Norfolk and Western 475

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 November 2022, it was involved in a head-on collision with an excavator and was repaired with a new front smokebox plate and headlight.

Design change and cab configuration
No. 475 is the 101st member of 125 M class steam locomotives built for N&W in 1906–07, rolling out of the Baldwin Locomotive Works in June 1906 at a cost of $15,179.90. It was originally equipped with Stephenson valve gear and a 6-A type tender, which holds 10 ST of coal and 6000 gal of water. Sometime during the 1930s, No. 475 was re-equipped with Baker valve gear and a United States Railroad Administration (URSA) type tender, which holds 16 ST of coal and 10000 gal of water. No. 475 was one of the many M class locomotives that were not re-equipped with superheaters, excluding Nos. 382, 386, 429, 439, 447, 457, 459, 482, 493, and 495. In the 1940s, No. 475 was re-equipped with a longer tender that holds 20 t of coal and 12000 gal of water. Additionally, it originally came from either a Y2 2-8-8-2 or a K1 4-8-2.

Inside No. 475's cab, the engineer sits on the right beside the firebox, which is fitted farther away from the back of the cab, similar to the camelback design. Additionally, the firemen has to shovel coal from the tender deck instead of the cab deck. On the engineer's side, the throttle lever is mounted above the firebox and the reverser lever is in front of the engineer against the side of the firebox. On the fireman's side, the water glass, injector controls, and steam gauge are located on the other side of the firebox.

Revenue service and changing ownership
No. 475 worked on the N&W, hauling freight and coal trains on the mainline until the 1920s, when it was reassigned to pull mixed freight trains on the 9 mi Blacksburg Branch between Christiansburg and Blacksburg, Virginia, as bigger locomotives, including the Y class 2-8-8-2s and K class 4-8-2s, arrived on the N&W. In August 1957, No. 475 was backdated to look like an 1880s locomotive with brass boiler bands, a fake diamond smokestack and oil headlamp for the 75th anniversary of Roanoke, Virginia, which was an event known as the "Diamond Jubilee". It was also paired with a USRA tender. A month later, No. 475 joined its sister locomotives Nos. 405 and 449 to haul a special National Railway Historical Society (NRHS) tripleheader excursion from Roanoke to Blacksburg. Afterwards, No. 475 only saw limited use until it was retired in 1959 and stored at the Shaffer's Crossing roundhouse alongside 4-8-4 class J No. 611, which recently retired after it pulled a Farewell to Steam excursion.

In March 1961, No. 475 was sold to the Virginia Scrap Iron & Metal Company scrapyard. The following year, the locomotive was purchased by William Armagost from Hollsopple, Pennsylvania for $5,000 scrap value. Armagost made plans to restore No. 475 to operating condition for use in pulling tourist trains on a former Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) branch line, but for reasons unknown, those plans had fallen through. In May 1980, the No. 475 locomotive was sold to H. Stuart Kuyper of Pella, Iowa, and the locomotive was then conveyed to the Pella Historical Society, being stored at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois. In 1982, it was purchased by C. Rosenberg and his daughters, who subsequently donated it to the Boone and Scenic Valley Railroad (B&SV) in Boone County, Iowa around 1985. The donation was for No. 475 to be used in the B&SV's operations, but after the railroad purchased a newly-built China Railways JS class 2-8-2, No. 475 was deemed surplus in the B&SV's collection.

Excursion service at the Strasburg Rail Road
In June 1991, after searching for a steam locomotive to restore and operate alongside their existing fleet, the Strasburg Rail Road (SRC) of Strasburg, Pennsylvania purchased No. 475 from the B&SV for $100,000. After arriving at SRC property on July 20, the locomotive underwent a thorough two-year restoration; many parts of the locomotive were reworked, with the tender tank being rebuilt, the smokebox being replaced with a newly-fabricated duplicate, and the running gear being reconditioned. No. 475 returned to operating condition on November 4, 1993, and it began operating in excursion service, pulling tourist trains in the Pennsylvania Dutch countryside between Strasburg and Paradise on the SRC. Since then, No. 475 was the only operating 4-8-0 in North America and the oldest operating steam locomotive on the SRC. However, the locomotive was the least favorite of the SRC crew due to its cramped cab.

In 2010 and 2017, No. 475 was cosmetically altered to resemble its extinct sister locomotive No. 382 for Lerro Productions' Virginia Creeper photo charters as a tribute to O. Winston Link's photography work. In late 2018, it was taken out of service for its 15-year mandated Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) inspection and rebuild. It returns to active service in September 2019, backdated to its 1940s-50s appearance with the headlight being mounted to the center of the smokebox door. That same month, No. 475 was reunited with No. 611, which visited the SRC between 2021 and 2023. This would mark the first time since 1991 that two ex-N&W steam locomotives operated together. No. 475 was also backdated to resemble No. 382 again for the double header photo runbys with No. 611.

Accident
On November 2, 2022, while running around a passenger train at Leaman Place Junction in Paradise, No. 475 collided head-on with an excavator parked on a siding. The impact punched a hole in the front smokebox plate, shattered the smokebox door and knocked the headlight onto the ground. Luckily, the excavator arm did not puncture the locomotive's front flue sheet, while none of the crew or passengers were injured, and the damage done was deemed relatively minor. The collision was broadcast live via Virtual Railfan camera and was caught on video via cellphone by one of the passengers on board the train that day. The accident was caused by a misaligned switch, which was left opened by a maintenance of way (MOW) worker the night prior. SRC's EMD SW8 diesel switcher No. 8618 was called in to take No. 475's train back to East Strasburg and later returned to Leaman Place Junction in the evening to tow the damaged No. 475 locomotive to the SRC workshop for repairs.

SRC announced on November 3, the day after the accident, that repairs on the No. 475 locomotive had begun. No. 475 was repaired and returned to service on November 7 with a new front smokebox plate and headlight since the originals were completely destroyed. The smokebox door itself was repaired by braze-welding the broken shards together, along with the addition of a reinforcing steel ring on the inside of the door. The decision was made by SRC's chief mechanical officer Brendan Zeigler to leave the welded seams from the brazing process visible on the door as a reminder of the incident.

Appearances in media
No. 475 was featured in the 2000 movie Thomas and the Magic Railroad. An interview with SRC's former Chief Mechanical Officer Linn Moedinger, who revealed that the film's producer Phil Fehrle called him looking for an American locomotive to use. When Moedinger inquired as to what exactly he was looking for, Fehrle told him that the film's director, Britt Allcroft liked the locomotives pictured in a book by O. Winston Link, in particular the M-Class locomotives (of which 475 is a member).

During filming, No. 475 and three of Strasburg's passenger cars (of which only two were used) were lettered for the fictional Indian Valley Railroad. No. 475 ventured off SRC trackage to the Harrisburg Transportation Center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The ferry move to Harrisburg from Leaman Place by Amtrak, as well as the filming, was unannounced so as not to attract a crowd.