of Amer ...

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

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 ...

History

Background

In the late 1930s, when looking for heavier steam power to move freight and passenger trains swiftly, the New York Central looked at a dual service steam locomotive. The modern 1940 L3a from the

(Alco) was able to move both heavy

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 and freights with relative ease. So, the NYC acquired both the L-3 and L-4 classes of Mohawks from Alco and the

Lima Locomotive Works Lima Locomotive Works was an American firm that manufactured railroad locomotives from the 1870s through the 1950s. The company took the most distinctive part of its name from its main shop's location in Lima, Ohio. The shops were located between ...

, in 1940 and 1942, respectively.

Revenue service

New York Central No. 3001 is a member of the L-3a class of locomotives. Based in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

after the NYC dieselized east of Cleveland between August 7 and September, 1953, the Mohawk powered many general freight and passenger trains, such as the 20th Century Limited. Until dieselization of that division in 1949, No. 3001 could often be seen hauling passenger trains on the Boston & Albany. No. 3001 was often used to haul freight trains due to many

NYC Hudson A New York Central Hudson was a popular 4-6-4 " Hudson" type steam locomotive built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) and the Lima Locomotive Works in three series from 1927 to 1938 for the New York Central Railroad. Named after the H ...

s being occupied pulling passenger trains; in later years, diesel-electric locomotives hauled the passenger trains. In the final years of steam on the New York Central, the No. 3001 and other modern Mohawks were demoted to lighter trains, due to

Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad The Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad (P&LE) , also known as the "Little Giant", was formed on May 11, 1875. Company headquarters were located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The line connected Pittsburgh in the east with Youngstown, Ohio in the H ...

(NYC subsidiary) 2-8-4 "Berkshires" and NYC

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 ...

Niagaras handling increasingly-heavier freight and passenger trains on the system. As diesels flooded the NYC, the No. 3001 and the other steam locomotives still in service saw the end coming nearer and nearer. No. 3001 was finally retired on February 14, 1957.

Preservation

The New York Central sold L-3a No. 3001 to the

Texas and Pacific Railroad Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by bo ...

in March, 1957, to replace the heavily-vandalized and subsequently

scrapped Scrap consists of recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap has monetary value, especially recovered me ...

Texas and Pacific

2-10-4 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, a locomotive has two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a Bissel truck, ten coupled driving wheels on five axles, and four trailing wheels on two axles, usually in a bogie ...

"Texas type" No. 638, that was on display at the Texas State Fairgrounds there.. The Texas and Pacific then donated No. 3001 (disguised as Texas and Pacific No. 909) to the city of

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

. The city later donated No. 3001 (still disguised as Texas & Pacific No. 909) to the

Museum of the American Railroad The Museum of the American Railroad, formerly known as the Age of Steam Railroad Museum, is a railroad museum in Frisco, Texas. The museum has more than 70 pieces of steam, diesel, passenger, and freight railroad equipment; guests may walk through ...

in Dallas. The sale to the Texas and Pacific Railroad is the sole reason why No. 3001 was not sold for scrap in 1957. In the early 1980s, after trading

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

GG-1 The Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 is a class of streamlined electric locomotives built for the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), in the northeastern United States. The class was known for its striking art deco shell, its ability to pull trains at up to 100 ...

No. 4903 to the Museum of the American Railroad, No. 3001 made its way east to

Elkhart, Indiana Elkhart ( ) is a city in Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. The city is located east of South Bend, Indiana, east of Chicago, Illinois, and north of Indianapolis, Indiana. Elkhart has the larger population of the two principal cities of th ...

after being acquired by the Lakeshore Railroad Historical Foundation, but not before the locomotive was borrowed by a

power plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many pow ...

for use as a stationary

steam generator A Steam generator is a device used to boil water to create steam. More specifically, it may refer to: *Boiler (steam generator), a closed vessel in which water is heated under pressure *Monotube steam generator *Supercritical steam generator or Ben ...

. The No. 3001 locomotive is currently still on static display in Elkhart, at the National New York Central Railroad Museum...

References

Bibliography