Great Northern 2584 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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![]() GN 2584 and nearby sculpture, U.S.–Canada Friendship in Havre, Montana in 1991 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Great Northern 2584 is a 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotive built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in March 1930 for the Great Northern Railway (GN) as a member of the S-2 class.
The locomotive was built for fast passenger service and was assigned to pull the Great Northern's mainline passenger trains such as the Empire Builder and Oriental Limited . It was then retired in December 1957 and put on display at the Havre station in Havre, Montana for display in May 1964. It is the sole surviving Great Northern S-2 Class "Northern", the sole surviving Great Northern "Northern" type and the largest surviving Great Northern steam locomotive.
When delivered to the Great Northern in April 1930, 2584 was assigned to the railroad's premier passenger trains such as the Empire Builder and Oriental Limited between St. Paul, Minnesota and Seattle, Washington as well as fast mail trains. Initially, the locomotive was assigned to the flatter districts due to the districts having long tangents, easy curves and light grades, [3] then a test in 1931 proved the class was capable of pulling the Empire Builder over the Divide between Havre and Whitefish, Montana where grades are up to 1.8% and the locomotive was also assigned to the Divide and eventually as far east as St. Paul, Minnesota, where the Empire Builder starts on the Great Northern's mainline. [4] In 1945, the locomotive was fitted with Timken roller bearings on every axle, including every axle on its tender, replacing its original plain bearings. By 1949, despite performing excellently in passenger service, the railroad had dieselised its premier passenger trains and the locomotive was then reassigned to secondary passenger trains and freight service, of which the latter service was proven to be rather unsuitable for it due to being designed as a passenger locomotive. By the 1950s, No. 2584 and her sister locomotives were repainted from their original Glacier Green to black. [5]
In late 1956, 2584 made its final run and was stored in a roundhouse in Superior, Wisconsin and had its axle boxes painted red and sat there for years. [6] [7]
On August 9, 1945, No. 2584 was involved in a wreck, however, the locomotive was undamaged, as the rear of its train was rear-ended by sister locomotive No. 2588 at 45 mph. No. 2584's tender, however, had suffered from a hot box and has stopped at Petersburg, North Dakota and again at Michigan, North Dakota prior to the wreck. [5] [8] After the hot box and accident were resolved, both 2584 and 2588 were returned to service.
2584 was retired in December 1957 and on March 21, 1958, the Great Northern had decided to hold it for historical purposes and it was eventually repainted to its original "Glacier Park" paint scheme and today is owned by Great Northern's eventual successor, Burlington Northern Santa Fe. On May 15, 1964, the locomotive was put on display at the Havre depot in Havre, Montana and was dedicated there. [9] As of today, it still resides there on display. [5] It also has a marker describing the locomotive and the S-2 class in general on the engineer's side of the locomotive's tender. [10]
The Great Northern Railway was an American Class I railroad. Running from Saint Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington, it was the creation of 19th-century railroad entrepreneur James J. Hill and was developed from the Saint Paul & Pacific Railroad. The Great Northern's route was the northernmost transcontinental railroad route in the U.S.
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-8-4 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and four trailing wheels on two axles. The type was first used by the Northern Pacific Railway, and initially named the Northern Pacific, but railfans and railroad employees have shortened the name since its introduction. It is most-commonly known as a Northern.
The Empire Builder is a daily long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and either Seattle or Portland via two sections west of Spokane. Introduced in 1929, it was the flagship passenger train of the Great Northern Railway and was retained by Amtrak when it took over intercity rail service in 1971.
The North Coast Limited was a named passenger train operated by the Northern Pacific Railway between Chicago and Seattle via Bismarck, North Dakota. It started on April 29, 1900, and continued as a Burlington Northern Railroad train after the merger on March 2, 1970 with Great Northern Railway and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. The next year, it ceased operations after the trains which left their originating stations on April 30, 1971, the day before Amtrak began service, arrived at their destinations.
The EMD NW3 was a 1,000 hp (750 kW) road switcher diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division of La Grange, Illinois between November 1939 and March 1942. A total of seven were built for the Great Northern Railway, the sole original purchaser; they were originally numbered #5400-5406 and later renumbered #175-181.
An SDP40 is a 6-axle passenger diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD) between June 1966 and May 1970.
Southern Pacific 4449, also known as the Daylight, is the only surviving example of Southern Pacific Railroad's "GS-4" class of 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotives and one of only two GS-class locomotives surviving, the other being "GS-6" 4460 at the National Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri. GS is an abbreviation of "General Service" or "Golden State," a nickname for California.
Spokane, Portland & Seattle 700 is the oldest and only surviving example of the class "E-1" 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotive and the only surviving "original" Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway steam locomotive. It was built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in May 1938. Nearly identical to the class "A-3" Northerns built for Northern Pacific Railway, it burns oil instead of coal.
Havre station is a train station, re-fueling, and service stop for the Amtrak Empire Builder in Havre, Montana. The station, platform, and parking are owned by BNSF Railway, and the station was previously owned and operated by the Great Northern Railway.
Canadian National 3254 is a class "S-1-b" 2-8-2 "Mikado" type steam locomotive built by the Canadian Locomotive Company for the Canadian National Railway as the fifth member of the Canadian National class S-1-b.
Great Northern Railway 1355 is a standard gauge steam railway locomotive built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1909 for the Great Northern Railway in the United States. It was built as a 4-6-0, Ten-Wheeler, type, but it had an extensive rebuild in 1924 when it became a 4-6-2, Pacific, type. During its career, it pulled both freight and passenger trains, including the Great Northern's crack Empire Builder and Oriental Limited.
The Michigan train wreck was the worst rail disaster in both North Dakota and Great Northern Railway history. It happened on August 9, 1945, at Michigan, North Dakota, and involved Great Northern's premier train, the Empire Builder.
The Great Northern Z-1 was a class of ten electric locomotives built for the Great Northern Railway They were used to work the route through the second Cascade Tunnel. They were built between 1926–1928 by Baldwin Locomotive Works, with Westinghouse electrics, and stayed in service until dieselisation in 1956. Each was of 1,830 horsepower (1,360 kW) with a 1-D-1 wheel arrangement, although they were always used in coupled pairs.
The Glacier Park Limited was a named passenger train operated by the Great Northern Railway in the United States that ran between St. Paul and Seattle between 1915 and 1929. The Glacier Park Limited came to be when another one of Great Northern's St. Paul to Seattle routes, The Oregonian was renamed. The Limited also had a split with a small consist going to Portland along the route of the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway. The train was meant to promote Great Northern's on-line scenic attraction Glacier Park as a tourist destination, advertising the park's unequaled scenery and easy access by its trains, which stopped on both the Eastern and Western edge of the park.
The Great Northern S-2 was a class of 14 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotives built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1930 and operated by the Great Northern Railway until the late 1950s.
The Great Northern P-2 was a class of 28 4-8-2 "Mountain" type steam locomotives built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1923 and operated by the Great Northern Railway until the late 1950s.
The Great Northern S-1 was a class of 6 4-8-4 Northern type steam locomotives built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1929 and operated by the Great Northern Railway until the late 1950s. They were initially put in passenger service but eventually saw service pulling freight.
Great Northern 2507 is a 4-8-2 "Mountain" type steam locomotive, a member of the P-2 class. Built for passenger service, the locomotive was assigned to pull the Great Northern's mainline passenger trains such as the Empire Builder and Oriental Limited, until being retired in December 1957 and sold to Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway. GN 2507 is one of only two surviving examples of a P-2 class locomotive and, since 2003, has been on display at Wishram station in Wishram, Washington.
The Great Northern H-5 was a class of 25 4-6-2 "Pacific" type steam locomotives that were originally built as E-14 4-6-0 "Ten Wheelers" by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1909 and operated by the Great Northern Railway until the mid-1950s.
Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway No. 539 is the only preserved example of the class O-3 2-8-2 "Mikado" steam locomotive. It was built by the American Locomotive Company in 1917 for the Northern Pacific Railway as engine No. 1762. It was sold to the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway and renumbered 539, in August 1944. It was reconfigured and converted to oil burning in January 1946. The locomotive was retired in 1957, and it was displayed in Esther Short Park, Washington, until 1997. That year, it was moved to Battle Ground for a potential restoration that never came to fruition. In 2007, it was acquired by the Grand Canyon Railway and moved to Williams, Arizona for an operational restoration that also never came to fruition. In 2019, No. 539 was purchased again by the Port of Kalama, who moved it back to Washington and put it on static display inside the Port's Interpretive Center that was constructed in 2014.