Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe 3415 is a preserved class "3400"

4-6-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and two trailing wheels on one axle. The locomoti ...

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

" type

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

built in June 1919 by the

Baldwin Locomotive Works The Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) was an American manufacturer of railway locomotives from 1825 to 1951. Originally located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, it moved to nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania, Eddystone in the early 20th century. The com ...

for the

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the largest Class 1 railroads in the United States between 1859 and 1996. The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight transport; at vario ...

. Retired in 1954, it sat in Eisenhower Park in

Abilene, Kansas Abilene (pronounced ) is a city in and the county seat of Dickinson County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 6,460. It is home of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Libra ...

, until 1996. At that point, it was put on display in the Abilene and Smoky Valley yard. In 2005, it was purchased by the Abilene and Smoky Valley Railroad were it was restored in December 2008 and began hauling excursion trains on the line. It is the only operating steam locomotive in Kansas and is one of four Santa Fe steam engines still operating in the U.S.

History

Service on the Santa Fe

No. 3415 was built by the

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, in June 1919 as the sixteenth member of the

's fifty 3400 class locomotives. The 3400 class was designed by John Purcell, and this was also the last class of 4-6-2s bought by the Santa Fe. The class was similar to the

United States Railroad Administration The United States Railroad Administration (USRA) was the name of the nationalisation, nationalized railroad system of the United States between December 28, 1917, and March 1, 1920. It was the largest American experiment with nationalization, and ...

's (USRA) Heavy Pacifics in its tube and flue counts, but it was also fitted with a grate area similar in size to the USRA's Light Pacifics, and it was delivered with

driving wheel On a steam locomotive, a driving wheel is a powered wheel which is driven by the locomotive's pistons (or turbine, in the case of a steam turbine locomotive). On a conventional, non-articulated locomotive, the driving wheels are all coupled t ...

s close in size to the latter. The first forty locomotives initially burned coal, but were later converted to burn oil while being rebuilt between 1936 and 1947. The 3400 class locomotives were initially assigned to pull top-tier heavy

passenger trains A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line, as opposed to a freight train that carries goods. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) push-pull train, ...

at high speeds throughout divisions with moderate grades, and No. 3415, in particular, pulled such trains through the

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

- La Junta and Newton-

Galveston Galveston ( ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal resort town, resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island (Texas), Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a pop ...

divisions. On December 31, 1934, No. 3415 suffered a broken bell ringer valve while in

Carrollton, Missouri Carrollton is a city and the county seat of Carroll County, Missouri, Carroll County, Missouri, United States. Carrollton won the 2005 All-America City Award, given out annually by the National Civic League. The population was 3,514 at the 2020 U ...

, and one crew member was injured. After the Santa Fe invested in adding diesel locomotives to their roster, No. 3415 was reassigned to pull

freight In transportation, cargo refers to goods transported by land, water or air, while freight refers to its conveyance. In economics, freight refers to goods transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. The term cargo is also used in ...

and

mail The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letter (message), letters, and parcel (package), parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid ...

trains throughout

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, and

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, until it was retired in 1954. The Santa Fe subsequently donated the locomotive to the city of Abilene on December 9, 1955, for static display in Eisenhower Park.

Preservation

In April 1996, the city of Abilene decided to redevelop the park, and they removed No. 3415 from its display location and donated it to the nearby Abilene and Smoky Valley Railroad, who put it on display near their depot. In 2005, the A&SVR decided to restore No. 3415 to operating condition for use on their tourist excursions. The locomotive was moved inside the A&SVR's locomotive facility, and restoration work was started by Wasatch Railroad Contractors from

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

. After three years of work, No. 3415 was test fired on December 1, 2008.

Excursion service

After a successful test run on December 2, 2008, No. 3416 began hauling excursion trains in 2009 and subsequently spent the next twelve years pulling tourist trains over the A&SVR's ex- Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific trackage between Abilene and

Enterprise Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to: Business and economics Brands and enterprises * Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company * Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company * Enterpris ...

. However, it was limited to operate at fifteen miles per hour, due to the rails lacking the strength to support trains that traveled at higher speeds. After the end of the 2022 operating season, No. 3415 was originally supposed to be taken out of service for its 1,472 inspection and rebuild, which was required by the

Federal Railroad Administration The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is an agency in the United States Department of Transportation (DOT). The agency was created by the Department of Transportation Act of 1966. The purpose of the FRA is to promulgate and enforce railroa ...

(FRA). However, in February 2023, the FRA unexpectedly informed the A&SVR that they had one year left to operate No. 3415 before the inspection and rebuild had to take place. The railroad subsequently used the locomotive to pull additional trains for their 2023 operating season, including some trains that were dedicated to the railroad's 30th anniversary in June. No. 3415 made its last run on October 7, 2023, before being taken out of service for its federally mandated 15-year overhaul.

Historical significance

No. 3415 was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

on April 16, 2012.

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

Steam Locomotive - ATSF 3415
{{Portal bar, Trains, Kansas 3415 Baldwin locomotives 4-6-2 locomotives Individual locomotives of the United States Buildings and structures in Dickinson County, Kansas Railway locomotives on the National Register of Historic Places Railway locomotives introduced in 1919 Tourist attractions in Dickinson County, Kansas Standard-gauge locomotives of the United States Preserved steam locomotives of Kansas