Pennsylvania Railroad 1737 was a 4-6-2 ''Pacific'' type K4 class

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 1914 as the first of its class and would haul heavier passenger trains that the smaller E class 4-4-2 ''Atlantics'' could not handle such as the PRR's flagship passenger train, the ''

Broadway Limited The ''Broadway Limited'' was a passenger train operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) between New York City and Chicago. It operated from 1912 to 1995. It was the Pennsylvania's premier train, competing directly with the New York Central R ...

''. In the 1930s, as the PRR had increased passenger service time tables, the trains became longer and heavier than a single K4s could handle, necessitating double-heading with a second engine. The "Standard Railroad Of The World" made attempts to replace the 1737 and its sisters with larger, more powerful classes including: K5, S1, and the T1, none of which were successful; thus, the K4s continued hauling passenger trains until the Pennsylvania Railroad replaced steam locomotives with the increasingly-popular and less-costly diesel-electric locomotives in 1957.

Commuter service

The 1737 was no stranger to commuter service. The New York and Long Branch Railroad in

South Amboy, New Jersey South Amboy is a suburban city in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located on Raritan Bay. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city's population was 9,411.Pennsylvania Railroad class GG1 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 ...

would bring the trains from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Penn Station Pennsylvania Station is a name applied by the Pennsylvania Railroad to several of its grand passenger terminals. Pennsylvania Station or Penn Station may also refer to Current train stations * Baltimore Penn Station * Pennsylvania Station (Cinci ...

, the K4s would take over the train and make the run from the South Amboy station to

Bay Head, New Jersey Bay Head is a borough in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 968,Northumberland, Pennsylvania Northumberland is a borough in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,804 at the 2010 census. History A brewer named Reuben Haines, a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded the town of Northumberland in ...

. However, by the late 1950s, 1737 had deteriorated to the point where the PRR deemed the locomotive in very poor condition to be preserved. Instead, the PRR quietly took another K-4, No. 3750, and renumbered it to represent No. 1737 while the real No. 1737 was broken up for scrap in 1960.

References

Sources

* {{Refend

1737 Events January–March * January 5 – Spain and the Holy Roman Empire sign instruments of cession at Pontremoli in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany in Italy, with the Empire receiving control of Tuscany and the Grand Duchy of Parma a ...

4-6-2 locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1914 Individual locomotives of the United States Scrapped locomotives Standard gauge locomotives of the United States

Commuter service

See also

References

Sources