OWOSSO, Mich. — Pere Marquette steam locomotive No. 1225 made its public debut over the weekend by operating the North Pole Express excursions – organized by the 2-8-4’s owners, the Steam Railroading Institute (SRI) of Owosso. The Berkshire-type locomotive is fresh from an extensive rebuild of the driving wheels and running gear with test runs completed in early November [See “Pere Marquette No. 1225 returns to service…” News Wire, Nov. 9, 2023].
“Overall, No. 1225 performed outstanding,” said Justin Hamilton, SRI’s Master Mechanic of Motive Power. “There were a couple of little appliance setbacks [not related to the running gear] which were more of an inconvenience than a defect.
“We’re going to tune those up before next weekend’s trips.”
With the engine having completed four 51.2-mile round trips along the Great Lakes Central Railroad between the Institute and Ashley, Mich. — destination for the holiday excursions — Hamilton reports no significant changes in the performance of the wheels and running gear compared to the Nov. 3 test runs. There was no pounding in the frame from the new shoes and wedges to the axle boxes and nothing ran hot, he said. However, both Hamilton and SRI are still considering the next 200-300 miles of operation as continual break-in runs. “I doubt we have enough miles on it to get all the bearings seated fully yet.”
According to the Steam Railroading Institute’s website, No. 1225 is scheduled to operate four additional weekends of the North Pole Express all the way to Dec. 17. Excursions depart from the Institute at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays with one Friday trip added on Nov. 24 at 2 p.m. and Dec. 8 at 5 p.m. While bookings are still available to charter the former Pennsylvania Railroad Frank Thomson observation car, individual seating is listed as sold out. Meanwhile, Hamilton and the rest of the mechanical crew will be settling into a weekday routine of servicing, inspections, and needed adjustments to prepare the locomotive during the turnarounds.
“We’ll be going around taking care of general maintenance items that I wouldn’t consider as repairs.”
Nice to see, and it sounds good as well.
Beautiful steam locomotive and a wonderful “dog’s breakfast” mix of equipment in that train!
Have safe and pleasant journeys with your fans, dear Pere Marquette No. 1225!
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
Best-looking steam loco anywhere ever IMO