National Museum of Transportation - 3

ViaggiatoreWabash locomotive No. 573 was originally No. 754. Built in 1899 by the Rhode Island Locomotive Works, it was rebuilt in 1915 with the No. 573. Built to haul freight, it was used to haul trains across a bridge over the Illinois River at Bluffs, IL, that would not support the heavier diesel locomotives. It is one of only two surviving Wabash steam locomotives.

ViaggiatoreThis 105-ft long, 425-ton behemoth was built in 1944 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) for the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway in 1944. Designed for speed and strength, this locomotive could generate more than. 5,000 hp pulling heavy, fast freight trains through the Allegheny Mountain Range in Virginia and West Virginia. It was one 40 locomotives of its class built at the Schenectady, NY, shops of the American Locomotive Works (ALCO). These engines were nicknamed ‘Kanawhas’ after the Kanawha [Kin-AH-Wa] River in West Virginia (other railroads referred to 2-8-4 locomotives as 'Berkshire'). While the 2727 and her sister engines were successful and dependable, diesel locomotives made their technology obsolete in just thirteen years. Upon retirement, the 2727 was donated to the Museum, though transportation to the St. Louis area was fraught due to the size of locomotive. In 1957, only the MacArthur Bridge at St. Louis could accommodate the 15 ½ ft tall locomotive as it traveled west across the Mississippi River to its permanent home.

ViaggiatoreBefore its retirement, this towering steam locomotive, built in 1927 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO), traveled nearly two million miles on the New York Chicago & St. Louis Railroad (nicknamed the Nickel Plate Road). The 170 pulled high-speed passenger trains for the Nickel Plate, a railroad spanning west to east from St. Louis, MO, to Buffalo, NY. During its peak, the 170 traveled an average of 90,000 miles per year until 1947 when most passenger locomotives on the Nickel Plate were replaced by diesels. It continued in service, hauling smaller passenger trains and light freight until its retirement in 1957. No. 170 is the oldest surviving example of a Hudson-type locomotive. A Hudson-type has a 4-6-4 wheel arrangement based on the Whyte system for describing locomotives. It can be identified by its 4 smaller lead wheels, 6 larger driving wheels, and 4 trailing wheels. Hudson types were commonly used to pull passenger trains. This locomotive was donated to the Museum by the railroad in 1957. Note the 'poling' push-pole hanging above the trailing tender bogie and the 'poling cups' at each end (left and right) of the tender end-frame (see next 2 photos).