September 1, 2018 – St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad steam locomotive 1630 approaches the Seeman Road Crossing, outside the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois as the last light of day begins to fade from the sky. – #jimstrainphotos #illinoisrailroads #steamtrains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #illinoisrailwaymuseum #steamtrain
September 1, 2018 – St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad steam locomotive 1630 passes through the crossing approaching the station at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois as the last light of day begins to fade from the sky.
According to Wikipedia, the locomotive was built in 1918 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works for use in Russia as a class Ye locomotive. However, it, along with approximately 200 other locomotives, remained in the United States, due to the inability of the Bolshevik government to pay for them, following the Russian Revolution.
1630 was converted from 5 ft (1,524 mm) Russian track gauge to 4 ft 8 1/2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge. After being re-gauged, #1630 was sold to the USRA and was numbered 1147. Shortly after, 1147 was briefly leased for use on the Pennsylvania Railroad.
In 1920, the locomotive was sold to the St. Louis San Francisco Railway, where it was used as a mixed traffic engine. In 1951, the locomotive was sold to Eagle-Picher, who used it to haul lead ore from a mine to their smelter.
In 1967, the locomotive was donated to the Illinois Railway Museum, in Union, Illinois, where they began restoring it in 1972, it returned to operating condition in 1974 and made its first revenue run. Sometime after arriving at the museum, 1630 was restored from her Eagle Picher appearance back to her Frisco appearance. 1630 was taken out of service in 2004, and after more than six years undergoing repairs and a federally mandated rebuild, it was returned to operational condition on October 30, 2013.
On Memorial Day weekend 2014, the locomotive returned to excursion service. In 2016, the locomotive received a cylinder overhaul, which according to Steam department curator, Nigel Bennett, made the locomotive, “probably more powerful than she has been since her [sic] first arrival at IRM in the 1970s.” The locomotive, during Memorial Day weekend 2016, pulled 137 empty coal cars in storage at the museum as what was considered to be one of the longest revenue freight trains powered by a steam locomotive in at least 25 years as said by IRM’s Steam department curator. – #jimstrainphotos #illinoisrailroads #steamtrains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #illinoisrailwaymuseum #steamtrain
October 19, 2015 – Locomotives 463 and 489 sit quietly outside the shops at Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad at Chama, New Mexico after the last day of scheduled revenue runs for the year. – #jimstrainphotos #newmexicorailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #cumbressteam #steamtrain
May 18, 2018 – The Crew aboard Southern Steam engine 401 prepares it’s train at the Monticello Railway Museum, in Monticello, Illinois, to begin it’s day for the Southern Rail Production’s Photo Charter event. – #jimstrainphotos #illinoisrailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #southern401 #southernsteam #steamtrain #southernrailproductions #monticellorailwaymuseum
May 18, 2018 – Southern Steam engine 401 pulls past a barn at the Monticello Railway Museum, in Monticello, Illinois, as the day draws to a close on the Southern Rail Production’s Photo Charter event, as it heads into the shops area. – #jimstrainphotos #illinoisrailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #southern401 #southernsteam #steamtrain #southernrailproductions #monticellorailwaymuseum
May 18, 2018 – Southern Steam engine 401 makes its way from the the Monticello Railway Museum, in to downtown Monticello, Illinois, during Southern Rail Productions two day Photo Charter event.
The Monticello Railway Museum, is an all-volunteer organization in central Illinois with an operational railroad main line yard open to the public.
They offer train rides on Saturdays and Sundays from May through October, regardless of weather conditions, as well as a number of special events throughout the year.
May 18, 2018 – Southern Steam engine 401 makes its way to Monticello , Illinois from Jim Pearson on Vimeo.
May 18, 2018 – Monticello Railway Museum’s Southern 401 pulls into the depot at Monticello, Illinois, during Southern Rail Production’s Photo Charter event. The engine is a 2-8-0 Consolidation class locomotive built for Southern Railway by Baldwin locomotive works in 1907. – #jimstrainphotos #illinoisrailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #southern401 #southernsteam #steamtrain #southernrailproductions #monticellorailwaymuseum
May 18, 2018 – As the day starts to draw to a close, Southern Steam engine 401 pulls past Stair Tower at the Monticello Railway Museum, in Monticello, Illinois. – #jimstrainphotos #illinoisrailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #southern401 #southernsteam #steamtrain #southernrailproductions #monticellorailwaymuseum
May 18, 2018 – Southern Steam engine 401 heads into downtown Monticello, Illinois, during Southern Rail Production’s Photo Charter event. It is a 2-8-0 Consolidation class locomotive built for Southern Railway by Baldwin locomotive works in 1907.
The Monticello Railway Museum, is an all-volunteer organization in central Illinois with an operational railroad main line yard open to the public.
They offer train rides on Saturdays and Sundays from May through October, regardless of weather conditions, as well as a number of special events throughout the year. – #jimstrainphotos #kentuckyrailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #southern401 #southernsteam #steamtrain #southernrailproductions #monticellorailwaymuseum
May 18, 2018 – Southern Steam engine 401 heads across the Camp Creek Trestle at Monticello, Illinois towards downtown from the Monticello Railway Museum, as a couple enjoys a picnic below. The Monticello Railway Museum, is an all-volunteer organization in central Illinois with an operational railroad main line yard open to the public. They offer train rides on Saturdays and Sundays from May through October, regardless of weather conditions, as well as a number of special events throughout the year. This scene was captured during the Southern Rail Productions Photo Charter event, held Thursday and Friday.
May 18, 2018 – The last light of the day begins to fade from the sky as Southern Steam engine 401 idles at Stair Tower at the Monticello Railway Museum, in Monticello, Illinois.
The Monticello Railway Museum, is an all-volunteer organization in central Illinois with an operational railroad main line yard open to the public.
They offer train rides on Saturdays and Sundays from May through October, regardless of weather conditions, as well as a number of special events throughout the year. This scene was captured during the Southern Rail Productions Photo Charter event, held Thursday and Friday. – #jimstrainphotos #kentuckyrailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #southern401 #southernsteam #steamtrain #southernrailproductions #monticellorailwaymuseum
May 17, 2018 – Southern 401 sits beside the Nelson Crossing Station at the Monticello, Illinois Railway Museum during the Southern Rail Productions night photo session.
August 1, 2004 – Ohio Central (ex Grand Trunk Western) 4-8-4 #6325 is running at track speed on one of several excursions run in conjunction with the Dennison, Ohio Railfest in 2004. This shot was made on one of the runs north from the Railfest site in Dennison.
September 9, 2017 – Southern Railway steam locomotive 630 heads for the East Chattanooga shops and station with a loaded passenger train during the 2017 Railfest at Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, at Chattanooga, Tennessee.Southern Railway steam locomotive 630 heads for the East Chattanooga shops
September 9, 2017 – Southern Railway steam locomotive 630 enters the west end of Missionary Ridge Tunnel, with a loaded passenger train, during the 2017 Railfest at Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, as it heads for the station at East Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Completed in 1858 the tunnel is the primary reason TVRM runs on the three-mile section of the former Southern Railway. As railroad equipment grew too large to pass through and the single-track tunnel became a traffic jam for an otherwise double-track railroad, Southern Railway abandoned the three mile portion of the line and built a new section around the end of Missionary Ridge, avoiding the tunnel altogether.
The museum restored rails through the tunnel in 1971 and continues to use the pre-Civil War Tunnel on a daily basis.
September 9, 2017 – Disrupting the quietness of the early morning with it’s huffing and puffing as Southern Railways steam locomotive 630 pulls through a tunnel of trees with a loaded passenger train heading west, on a return trip to the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum at Chattanooga, TN during 2017 Railfest.630 heading for Chattanooga, TN
May 8, 1989 – Throwback Saturday! This is a scan from a slide I made of Southern Pacific’s 4449 and Union Pacific’s 8444 (now 844) as they headed up the Cajon Pass in southern California. This was after they were on display for the 50th Anniversary of Los Angeles Union Station in 1989. It was an amazing thing to watch, photograph and chase!
September 9, 2017 – POWER! There’s nothing like a living, breathing, moving steam locomotive and when you put two together it’s amazing sight to see and witness! Here we have Southern steam locomotives 630 and 4501 after exiting Missionary Ridge Tunnel on their way back to the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum shops, at East Chattanooga, TN, after a full day of passenger runs during the museum’s recent 2017 Railfest.
September 9, 2017 – Southern steam locomotive 4501 rounds a curve, with it’s passenger train, as it heads west to the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga, TN, from their East Chattanooga Shops, during 2017 Railfest. #jimstrainphotos
September 9, 2017 – Planes, Trains, and …. Southern steam locomotives 630 and 4501 sit at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga, TN as they prepare for the first run of the day at their 2017 Railfest, as a plane takes off over them to parts unknown, as early railfans work to get their “perfect shots” of the newly arrived locomotives.
September 9, 2017 – Southern Railway steam locomotive 630 bursts from the east end of Missionary Ridge Tunnel with a loaded passenger train during the 2017 Railfest at Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, as it heads for the station at East Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Completed in 1858 the tunnel is the primary reason TVRM runs on the three-mile section of the former Southern Railway. As railroad equipment grew too large to pass through and the single-track tunnel became a traffic jam for an otherwise double-track railroad, Southern Railway abandoned the three mile portion of the line and built a new section around the end of Missionary Ridge, avoiding the tunnel altogether.
The museum restored rails through the tunnel in 1971 and continues to use the pre-Civil War Tunnel on a daily basis.