Norfolk and Western 475

Norfolk and Western 475
Norfolk and Western 475 at the East Strasburg station in October 2022
Type and origin Power type Steam Builder Baldwin Locomotive Works Serial number 28343 Build date June 1906 Rebuilder Strasburg Rail Road Rebuild date October 2004 September 2019
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 4-8-0  • UIC 2′D Gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) Leading dia. 27 in (0.686 m) Driver dia. 56 in (1.422 m) Wheelbase 58.37 ft (17.79 m) ​  • Engine 26.42 ft (8.05 m)  • Drivers 15.50 ft (4.72 m) Adhesive weight 169,800 lb (77,000 kg) Loco weight 206,200 lb (93,500 kg) Tender weight 167,500 lb (76,000 kg) Total weight 373,700 lb (169,500 kg) Tender type USRA Fuel type Coal Fuel capacity 16 tonnes (35,000 lb) Water cap. 10,000 US gal (38,000 L; 8,300 imp gal) Firebox: ​  • Grate area 45 sq ft (4.2 m2) Boiler pressure 200 psi (1.38 MPa) Heating surface: ​  • Firebox 173 sq ft (16.1 m2)  • Total surface 2,940 sq ft (273 m2) Cylinders Two Cylinder size 21 in × 30 in (533 mm × 762 mm) Valve gear Stephenson (inside); later Baker Loco brake Air
Performance figures Tractive effort 40,163 lbf (178.65 kN) Factor of adh. 4.23
Career Operators Norfolk & Western Railway Strasburg Rail Road Class M Number in class 101 Numbers N&W 475 SRC 475 Retired 1959 Restored November 4, 1993 Current owner Strasburg Rail Road Disposition Operational
References:[1][2]

Norfolk and Western 475 is a 4-8-0 "Twelve-wheeler" type steam locomotive built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in June 1906 as part of the Norfolk and Western Railway's (N&W) first order of M class numbered 375–499. It was first assigned to haul freight trains on the N&W mainline before being reassigned to branch line duties on the Blacksburg Branch in the 1920s.

Retired from N&W revenue service in 1959, No. 475 was sold to various different owners in Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Iowa until 1991 when it was purchased and restored by the Strasburg Rail Road (SRC) in Strasburg, Pennsylvania, where it currently runs tourist excursion trains in the Pennsylvania Dutch countryside. Since then, No. 475 became the only 4-8-0 locomotive operating in North America and the oldest operating steam locomotive on the SRC.

In 2010, 2017, and 2019, No. 475 was temporarily backdated to resemble its extinct sister locomotive No. 382 for Lerro Productions' Virginia Creeper photo charter runbys, paying homage to O. Winston Link's photography work. Also in that latter year, No. 475 was reunited with fellow ex-N&W steam locomotive J class 4-8-4 No. 611 for the first time since 1959. In late 2022, it was involved in a head-on collision with an excavator and was repaired with a new front smokebox plate and headlight.