Southern Railway 1401 is a 4-6-2 "Pacific" type steam locomotive built in July 1926 by American Locomotive Company (ALCO) of Richmond, Virginia, for the Southern Railway (SOU) as a member of the Ps-4 class, which was based on the United States Railroad Administration (USRA) Heavy Pacific design with some minor differences. It was also among the last passenger steam locomotives built at ALCO's Richmond Works before its closure in 1927.
No. 1401 was initially based in Atlanta to pull SOU's premier mainlinepassenger trains between Atlanta, Georgia and Salisbury, North Carolina, where it was swapped out with the Spencer-based Ps-4s doing the passenger trains' runs between there and Washington, D.C. Painted in a green and gold paint scheme, No. 1401 and the other Ps-4s were signified as the First Ladies of the Pacifics. When the diesels took over pulling the premier Washington, D.C. to Atlanta passenger trains in 1941, No. 1401 and the Ps-4s were demoted to pull local mainline passenger trains and mail trains.
During 1945, No. 1401 hauled the funeral train of U.S. PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt from Greenville, South Carolina to Salisbury. At that time, it was relocated to Spencer, where it got the chance to run between Salisbury and Washington, D.C. Retired from revenue service by the SOU in early 1952, No. 1401 was donated to the Smithsonian Institution in 1962, where it remains on permanent static display at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. as the sole survivor of the Southern Railway Ps-4 class.
During the 1920s, the Southern Railway's (SOU) smaller Ps-2 class 4-6-2 Light Pacifics have reach their limit and could not handle the longer and heavier mainline passenger trains between Washington, D.C., and Atlanta, Georgia.[5][a] Therefore, the SOU ordered the more powerful 4-6-2 Heavy Pacific Ps-4 class with a total of 27 locomotives, Nos. 1366–1392, built between 1923 and 1924 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) of Schenectady, New York, and were originally painted black with gold leaf lining and lettering.[6][b] These locomotives were equipped with a two-axle bogie tender with a fuel capacity of 16 tonnes (35,000lb) of coal and 10,000 US gallons (38,000L) of water.[9] The Ps-4s were based on the United States Railroad Administration (USRA) Heavy Pacific design, differing in that they lacked the smaller 73in (1.854m) driving wheels, and included a slightly shorter boiler, and a Worthington 3-B type feedwater heater.[3][10] These arrangements made the Ps-4s produce 47,535 pounds of tractive effort, which allowed them to pull 14 passenger cars at 80mph (129km/h) on SOU's Piedmontterrain.[3][10]
During 1925, SOU president Fairfax Harrison traveled to the United Kingdom where he admired the country's London and North Eastern Railway's (LNER) apple-green passenger locomotives, which inspired him to repaint the Ps-4s and the SOU's other passenger locomotives in a new Virginian (forest) green and gold leaf paint scheme.[11][12][13] This included the second batches of twelve locomotives, Nos. 1393–1404, built in the summer of 1926 by ALCO's Richmond Works in Richmond, Virginia, at a cost of US$56,419 each (equivalent to $798,135in 2024).[14][c] Additionally, they were equipped with an Elesco feedwater heater as opposed to the Worthington type.[3] The 1926 locomotives were equipped with a larger three-axle bogie tender with a water capacity of 14,000 US gallons (53,000L) designed for long-distance passenger runs and eliminating multiple water stops, excluding Monroe, Virginia and Greenville, South Carolina.[9][16] Because of the Ps-4s' green and gold paint scheme, they were signified as the First Ladies of the Pacifics by Trains Magazine writer H.S. Bryant Jr.[17][18] Additionally, these locomotives were affectionally nicknamed the Harrison Engines.[19][20] They were among the last passenger steam locomotives built at ALCO's Richmond Works before its closure in 1927.[5]
In 1928, the last batch of five Ps-4s, Nos. 1405–1409, were built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at a cost of $57,000 each (equivalent to $825,908in 2024).[14] They were equipped with a smaller two-axle bogie tender with a capacity of 12,000-gallon of water.[3] No. 1409 was experimentally equipped with a Coffin feedwater heater, which was later removed and replaced with the Worthington SA type in the 1940s.[1][21] While the 1923–1926 batches were equipped with Baker valve gear, the 1928 locomotives were built with Walschaerts valve gears.[3][7] They were also the last passenger steam locomotives that SOU have ever ordered.[22]
In the early 1930s, the Virginian green on all of the Ps-4s and other passenger locomotive classes was replaced with a lighter shade of green, which was known as Sylvan green.[23][24] Around 1934, the gold leaf paint for the linings and letterings were replaced with Dulux imitation gold paint since the former did not show up well in black and white photographs.[23][24] The Ps-4s still retained the Sylvan green with Dulux gold trimming and lettering until the end of steam.[24] Also around the mid-late 1930s, Nos. 1366–1404 were re-equipped with Walschaerts valve gears as the SOU mechanical officers were concerned for the Baker type risking to reverse itself at high-speed and could easily damage the locomotive's wheels and the rails.[23][25] The Ps-4s' original long, sharply pointed pilots were also replaced with shorter "boiler tube" style ones to accommodate each other to couple front to front.[26][27] Most of them had their sand pipes concealed into the boiler cladding.[28]
In the early 1940s, all of the Ps-4s were re-equipped with multiple-bearing crossheads to replace their original alligator crossheads.[1][23] Additionally, Nos. 1366–1409, were all rebuilt with the raised front running board valve ladders to allow more room around their cylinders and running gear for faster maintenance on the mechanical lubricating system.[1][29][30] Their tender coal bunkers were expanded to hold more coal.[29][30] The Ps-4s were originally equipped with a standard Crosby 6 inch 3-chime whistle, which was replaced between 1938 and 1941 with a deeper sounding long-bell 3-chime "steamboat" whistle, manufactured by SOU's Lenoir Car Works in Lenoir City, Tennessee.[31][d]
No. 1401 was the forty-sixth member of the Ps-4 class and was one of the second batch built in 1926.[33] It along with sister locomotives Nos. 1393, 1394, 1402, and 1403 were initially based at Atlanta in SOU's Atlanta Division to run between there and Salisbury, North Carolina, pulling the railroad's premier mainline passenger trains such as the Crescent Limited,[15] the New Yorker,[34] the Peach Queen,[35] the Piedmont Limited,[15] and the Washington-Atlanta-New Orleans Express.[15] Salisbury is the place where the Atlanta-based Ps-4s were swapped out with the Spencer-based Ps-4s, Nos. 1395-1400 and 1404, running to Washington, D.C. every 300 miles (480km)[3] or 150 miles (240km) depending on the stops at Monroe and Greenville for refuel.[36][37][e] SOU's South (Pegram) Shops in Atlanta were responsible for maintaining the Ps-4s, including No. 1401, running between Atlanta and Salisbury.[24][28]
The SOU allowed their engineers, firemen, and workshop employees to have the freedom to decorate the Ps-4s with two brass candlesticks flanked on their headlight, a brass spread eagle ornament mounted in front of their smokebox door above the headlight, and Masonic emblems to make them look more elegant and ornate.[10][24][38] As such, during the 1930s, No. 1401 gained a Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific (CNO&TP) "bowtie" style number plate, which was commonly used on SOU's subsidiary CNO&TP steam locomotives.[10][28][f] This also makes No. 1401 the only SOU principal region Ps-4 to adorn it.[10][28][39]
In 1941, SOU began to modernize their premier Washington D.C. to Atlanta passenger trains with their new EMD E6diesel locomotives to pull.[40][41] No. 1401 and the other Ps-4s were relegated to haul the all-stops Washington D.C. to Atlanta local passenger and mail train Nos. 135 and 136, along with the Danville, Virginia to Greenville, South Carolina local passenger train Nos. 11 and 12.[42] Additionally, the Ps-4s were in motive power pool service, where they were called in to pull SOU's mainline passenger trains again to protect the passenger schedules if one of the diesel locomotives was unavailable to operate.[43][g] On the night of April 25, 1942, No. 1401 was double heading with sister locomotive No. 1403, pulling the Atlanta Special passenger train from Atlanta to Washington, D.C., but crashed into a stalled truck at a railroad crossing in Norcross, Georgia, derailing both locomotives with the first four cars and injuring 12 or 13 people.[47] They were both repaired and put back into service.[47][h]
On April 13, 1945, No. 1401 became one of the eight Ps-4 locomotives to haul the funeral train of U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt.[10][49][50] The funeral train, which consisted of 11 cars, was first hauled by Nos. 1409 and 1394, who brought it from Atlanta into Greenville, where No. 1401 and sister locomotive No. 1385 would take over.[10][49][51] Serving as the lead locomotive for the run from Greenville to Salisbury, No. 1401 carried the American flag from the Greenville roundhouse, the only special marking carried on the funeral train.[50][51] Upon arrival in Salisbury, the train was transferred over to Nos. 1367 and 1400 pulling it into Monroe, Virginia, where Nos. 1366 and 1406 would complete the funeral train's journey to Washington, D.C.[49][52]
Also around 1945, No. 1401 was relocated to Spencer in the Charlotte Division with its maintenance site being switched over to SOU's Spencer Shops.[30] Nos. 1393, 1394, 1402, and 1403 followed on in mid-1947 due to being displaced by SOU's newer batch of EMD F3 diesel units taking over their place in Atlanta and the Pegram Shops being converted into the principal maintenance and repair facility for diesels.[28][30][53] This resulted in No. 1401 and the former Atlanta-based Ps-4s getting the chance to run between Salisbury and Washington, D.C.[24][54][55] They would also pull the northern section Carolina Special to Durham, Raleigh, and Goldsboro, North Carolina;[56][57] and sometimes the Aiken-Augusta Special to Columbia, South Carolina on the Columbia Division.[15][26][58]
By November 1949, the Ps-4s' retirement began with No. 1399 being cut up for scrap at SOU's Hayne Shops in Spartanburg, South Carolina.[42][59] No. 1401's last heavy repairs took place at the Spencer Shops on May 21, 1951.[60] In early 1952, the No. 1401 locomotive was retired after it finished its last revenue run on SOU's Danville Division between Salisbury and Monroe.[60][61] It had traveled nearly 2,000,000 miles (3,200,000km) during its revenue service.[50] The last Ps-4s made their last revenue run in May 1952.[42]
Preservation and permanent display
"No doubt, you are aware that your famous Ps-4 class Pacific type locomotives have long been considered the handsomest locomotives of their type in the entire U.S., particularly in their brilliant green and gold trim with polished rods, offer a Ps-4 to the Smithsonian for permanent display."
On September 3, 1952, Whittier, California-based railfan Walter H. Thrall wrote a letter to SOU president Harry A. DeButts to salvage one of the Ps-4 locomotives and donate it to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.[50][60][i] DeButts passed on Thrall's idea to the chairman of the executive committee of Smithsonian's Board of Regents, Robert John Fleming, who agreed.[50][60][j] In November 1952, No. 1401 was set aside for preservation; it was refurbished and stored out of service with the other refurbished Ps-4s at the Spencer Shops.[60] On February 10, 1953, the No. 1401 locomotive was chosen to be preserved at the Smithsonian and was towed to Alexandria, Virginia, to be stored at the Henry Street Yard to await the Smithsonian's decision.[40][60][k] During its time there, the locomotive sat outside the yard exposed to the elements.[66] In 1955, the Smithsonian announced that they will put the No. 1401 locomotive on display inside their new Museum of History and Technology exhibition building.[60]
No. 1401 on display at the Smithsonian's former Railroad Hall exhibit in June 1992
In September 1961, No. 1401 was moved into the Shelton Paint Shop on Henry Street, where it was cosmetically restored with a new coat of paint.[66] On October 30, the tender was finished first and the easiest to be transported via flatbed truck to the Smithsonian's under construction Museum of History and Technology building, where it arrived on November 13.[66] The locomotive's repaint was finished on November 8 and it was towed to the Washington Navy Yard three days later.[66][67] On November 25, the locomotive was lifted off the rails and onto to a flatbed truck by two giant SOU wrecking cranes.[66] On November 30, the No. 1401 locomotive finally arrived at the Museum of History and Technology building's Railroad Hall exhibit, where it was unloaded from the flatbed onto a temporary track and turntable, where it was slowly pulled around to align over the museum's tracks.[66][67] The turntable was removed and the locomotive was finally lowered onto the rails inside the Railroad Hall exhibit, reuniting with its tender on December 6.[66][67] No. 1401 was dedicated at the Smithsonian on June 1962 with SOU president D.W. Brosnan and Robert John Fleming in attendance.[66]
When the Museum of History and Technology was opened to the public in early 1964, No. 1401 being largest item on display, was the star exhibit of the Railroad Hall and a Smithsonian icon.[66][68] In early 1967, No. 1401 was given a visor on its headlight and the Charlotte Division logo inscribed underneath both sides of its cab per advice of W. Graham Claytor Jr., who was SOU vice-president at the time.[69] In 1980, the Museum of History and Technology was renamed the National Museum of American History to reflect its scope of American history.[70] On April 8, 2002, the Railroad Hall exhibit closed and No. 1401 had been pushed back at about 30 feet (360in) from its former spot to be part of the new America On The Move exhibition, which opened on November 22, 2003.[66][71][72] The No. 1401 locomotive still currently remains on permanent static display at the Smithsonian as the sole survivor of the Southern Railway Ps-4 class.[61][66][73]
↑Although there were Ts and Ts-1 class 4-8-2 locomotives valid enough to handle this work, they could not be relocated to some of SOU's routes all over again.[5]
↑Seven additional locomotives (Nos. 6476–6482) were built for the CNO&TP, while the other four locomotives (Nos. 6688–6691) were assigned to the AGS.[7][15]
↑Some of them were equipped with different types of whistles per the engineers' choices such as a Finley Shops three-chambered "town whistle" mounted right behind AGS No. 6691's stack.[31] Nos. 1369 and 1407 were equipped with a single-tone air horn, mounted next to their smokebox.[31][32]
↑They would also be occasionally seen pulling stainless steel Buddstreamlined passenger cars, which had re-equipped SOU's older passenger train consist such as the Crescent[44] and debuted on newer passenger trains such as the Southerner.[45][46]
↑Before that, during December 1952, the SOU mechanical officers originally offered to donate the No. 1393 locomotive, but the Smithsonian declined and instead chose No. 1401 since the latter was recognized as one of the locomotives involved in the Roosevelt funeral train and No. 1393 was not one of them.[42][60] In April 1953, No. 1393 was refurbished as a static display at the Spencer Shops for the Rowan County's bicentennial anniversary.[42][65] It was eventually sold for scrap at the Baltimore Steel Company on July 29 of that same year.[4]
Loy, Sallie; Hillman, Dick; Cates, C. Pat (2005). The Southern Railway: Further Recollections. Images of Rail (1sted.). Arcadia Publishing. ISBN978-0-7385-1831-2.
Morgan, David P. (December 1978). "A paean to the Ps-4". Trains. Vol.39, no.2. Kalmbach Publishing. pp.28–34.
Roberts, Dale (March–April 1994). "Fairfax Harrison's Aristocrats: A Photo Study of the Most Elegant Group of Ps-4 Pacifics". TIES Magazine. Vol.8, no.2. Southern Railway Historical Association. pp.4–17.
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