Norfolk and Western 475

Norfolk and Western 475
Norfolk and Western No. 475 conducting in-cab experiences in Leaman Place, Pennsylvania on August 16, 2020
Type and origin Power type Steam Builder Baldwin Locomotive Works Serial number 28343 Build date June 1906 Rebuild date 1991–1993
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 4-8-0  • UIC 2′D Gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) Leading dia. 27 in (0.686 m) Driver dia. 56 in (1.422 m) Wheelbase 58.37 ft (17.79 m) ​  • Engine 26.42 ft (8.05 m)  • Drivers 15.50 ft (4.72 m) Adhesive weight 169,800 lb (77,000 kg) Loco weight 206,200 lb (93,500 kg) Tender weight 167,500 lb (76,000 kg) Total weight 373,700 lb (169,500 kg) Tender type USRA Fuel type Coal Fuel capacity 16 tonnes (35,000 lb) Water cap. 10,000 US gal (38,000 L; 8,300 imp gal) Firebox: ​  • Grate area 45 sq ft (4.2 m2) Boiler pressure 200 psi (1.38 MPa) Heating surface: ​  • Firebox 173 sq ft (16.1 m2)  • Total surface 2,940 sq ft (273 m2) Cylinders Two Cylinder size 21 in × 30 in (533 mm × 762 mm) Valve gear Stephenson (inside); later Baker Loco brake Air
Performance figures Tractive effort 40,163 lb (18.2 t) Factor of adh. 4.23
Career Operators Norfolk & Western Railway Strasburg Rail Road Class M Number in class 101 Numbers N&W 475 N&W 382 SRC 475 Retired 1958 Preserved September 1960 Restored November 1993 Current owner Strasburg Rail Road Disposition Operational

Strasburg Rail Road (Norfolk and Western) 475 is a 4-8-0 "Mastodon" type steam locomotive built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works 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, Illinois, and Iowa until 1991 when it was purchased and restored by the Strasburg Rail Road (SRC) in Strasburg, Pennsylvania, where it runs tourist excursion trains in the Pennsylvania Dutch countryside. Since then, No. 475 became the only 4-8-0 locomotive operating in North America and the oldest operating steam locomotive on the SRC.

History

No. 475's builder's plate

No. 475 was the 101st member of 125 M class steam locomotives 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 10 tonnes (22,000 lb) of coal and 6,000 US gallons (23,000 L) of water. Sometime during the 1930s, No. 475 was re-equipped with Baker valve gear and a USRA type tender, which holds 16 tonnes (35,000 lb) of coal and 10,000 US gallons (38,000 L) of water. No. 475 was one of the many M class locomotives that were not re-equipped with superheaters, excluding Nos. 382, 386, 429, 439, 447, 457, 459, 482, 493, and 495.

Inside No. 475's cab, the engineer sits on the right beside the firebox, which was fitted further away from the back of the cab, similar to the camelback design. Additionally, the firemen would have to shovel coal on the tender deck instead of the cab deck. On the engineer's side, the throttle lever 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 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 2-8-8-2s and K class 4-8-2s 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 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. 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 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 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 in November 1993, where it now operates in excursion service, pulling tourist trains in the Pennsylvania Dutch countryside between Strasburg and Paradise 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 2018, it was taken out of service to undergo its 15-year mandated Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) inspection and rebuild. It return to active service in September 2019 were it received a centered headlamp mounted on the smokebox door. That same month, No. 475 was reunited with another N&W steam locomotive, class J 4-8-4 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 parked on a siding. 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 (FRA). SRC announced on November 3, the day after the accident, that repairs on the locomotive had begun.

"I elected not to have them do that, to leave it as a ‘witness mark’ to remind our crews"

—Brendan Zeigler

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. 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, 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 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The ferry move to Harrisburg from Leaman Place by Amtrak, as well as the filming, was unannounced so as not to attract a crowd.

Gallery

• 
  N&W No. 475 at the Strasburg Rail Road in April 2014
• 
  No. 475 pulling a tourist excursion in 2004
• 
  Strasburg No. 475 pulling a single hopper car at Cherry Hill Rd. in 2013.
• 
  No. 475 sitting inside the Strasburg Railroad engine shed behind BEDT #15.

See also

• Canadian National 89
• Canadian National 7312
• Great Western 60
• Great Western 90
• Norfolk and Western 433
• Norfolk and Western 578
• Polson Logging Co. 2

Further reading

• Bell, Kurt; Plant, Jeremy (2015). Strasburg Rail Road In Color (1st ed.). Morning Sun Books. ISBN 978-1582484792.
• Conner, Eric; Barrall, Steve (2017). Strasburg Rail Road. Images of Rail (1st ed.). Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4671-2507-9.
• Jefferies, Lewis (2005). N&W: Giant of Steam, Revised Edition (2nd ed.). Norfolk and Western Historical Society. pp. 110–124. ISBN 0-9704794-5-X.

External links

• No. 475 – Strasburg Rail Road
• N&W M Class Information