Southern Pacific GS-4 Class

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, with the first batch of 20 built between March and May 1941, and the second batch of eight built between March and April 1942. The initials ''GS'' stands for ''Golden State'' or ''General Service''.

The GS-4s served as the primary motive power of SP's famous ''Coast Daylight'' passenger train between San Francisco and Los Angeles, California, via San Luis Obispo, California. They also hauled the ''San Joaquin Daylight'' and the overnight ''Lark'', both of which ran between San Francisco and Los Angeles as well, although the former ran via the San Joaquin Valley and Tehachapi Pass. Some of the GS-4s were first assigned to haul troop trains during World War II.

In the mid-1950s, SP began to modernize their mainline passenger trains with diesel power, and the GS-4s were relegated to haul San Jose-San Francisco commuter trains and general freight trains. By 1956, SP began to retire their GS-4s and all but one were scrapped by 1959. No. 4449 was donated to the city of Portland, Oregon, as a static display during 1958 until being restored to operating condition in the 1970s. It was still operational and was now based at the Oregon Rail Heritage Center in Portland.

History

Locomotives

The Southern Pacific (SP) GS-4s were built to a similar design of the streamlined GS-3s, although the latter have the mars light mounted in a dual-headlight casing above the headlight in front of the smokebox door,. and an all-weather cab. They were built in two separate groups, the first batch of twenty locomotives (Nos. 4430-4449) in March-May 1941 and the final eight (Nos. 4450-4457) in March-April 1942. The GS-4s were capable of reaching , although SP had a speed limit restriction of .. They carried the signature SP orange and red ''Daylight'' paint scheme..

The GS-4s pulled SP's premier passenger trains such as the ''Coast Daylight'', the ''San Joaquin Daylight'', the ''Imperial'', the ''Lark'', and the ''Sunset Limited''.. During wartime and until 1948 some of the GS-4 locomotives were painted black, when they were all returned to their ''Daylight'' colors. Some time after that and before 1956 most were painted black again with their side skirts removed for easier maintenance, and were reassigned to the San Jose-San Francisco ''Peninsula Commute'' service, freight service, and the occasional ''San Joaquin Daylight'' (steam locomotives remained on that train as late as 1956, which made it the last streamliner to be pulled by steam on the Southern Pacific) until they were replaced by diesel locomotives. GS-4 No. 4443 pulled one of the final steam excursions on the Southern Pacific in 1957. A GS-4 pulled its last passenger train in October 1958, and they were all retired by the end of the year.

Accidents and incidents

* On September 19, 1941, at about 1:50 A.M., No. 4441 made an unscheduled stop at Wellsona, California, near Paso Robles, California, with the southbound ''Lark'' train No. 76 due to a stalled automobile. However, No. 4446 was approaching Wellsona with the Fast Merchandise freight train No. 374 and crashed into the back of the ''Lark'' train, injuring 48 people. It was reported that the accident was caused by a failure to provide flag protection for the first train and the second train's freight cars lacked high-speed brakes, as well as too short a stopping distance between block signals. No. 4441 was undamaged, while No. 4446 was repaired, and both locomotives continued service until 1958.
* On February 11, 1945, in Redlands, California, at 9:45 A.M., No. 4443 was pulling the ''Californian'' passenger train No. 43, but its engineer failed to acknowledge the yellow signal, and crashed head-on at into SP 4-10-2 locomotive No. 5015, which was being prepared to move into a siding to allow No. 4443 to pass. The accident injured 177 people. Both locomotives were repaired and continued service.
* In 1952, No. 4430, the first of the GS-4 class, was involved in a rollover accident in Arizona, but was repaired and continued service until 1958..

Preservation

No. 4449 is the sole surviving GS-4 locomotive and is one of the most recognizable locomotives of all time. It was donated to the City of Portland, Oregon in 1958 and moved to Oaks Amusement Park for static display.. During its time at Oaks Park, the locomotive was vandalized and had many of its external parts stolen such as its builder's plate and whistle. On December 14, 1974, No. 4449 was removed from the park to undergo an operational restoration, performed by Doyle McCormack.. From August 1975 to December 1976, No. 4449 shared duties with several other steam locomotives pulling the American Freedom Train (that train was pulled by Reading T-1 2101) throughout the U.S. No. 4449 is still operational and since mid-2012 resides at the Oregon Rail Heritage Center in Portland along with other preserved locomotives and rolling stock. Additionally, No. 4449 contained most of its sister locomotives' parts; one of the driving wheels from No. 4437, the pilot truck from No. 4443, and the trailing truck from No. 4450, as evidenced by the numbers stamped on each of the parts.

In film

* A GS-4 class streamliner appears the ''The Narrow Margin'' (1950), bound from Chicago to Los Angeles, as a central character in the film.
* No. 4443 appeared in the opening credits of the 1957 Frank Sinatra film ''Pal Joey''..
* No. 4449 was featured in the 1986 Burt Lancaster-Kirk Douglas action comedy ''Tough Guys'' as the ''Gold Coast Flyer''. In the film, No. 4449 is hijacked and run off the end of the track across the Mexican border. A full-size wooden replica of the locomotive was used to shoot the crash scene.
* No. 4449 appeared in the 1990 drama film ''Come See the Paradise''..
* No. 4449 was featured in the 2022 IMAX film ''Train Time''.

Gallery

File:4449 Steam train IMG 3355b.jpg, Southern Pacific No. 4449, the youngest (and sole-remaining) GS-4 locomotive under steam, at Portland Union Station on May 7, 2010
File:PDX 4449 112xRP - Flickr - drewj1946.jpg, Southern Pacific 4449 in Tacoma, Washington in June 2011
File:SP 4449 front.jpg, Front view of the 4449
File:058xRPx - Flickr - drewj1946.jpg, No. 4449 pulling an excursion along the Kootenai River west of Troy, Montana, in 2009
File:Trout_Creek_(12690798).jpg, No. 4449 leading an excursion train through the Deschutes River canyon at Trout Creek, Oregon, on March 23, 2002
On May 18–19, 2007, No. 4449 made another appearance with No. 844 in the Pacific Northwest for the "Puget Sound Excursion", on BNSF tracks from Tacoma to Everett, Washington as a round trip.

See also

*Cotton Belt Class L-1

References

Bibliography

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Further reading

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External links

Friends of SP 4449

The Southern Pacific (i.e. "Espee") Golden State Locomotives Classes GS-1 to GS-6

The Southern Pacific Technical and Historical Society

The Museum of America's Freedom Trains



{{SP GS locomotives

GS-4
4-8-4 locomotives
Lima locomotives
Streamlined steam locomotives
Passenger locomotives
American Passenger Locomotives
Railway locomotives introduced in 1941
Steam locomotives of the United States
Standard-gauge locomotives of the United States
2′D2′ h2 locomotives