Valley Railroad 3025 is a

China Railways SY The SY () class 2-8-2 Mikado is one of the main industrial locomotives used by China Railways built mostly by Tangshan Railway Vehicle between 1960 and 1999. History and design The SY class was the last major class of steam locomotives to be p ...

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 ...

that was built in 1989 by the Tangshan Locomotive and Rolling Stock Works for the

Knox and Kane Railroad The Knox and Kane Railroad (K&K) was a short-line railroad in Pennsylvania that operated between Knox, in Clarion County, to Kane and then on to Mount Jewett, in McKean County. History Early years The track and right of way was bought from ...

, where it spent its life until that railroad's demise. It was purchased by the

Valley Railroad Company The Valley Railroad, operating under the name Essex Steam Train and Riverboat, is a heritage railroad based in Connecticut on tracks of the Connecticut Valley Railroad, which was founded in 1868. The company began operations in 1971 between Deep ...

in 2008 and has since been rebuilt as a masquerade of a New Haven J-1 "Mikado" locomotive and re-numbered 3025.

History

Knox and Kane Railroad 1658, as it was then known, was one of three

China Railways China State Railway Group Company, Ltd., doing business as China Railway (CR), is the national passenger and freight railroad corporation of the People's Republic of China. China Railway operates passenger and freight transport throughout Ch ...

SY class steam locomotives that were built by the Tangshan Locomotive and Rolling Stock Works in 1989 exclusively for tourist operations in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Sloan Cornell, the founder of the

, purchased the locomotive at an undisclosed cost, and it arrived 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, ...

in the beginning of 1990. The locomotive ran for the Knox and Kane between 1990 and spring of 2006, when the railroad ceased all operations. In storage in an engine house in Kane, locomotive 58 and other rolling stock was subjected to an early morning arson attack on March 16, 2008. The locomotive was severely damaged, more so than its housemate, the

2-8-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels. ...

No. 38, which had thicker boiler skin. Its cab was lined with wood, which was completely destroyed. On October 10, the locomotive was purchased at a liquidation auction by the Valley Railroad. The new owners planned to restore the locomotive to operating condition, and simultaneously transform its appearance to that of a

New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , commonly known as The Consolidated, or simply as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to December 31, 1968. Founded by the merger of ...

locomotive, to be numbered 3025. Restoration was completed in 2011, and the locomotive entered revenue service on November 25, 2011, pulling the ''North Pole Express''. It has since become one of the railroad's regular road locomotives, and took locomotive No. 40's title as the railroad's largest locomotive.

Gallery

File:Chinese built steamer on the Knox and Kane Railroad in Pennsylvania, July 1990.jpg, Valley Railroad 3025 operating as Knox and Kane No. 58 in July 1990 File:Train parked on bridge - panoramio.jpg, No. 3025 being parked near the

Kinzua Bridge The Kinzua Bridge or the Kinzua Viaduct (, ) was a railroad trestle that spanned Kinzua Creek in McKean County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The bridge was tall and long. Most of its structure collapsed during a tornado in July 2003. B ...

as Knox and Kane No. 58 in October 2001 File:VALE 3025.jpg, 3025 operating on the Connecticut Valley Railroad in 2011, after being restored. File:Valley Railroad 3025 firebox doors.jpg, Firebox doors of 3025 File:Valley Railroad 3025.jpg, 3025 at Goodspeed Station during the Lee Carlson Memorial Photo Charter on April 24, 2021. File:3025 at Tate’s Cut Deep River September 24, 2021.jpg, 3025 at Tate’s Cut in Deep River on September 24, 2021 File:The Valley Railroad 3025 waiting for departure at Essex station for the North Pole Express.jpg, VALE 3025 about to depart from Essex on December 17th, 2021

References

{{reflist 2-8-2 locomotives Individual locomotives of the United States Steam locomotives of China Steam locomotives of the United States Standard gauge locomotives of the United States Railway locomotives introduced in 1989 Preserved steam locomotives of Connecticut