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Pere Marquette 1225 is a 2-8-4 (Berkshire) steam locomotive built for Pere Marquette Railroad (PM) by Lima Locomotive Works in Lima, Ohio. 1225 is one of two surviving Pere Marquette 2-8-4 locomotives and the only one operable. PM used 1225 in regular service from the locomotive's construction in 1941 until the railroad merged into Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) in 1947; it remained in use on C&O's Michigan lines until 1951. Slated for scrapping, 1225 was acquired by Michigan State University in 1957 and placed on static display. In 1971, work began to restore 1225 to operation, an effort that culminated in its first excursion run in 1988. The locomotive, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is now used on excursion trains over the former Tuscola and Saginaw Bay Railway, now Great Lakes Central Railroad.
[edit] HistoryThe locomotive was built in 1941 by Lima Locomotive Works for Pere Marquette Railroad (PM). PM ordered this type of locomotive in three batches from Lima: class N in 1937 (PM road numbers 1201-1215), class N-1 in 1941 (numbers 1216-1227) and class N-2 in 1944 (numbers 1228-1239). 1225 cost $200,000 to build in 1941 ($2,894,331 in current dollars). The locomotives remained on the roster through the PM's merger into Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) in 1947; class N locomotives were renumbered to 2685-2699, class N-1 to 2650-2661, and class N-2 to 2670-2681. Part of the merger agreement, however, included the stipulation that locomotives that were acquired and fully paid for by PM would remain painted for PM after the merger. Although all the Berkshires received new numbers, only class N engines were repainted into standard C&O livery and renumbered. The majority of the class N locomotives were scrapped between 1954 and 1957, but class N-1s 1223 and 1225 were both preserved. For the first part of its service life, 1225 was used to shuttle steel and wartime freight between Detroit, Saginaw, Flint and northern Indiana steel mills. [edit] Retirement and restorationRetired from service in 1951, 1225 was sent to scrap, in New Buffalo, Michigan. In 1955, Michigan State University Trustee, Forest Akers was asked by C&O Chairman Cyrus Eaton if the University would be interested in having a steam locomotive (Eaton did not want to scrap the engines but was having a hard time finding places that would accept them) so that engineering students would have a piece of real equipment to study. Forest Akers thought it a good idea and proposed the idea to University President John Hannah. John Hannah accepted the gift of the locomotive. When he told the Dean of the College of Engineering about the gift, the Dean said that Engineering was not interested in an obsolete locomotive. John Hannah then called up Dr. Rollin Baker, director of the MSU Museum and told him that he was getting a locomotive. The C&O then instructed the yardmaster at New Buffalo to send an engine to the Wyoming Shops for a cosmetic restoration and repainting with the name Chesapeake and Ohio on the side. Also added were flying number boards, which the 1225 never had in service but which were standard on C&O engines. Baker received the gift of the locomotive in 1957 when it was brought to campus. The locomotive remained on static display near Spartan Stadium on the Michigan State campus in East Lansing, Michigan for a decade. During the time that Akers was alive, till 1969, money was allocated to paint and display the engine. In 1969, a group of MSU students formed the Michigan State University Railroad Club as a railfan group. In 1970, at the suggestion of Randy Paquette, the club investigated the possibility of restoring the locomotive to running condition and started on that goal in 1971, with Baker's permission. Baker later stated that he thought having students be occupied with restoring a locomotive was far more in keeping with his idea of the image the university should be presenting than campus protests. Dr. Breslin, the university vice president, was not so sure. After the club started removing the sheet metal and exposing a rusty boiler, Breslin sent Baker to the engine with two messages. The first was the instruction to paint the engine. (The university needs to look good, even when it is being worked on.) The second message was the day the students stop working on the engine is the day the torches come out. The locomotive was safe as long as the students kept working on it. To emphasize, he had the hopper car next to the engine cut up the next week. The students fired up the boiler in 1975 and blew the 1225's whistle for the first time in two decades. The MSU Railroad Club had looked to engine 1223 at the State Fair grounds for parts. The Michigan Railroad Club, then custodians of that engine, objected, so needed parts were fabricated. As of 2007, 1223 is preserved in a lakeside park in Grand Haven, Michigan. In 1977, Dr. Edgar Hardin became the University Interim President. Chuck Julian, as President of the MSU Railroad Club went to his reception and made an appointment to see him. Hardin was asked about the engines's future. The Railroad Club had fired the engine and it was nearing operablity. Hardin said that the University was not interested in running a locomotive and if it was, it would be run by all university employees. He said that if the Railroad Club wanted to run the engine, it should form a 501c3 corporation and then he would give the club the engine. [edit] 1978-presentThe MSU Railroad Club and supporters of "Project 1225" formed the Michigan State Trust for Railway Preservation in 1978 and soon after, was given ownership of the 1225 by Michigan State University. The MSTRP moved 1225 to the former Ann Arbor Railroad shops complex in Owosso in 1983. The 1225 moved under its own power in November 1985 for the first time since its retirement in 1951. The first excursion service occurred in 1988 on a trip between Owosso and Chesaning. In August 1991, 1225 along with NKP 765 pulled a 31 car excursion train during the National Railway Historical Society's annual convention in Huntington, West Virginia. As of 2007, 1225 operates excursion trains over the Great Lakes Central Railroad (formally Tuscola and Saginaw Bay Railway) several times per year, including operations that leave Owosso and going to locations such as Alma, Clare, Mt. Pleasant, and Cadillac, Michigan. Since 2004, 1225 has hauled winter weekend excursions between Thanksgiving and the middle of December, due to copyright issues, as the "North Pole Express." PM 1225 attended the Train Festival 2009[1] in Owosso, Michigan from July 23-26as part of a fundraiser to raise money for 1225's upcoming 2010 FRA overhaul. The national event showcased hundreds of train related items, events, and themes from around the country and some parts of the world. The 1225 was not able to haul any excursions during the Festival due to 5 of its flues failing. The 1225 was on display during the festival for people to visit the engine, chat with the crew, take photos, and explore the cab. On Oct.7 2008, it was announced that NKP 765 would once again join the 1225 at Train Festival, marking the first time the two Berk's have met each other since 1991. The famous Southern Pacific 4449 Daylight locomotive also attended the festival as one of the many attending engines along with the 1225 and 765. [edit] Polar Express1225's blueprints were the prototype for the locomotive image, and its sounds were used in the 2004 film The Polar Express. The film was based on the Caldecott Medal winning book of the same name. The children's book was written and illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg, who grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and as a child attended every home football game at Michigan State, next to which this engine was on static display. He recalls playing on this engine many times as a child saying, "I remember that train on campus,...I can't believe it's the same train! I climbed on that train. I actually stood on it."[2] Appropriately enough, the locomotive's road number is the date of Christmas, 12/25. [edit] References
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