United States Army Steam Locomotive No. 4039 is located in the Whippany section of Hanover Township, Morris County, New Jersey, United States. The locomotive was built in 1942 and added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 4, 2002. The locomotive is part of the Whippany Railway Museum.

History

The locomotive was built 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 ...

in November 1942 for the

U.S. War Department The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, a ...

. The locomotive is an S155 class 0-6-0 "Switching"-type built for

Standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...

track. The intended use of the locomotive was for U.S. military service in the Far East, Africa and Europe, but instead was used for switching operations for military bases within the United States during World War II. After World War II the locomotive was no longer needed by the War Department and was sold to the

Virginia Blue Ridge Railway The Virginia Blue Ridge Railway (VBR) is a historic intrastate short line railroad that operated in central Virginia in the 20th century. History The company was incorporated in 1914, and construction was started in 1915. The VBR extended from Ty ...

on February 17, 1947. The locomotive was used in freight operations until August 1, 1963, when it was taken out of service when the Virginia Blue Ridge Railway made the change over to diesel locomotives. In 1965, the locomotive was sold to the Morris County Central Railroad and was used for passenger rail excursions. The locomotive's last run was on December 14, 1980, between

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

and

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, New Jersey. The Whippany Railway Museum acquired the locomotive on May 7, 1994, and cosmetically restored it for static display. The Morris County Board of Chosen Freeholders adopted a Resolution designating the locomotive "The Official Steam Locomotive of Morris County" on January 26, 1997.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Rail infrastructure on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey 4039 0-6-0 locomotives ALCO locomotives Railway locomotives on the National Register of Historic Places Hanover Township, New Jersey Individual locomotives of the United States National Register of Historic Places in Morris County, New Jersey New Jersey Register of Historic Places Railway locomotives introduced in 1942 Standard gauge locomotives of the United States Preserved steam locomotives of New Jersey

History

See also

References