Locomotives

Locomotive No. 89 ran on the Canadian National Railway for most of her life before being sold to the Green Mountain Railroad in New Hampshire. After just a few years on the Green Mountain RR, the locomotive was sold to the Strasburg Rail Road in late Spring 1972. The harrowing experience battling Hurricane Agnes’ flood waters during her journey to Strasburg is chronicled in Images of Rail: Strasburg Rail Road. Today, No. 89 is still an active locomotive at Strasburg and is often the locomotive of choice to pull smaller train consists.

Strasburg Rail Road

Built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia in June of 1906 and run on the Norfolk & Western Railroad as a mixed use engine until 1962, No. 475 is Strasburg Rail Road’s oldest and second largest steam locomotive. No. 475’s unusual 4-8-0 wheel configuration makes her known as an “Mastodon” or “M-Class” locomotive. She is the only 4-8-0 class locomotive currently operating in North America! She is also one of the last surviving examples of a Norfolk & Western Railroad locomotive. No. 475 arrived in Strasburg in 1991 after the railroad purchased the locomotive for a mere $100,000. After an approximate $640,000 extensive overhaul and restoration, she pulled her first passenger train on Strasburg’s line in the fall of 1993. No. 475 was made famous for her role in the movie, Thomas and the Magic Railroad. No. 475’s size and ability to pull nearly any size train makes her a “go-to” locomotive for nearly any need Strasburg may have—passenger, freight, or otherwise.

Strasburg Rail Road

image Strasburg, Pa / Oct 2008 / Adam Christman

There is little doubt that number 1223 is the most photographed steam locomotive in the country today. Coupled to the head end of three or four of the Strasburg's carefully restored open platform coaches, the 1223, resplendent in its gold trim, is the very epitome of turn-of-the-century railroading. It is the last remaining Pennsylvania Railroad 4-4-0, of which more than 400 were built between 1895 and 1910 at the railroad's Altoona shops. By the beginning of World War II, only three remained on the motive power roster, and in 1951 the railroad's officials decided to preserve the 1223.

The Pennsylvania should be applauded for its foresight in saving this locomotive; for no engine in operation today is more representative of the era of steam propulsion. When these engines were outshopped they were assigned to the railroad's best and fastest trains, limiteds like the BROADWAY and the mile-a-minute boardwalk flyers between Camden and Atlantic City. With the advent of longer trains and all-steel coaches, they were sent to the shops, fitted with smaller driving wheels and assigned to commuter and branch line service. Before being fitted with smaller drivers, the 1223 was capable of speeds well in excess of 100 miles an hour.

William M. Moedinger - The Road to Paradise - 1971

No. 8618 is often used as Strasburg freight locomotive hauling freight between the Leaman Place Junction and East Strasburg. Built in 1952 for the New York Central Railroad, No. 8618 is one of a few internal combustion locomotives on Strasburg's esteemed roster of historic steam locomotives. Strasburg Rail Road's freight department could not service the many local customers it does without the consistent and steady work of No. 8618. After spending decades on the New York Central, No. 8618 came to the Strasburg Rail Road in 2009.

Strasburg Rail Road