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velop standardized motive power for the four railroads they oversaw. The committee’s sta- ble of engineering talent first developed a huge, high-speed 2-10-4 Texas-type for the C&O, then shortened the design by one dri- ving axle for the Nickel Plate and added ele- ments from an earlier Erie Berkshire design to create the finest 2-8-4s ever built. The first of the new breed, the Alco-built 700-series, took to NKP rails in 1934 and impressed everyone from management down to train- men with their speed and ability. Pere Marquette had nothing comparable
to the NKP Berks on its roster. In the mid- 1930s, Pere Marquette’s “big” locomotives consisted of 55 heavy 2-8-2s (the newest dat- ing to 1920) and 17 smallish 2-10-2s. That would change in 1936 when the Van Swerin- gens decided it was time to modernize PM’s steam fleet, which resulted in an order for 15 NKP-clone 2-8-4s from Lima in the fall of 1937. The new Super Power locomotives, designated class N and numbered 1201- 1215, were not exact duplicates of the Nick- el Plate machines, having cylinders one inch larger in diameter (giving them 5000 lbs. of additional tractive effort) and being 19,600 lbs. heavier. PM’s engines also had firebox jacketing, and the final five engines of the order were fitted with boosters, the first Van Sweringen Berkshires so equipped. The mechanical department of each rail-
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road had final say over individual details, and in keeping with Pere Marquette’s repu- tation for frugality, the 1200s were no-frills machines. PM insisted on built-up rather than cast frames, traditional rather than flexible staybolts, plain instead of roller bearings, and Standard stokers over the more expensive Duplex type. Compared to the earlier NKP Berkshires and the later C&O Kanawhas they inspired, PM’s 1200s were simple machines, but they were main- tained to a high degree, which greatly con- tributed to their outstanding over-the-road reliability. Number 1223 was part of the second or-
der, 12 of which came from Lima (Nos. 1216- 1227, class N-1) in October and November 1941. A little better than 100 feet long, it weighed 442,500 lbs. (277,600 on drivers), and trailed a 36,000-lb. class 22RE tender with a capacity of 22 tons of coal and 22,000 gallons of water. Cylinders measured 26″×34″ with 69″ drivers (upgraded to 70″ in 1946); and a boiler pressure of 245 p.s.i., giv- ing the engine a tractive force of 69,350 lbs. As with all Van Sweringen Berkshires, the valve gear was Baker. Number 1223 and the others of its class were freight-only ma- chines because weight limits in Detroit and clearances in Chicago precluded their use into those cities’ passenger terminals; their only time spent on varnish was pulling troop trains during World War II. Number 1223’s primary territory was on
the main line between Chicago and Detroit, wheeling fast freight, including the crack Overnighter. The railroad’s hub was Wyoming Yard in Grand Haven, where the 1200s were serviced and maintained. From there they were dispatched east to Detroit and Toledo, southwest to Porter Yard and into Chicago, and east to work the main line between Toledo and Saginaw. Due to bridge restrictions, they dared not venture past Saginaw to the port city of Ludington where the carferries loaded, nor along the Lake Michigan coast to Grand Haven. Pere Marquette would eventually own 39
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Van Sweringen Berks, capped off by the war baby N-2 class, Nos. 1228-1234, which came from Lima in 1944. They took PM through World War II right up to the merger with C&O in 1947, which came about after the Van Sweringen roads were acquired by C&O’s Robert R. Young. His influence over PM was noticeable (the 1200s gained yellow C&O-style lettering and number boards dur- ing the war years, and its passenger trains wore C&O colors), although PM was allowed, for a time, to exist as the “Pere Marquette District.” The C&O did feel that PM babied its steam locomotives, and required it to re- duce their time in the shop and maximize the tonnage behind their drawbars. Interestingly, the 1200s were to be num-
bered into the C&O roster (No. 1223 was to have become C&O 2657 following the merg- er) but because they weren’t fully paid off, only the earlier N-class received C&O num- bers and the rest had to remain in PM livery until their 20-year equipment trusts ex- pired, a condition of the merger agreement. Although NKP and C&O would continue
to use steam into the mid-1950s, Pere Mar- quette was loyal to its biggest customer, General Motors, and was quick to dieselize. No. 1223 and its sisters were laid up when the first C&O GP7s came to the Pere Mar- quette District in 1950, and the last run of a 1200 came on November 25, 1951. Number 1223 had less than ten years of service un- der its belt when it was set aside. Most of the Berkshires were stored, while 11 of the best were transferred to the Chesapeake District for coal service on C&O rails, where they served until 1956. The 1937 2-8-4s were the first to be scrapped, in 1954, and a number of N-1s and N-2s were cut up between ’56 and ’57.
Number 1223 languished with 12 sister
engines in the dead line at New Buffalo, Mich., waiting for its equipment trust to run out so it could be sold for scrap. Thankfully, rather than being cut up, it was earmarked, along with two sisters, for preservation. Number 1225, the future excursion queen, went to Michigan State University at East Lansing in 1957 for display, while No. 1227 was prepped for donation to Grand Rapids (which declined the offer, and the engine was later scrapped). Wearing fresh C&O lettering, which it
never had in regular service, No. 1223 went on display behind a chain-link fence at the Michigan State Fairgrounds in Detroit in August 1960. Its location near the band- stand was not ideal, and it was allowed to deteriorate to the point that, by the mid- 1970s, it was an eyesore. In 1980 the Michigan state government declared No. 1223 surplus, and several groups stepped forward to claim it. An orga- nization calling itself the “Friends of 1223” wanted it to stay at the fairgrounds, while Traverse City, Grand Haven, and (ironical- ly) Grand Rapids all wanted it for display. The eventual winner was the Illinois Rail- way Museum, which was awarded the loco- motive in January 1981. However, IRM’s ownership was brief (just one day), as in- tense pressure was put upon the legislature to keep 1223 in the Wolverine State. The gift to IRM was quickly rescinded, and the Berk- shire was instead given to Grand Haven, a town that had been served by PM but had never hosted a 2-8-4 in regular service. The Pere Marquette 1223 Committee was formed as a splinter group of Grand Haven’s
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