Strasburg Rail Road (Norfolk and Western) 475 is a

4-8-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, usually in a leading truck or bogie, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and no traili ...

"Mastodon" 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 ...

in June 1906 as part of the Norfolk and Western Railway's (N&W) first order of M class numbered 375–499. It was first assigned to haul freight trains on the N&W mainline before being reassigned to branch line duties on the Blacksburg Branch in the 1920s. Retired from revenue service in 1958, No. 475 was sold to various different owners in

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, ...

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

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 ...

until 1991 when it was purchased and restored by the Strasburg Rail Road (SRC) in Strasburg, Pennsylvania, where it runs

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mo ...

excursion trains in the

Pennsylvania Dutch The Pennsylvania Dutch ( Pennsylvania Dutch: ), also known as Pennsylvania Germans, are a cultural group formed by German immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. They emigrated primarily from German-spe ...

countryside In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, ...

. Since then, No. 475 became the only 4-8-0 locomotive operating in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

and the oldest operating steam locomotive on the SRC.

History

No. 475 was the 101st member of 125 M class

s built for N&W in 1906–07, rolling out of the Baldwin Locomotive Works in June 1906. It was originally equipped with Stephenson valve gear and a 6-A type tender, which holds of coal and of water. Sometime during the 1930s, No. 475 was re-equipped with Baker valve gear and a USRA type tender, which holds of coal and of water. No. 475 was one of the many M class locomotives that were not re-equipped with

superheater A superheater is a device used to convert saturated steam or wet steam into superheated steam or dry steam. Superheated steam is used in steam turbines for electricity generation, steam engines, and in processes such as steam reforming. There ar ...

s, excluding Nos. 382, 386, 429, 439, 447, 457, 459, 482, 493, and 495. Inside No. 475's cab, the

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

sits on the right beside the firebox, which was fitted further away from the back of the cab, similar to the

camelback Camelback may refer to: * riding atop a camel * Camelback, a variation of shotgun house with a second floor in the rear of the house. * Camelback (roller coaster element), a hump-shaped hill element found on roller coasters * CamelBackCapitalizatio ...

design. Additionally, the

firemen A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also a ...

would have to shovel coal on the tender deck instead of the cab deck. On the engineer's side, the

throttle lever Thrust levers or throttle levers are found in the cockpit of aircraft, and are used by the pilot, copilot, or autopilot to control the thrust output of the aircraft's engines, by controlling the fuel flow to those engines. In multi-engine airc ...

was mounted above the firebox and the reverser lever was in front of the engineer against the side of the firebox. On the fireman's side, the water glass, injector controls, and steam

gauge Gauge ( or ) may refer to: Measurement * Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments * Gauge (firearms) * Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire ** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, es ...

were also located on the other side of the firebox. No. 475 worked on the N&W, hauling freight and coal trains on the mainline until the 1920s when it was reassigned to branch line duties on the Blacksburg Branch between Christiansburg and Blacksburg, Virginia, when bigger locomotives such as the Y class

2-8-8-2 A 2-8-8-2, in the Whyte notation for describing steam locomotive wheel arrangements, is an articulated locomotive with a two-wheel leading truck, two sets of eight driving wheels, and a two-wheel trailing truck. The equivalent UIC classification ...

s and K class

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 ...

s arrived on the N&W. In 1957, No. 475 was backdated to look like an 1880s locomotive with brass boiler bands, a fake diamond

smokestack A chimney is an architectural ventilation structure made of masonry, clay or metal that isolates hot toxic exhaust gases or smoke produced by a boiler, stove, furnace, incinerator, or fireplace from human living areas. Chimneys are typic ...

and oil headlamp for the 75th anniversary of Roanoke, Virginia. Retired from revenue service in 1958, No. 475 was put on display in Roanoke until 1962 when it was sold to the Virginia Scrap Iron & Metal Company scrapyard. A year later, it was purchased by William Armagost from

Hollsopple, Pennsylvania Benson is a borough in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, United States. The town is more commonly known to locals as Hollsopple, which is also the United States Postal Service name for the town, zip code 15935. The population was 185 at the 2020 ce ...

. In 1980, the locomotive was sold to H.S. Kuyper, and then conveyed to the Pella Historical Society, being stored at the

Illinois Railway Museum The Illinois Railway Museum (IRM, reporting mark IRMX) is the largest railroad museum in the United States. It is located in the Chicago metropolitan area at 7000 Olson Road in Union, Illinois, northwest of downtown Chicago. Overview Histo ...

in Union, Illinois. In 1982, it was purchased by C. Rosenberg and his daughters, who subsequently donated it to the

Boone and Scenic Valley Railroad The Boone and Scenic Valley Railroad is a heritage railroad that operates freight and passenger excursions in Boone County, Iowa. History The heritage and excursion railroad was begun in 1983 by a group of volunteers who wanted to preserve a sce ...

in Boone County, Iowa around 1985. In June 1991, No. 475 was purchased by Strasburg Rail Road (SRC) in Strasburg, Pennsylvania for $100,000 and was restored to operating condition by November 1993, where it currently operated in excursion service, pulling tourist trains in the Pennsylvania Dutch countryside between Strasburg and

Paradise In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in paradis ...

on the SRC. Since then, No. 475 was the only operating 4-8-0 in North America and the oldest operating steam locomotive on the SRC. However, the locomotive was the least favorite of the SRC crew due to its cramped cab. In 2010 and 2017, No. 475 was cosmetically altered to resemble its extinct sister locomotive No. 382 for the ''Virginia Creeper'' photo charters, hosted by Lerro Productions on separate occasions. In late 2019, No. 475 was reunited with another N&W steam locomotive, class J

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. 611, which visited the SRC two more times in 2021 and 2022. This would mark the first time since 1991 that two ex-N&W steam locomotives operated side by side.

Accident

On November 2, 2022, while running around a passenger train at Leaman Place Junction in Paradise, No. 475 collided head-on with an

excavator Excavators are heavy construction equipment consisting of a boom, dipper (or stick), bucket and cab on a rotating platform known as the "house". The house sits atop an undercarriage with tracks or wheels. They are a natural progression fro ...

parked on a

siding Siding may refer to: * Siding (construction), the outer covering or cladding of a house * Siding (rail) A siding, in rail terminology, is a low-speed track section distinct from a running line or through route such as a main line, branch l ...

. The impact punched a hole in the front smokebox plate, shattered the smokebox door and knocked the headlight onto the ground. No crew or passengers were injured, and the damage done was deemed relatively minor. The collision was broadcast live via Virtual Railfan and was caught on video via cellphone by one of the passengers on board the train that day. The accident was caused by a misaligned switch, and it is being investigated by the

Federal Railroad Administration The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is an agency in the United States Department of Transportation (DOT). The agency was created by the Department of Transportation Act of 1966. The purpose of the FRA is to promulgate and enforce rail saf ...

(FRA). SRC announced on November 3, the day after the accident, that repairs on the locomotive had begun. No. 475 was repaired and returned to service on November 7 with a new front smokebox plate and headlight since the originals were completely destroyed. The smokebox door itself was repaired by braze-welding the broken shards together, along with the addition of a reinforcing steel ring on the inside of the door. The decision was made by SRC's Chief Mechanical Officer Brendan Zeigler to leave the welded seams from the brazing process visible on the door as a reminder of the incident.

Appearances in media

No. 475 was featured in the 2000 movie,

Thomas and the Magic Railroad ''Thomas and the Magic Railroad'' is a 2000 children's fantasy adventure film written and directed by Britt Allcroft and produced by Allcroft and Phil Fehrle. It is the only theatrical live-action/animated ''Thomas & Friends'' film in the franc ...

. An interview with SRC's former Chief Mechanical Officer Linn Moedinger, who revealed that the film's producer Phil Fehrle called him looking for an American locomotive to use. When Moedinger inquired as to what exactly he was looking for, Fehrle told him that the film's director, Britt Allcroft liked the locomotives pictured in a book by

O. Winston Link Ogle Winston Link (December 16, 1914 – January 30, 2001), known commonly as O. Winston Link, was an American photographer, best known for his black-and-white photography and sound recordings of the last days of steam locomotive railroading on t ...

, in particular the M-Class locomotives (of which 475 is a member). During filming, 475 and three of Strasburg's coaches (of which only two were used) were lettered for the fictional Indian Valley Railroad. No. 475 ventured off SRC trackage to the

Harrisburg Transportation Center The Harrisburg Transportation Center (HTC, formerly Pennsylvania Station, Harrisburg or Harrisburg Central Railroad Station) is a large railway station and transportation hub in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It is located on the eastern edge of Downto ...

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...

. The ferry move to Harrisburg from Leaman Place by

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

, as well as the filming, was unannounced so as not to attract a crowd.

Gallery

File:Strasburg Rail Road -475.jpeg, N&W No. 475 at the Strasburg Rail Road in April 2014 File:StrasburgRR 2004 0613Image002.jpg, No. 475 pulling a tourist excursion in 2004 File:Scranton and Strasburg No. 475.jpg, Strasburg No. 475 pulling a single hopper car at Cherry Hill Rd. in 2013. File:475 in the enginehouse.JPG, No. 475 sitting inside the Strasburg Railroad engine shed behind BEDT #15.

References

External links

{{commons category, Norfolk and Western Railway 475
No. 475 – Strasburg Rail Road

N&W M Class Information
4-8-0 locomotives 0475 Baldwin locomotives Individual locomotives of the United States Standard gauge locomotives of the United States Preserved steam locomotives of Pennsylvania