Southern Pacific 2472 is a P-8 class

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 ...

heavy "

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 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

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Railroad classes#Class I, Class I Rail transport, railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was oper ...

(SP) in 1921. No. 2472 is one of three surviving Southern Pacific P-8 class 4-6-2 Pacific locomotives, the other two being Nos. 2467 and 2479. The

designation means it has four leading wheels, six driving wheels, and two trailing wheels. The locomotive was used by the Southern Pacific Railroad to haul passenger trains until being retired in 1957. The locomotive was then donated to San Mateo County and placed on static display at the San Mateo County Fairgrounds. After being restored to operational condition in the early 1990s, the locomotive would pull excursion trains on the Niles Canyon Railway until being retired in 2015. The No. 2472 was then moved to the Northwest Pacific Railroad, where it is as of 2023, undergoing its

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) mandated 1,472 day inspection and overhaul.

History

Revenue service

No. 2472 was built by the

for the

in March 1921. No. 2472 and the other "

" locomotives served the '' Overland Route'' from

Ogden, Utah Ogden ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Weber County, Utah, Weber County, Utah, United States, approximately east of the Great Salt Lake and north of Salt Lake City. The population was 87,321 in 2020, according to the United States Census ...

, to

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

. On November 30, 1929, SP's Ogden shops added a

feedwater heater A feedwater heater is a power plant component used to pre-heat water delivered to a steam generating boiler. Preheating the feedwater reduces the irreversibilities involved in steam generation and therefore improves the thermodynamic efficiency o ...

to the locomotive, which increased its overall weight to . No. 2472 again underwent a rebuild at SP's Bayshore shops in

Brisbane, California Brisbane (pron. ) is a small city in San Mateo County, California, located on the lower slopes of the San Bruno Mountain. The city is on the northeastern edge of San Mateo County, located immediately south of the San Francisco city limits on t ...

(

San Mateo County San Mateo County ( ), officially the County of San Mateo, is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 764,442. Redwood City, California, Redwood City is th ...

), completed on November 26, 1940, which increased its boiler pressure to and its

tractive effort In railway engineering, the term tractive effort describes the pulling or pushing capability of a locomotive. The published tractive force value for any vehicle may be theoretical—that is, calculated from known or implied mechanical proper ...

to . No. 2472 made its last run for the Southern Pacific in January 1957. After being replaced by the

4-8-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels, eight powered and coupled driving wheels and two trailing wheels. This type of steam locomotive is commonly known as ...

Mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

" type locomotives, No. 2472 and all other Pacific locomotives were sent to work

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

-Oakland passenger trains and

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

- San Jose commute trains, along with occasional freight service. No. 2472 was retired from regular revenue service on February 7, 1957, during Southern Pacific's

dieselization Dieselisation (US: dieselization) is the process of equipping vehicles with a diesel engine or diesel engines. It can involve replacing an internal combustion engine powered by petrol (US: gasoline) fuel with an engine powered by diesel fuel, ...

, and on April 10, 1959, No. 2472 was donated to

, which put the locomotive on static display at the San Mateo County Fairgrounds, it remained there until 1976 when a group of volunteers decided to restore the locomotive. This group would later become the Golden Gate Railroad Museum.

Excursion service

Restoration work was completed on April 30, 1991 just in time to participate in ''Railfair 91'', which took place in

on May 1, 1991, it featured other famous steam locomotives, such as Southern Pacific

GS-4 The Southern Pacific GS-4 is a class of semi-streamlined 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotive operated by the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) from 1941 to 1958. A total of 28 locomotives were built by Lima Locomotive Works (LLW) in Lima, Ohio, wi ...

4-8-4 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and four trailing wheels on two axles. The type wa ...

"Northern" 4449,

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad is a Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United States after BNSF, ...

FEF-3 4-8-4 844, Union Pacific

4-6-6-4 In the Whyte notation for classifying steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, a 4-6-6-4 is a railroad steam locomotive that has four leading wheels followed by two sets of six coupled driving wheels and four trailing wheels. 4-6-6-4's are comm ...

"Challenger" 3985, Union Pacific

0-6-0 is the Whyte notation designation for steam locomotives with a wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels. Historically, this was the most common wheel arrangement used o ...

4466, and British Great Northern Railway J13 0-6-0

tank locomotive A tank locomotive is a steam locomotive which carries its water in one or more on-board water tanks, instead of a more traditional tender (rail), tender. Most tank engines also have Fuel bunker, bunkers (or fuel tanks) to hold fuel; in a #Tender ...

1247. In the 1990s and early 2000s, No. 2472 pulled several excursions and

Caltrain Caltrain (reporting mark JPBX) is a commuter rail line in California, serving the San Francisco Peninsula and Santa Clara Valley (Silicon Valley). The southern terminus is in San Jose, California, San Jose at the Tamien station with weekday r ...

specials such as the "Toys for Tots", and double-headed on an excursion in 1992 (during the NRHS Convention) with the No. 4449. In September 1992, the No. 2472 had the honour of pulling the Pacific Limited excursion special, and “The Earth Train”. Also in the early 1990s, the locomotive made a special appearance in “California’s Gold with Huell Howser” television program in two different episodes, Trains (209) and San Luis Obispo Train (507). No. 2472 received

-mandated boiler work at Hunters Point Naval Base in San Francisco, during 2005–06 when the Golden Gate Railroad Museum (GGRM) was located there. The GGRM and all other tenants at Hunter's Point had to leave the former navy base in 2006 due to redevelopment. The initial equipment move took place in February 2006, although an extended lease on the shop building allowed work to continue on No. 2472 for ten more months. On December 31, 2006, No. 2472 and the remaining pieces of GGRM rolling stock completed relocation to the

Niles Canyon Railway The Niles Canyon Railway (NCRy) is a heritage railway running on the first transcontinental railroad alignment (1866, 1869) through Niles Canyon, between Sunol and the Niles district of Fremont in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay ...

, located in

Sunol, California Sunol () is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Alameda County, California. Located in the Sunol Valley of the East Bay, the population was 922 at the 2020 census. It is best known as the location of the Sunol Water Temple an ...

, on the east side of

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay (Chochenyo language, Chochenyo: 'ommu) is a large tidal estuary in the United States, U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the cities of San Francisco, California, San ...

. The locomotive became serviceable in February 2008, and was stored in Niles Canyon at the Brightside Yard between operations. No. 2472 has operated in Niles Canyon, usually on Memorial Day weekends and Labor Day weekends, and on other dates as announced. In Spring 2015, the Golden Gate Railroad Museum announced that they will be leaving Niles Canyon and No. 2472 would pull the last excursions in Niles Canyon on the 2015 Labor Day weekend. The relocation move of No. 2472 to the

Northwestern Pacific Railroad The Northwestern Pacific Railroad is a mainline railroad from the former ferry connections in Sausalito, California north to Eureka, with a connection to the national railroad system at Schellville. The railroad has gone through a complex h ...

Schellville, California Schellville is an unincorporated community in Sonoma County, California, United States. Schellville was named after Theodore L. Schell, who lived on a ranch nearby. The community is located in the vicinity of the junction of California State Rou ...

started on March 1, 2020 when the P-8 Pacific-type steam locomotive, along with two former Southern Pacific Railroad diesel locomotives (both in operating condition) that belong to GGRM, were towed by two Union Pacific locomotives towards Schellville. On October 9, 2021, No. 2472 was fired up for the first time since 2015. It was scheduled to make its excursion return hauling Labor Day Weekend 2022 trains from September 4 through September 5, 2022 before its Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) 1,472-day inspection and overhaul begins, but the event was later canceled and the railroad had the engine fired up for an open house event. As of 2025, the No. 2472 is undergoing its FRA mandated 1,472-day inspection and overhaul.

References

External links

Southern Pacific P-8 No.2472
by Golden Gate Railroad Museum
2472 in Niles Canyon
(DVD about the 2008 Memorial Day Weekend Excursion in Niles Canyon) {{Locomotives of Southern Pacific Railroad in preservation 2472 Baldwin locomotives 4-6-2 locomotives Individual locomotives of the United States Transportation in the San Francisco Bay Area Alameda County, California Standard-gauge locomotives of the United States Railway locomotives introduced in 1921 Preserved steam locomotives of California

History

Revenue service

Excursion service

See also

References

Further reading

External links