Forest Akers thought it was a good idea and proposed the idea to University President John Hannah, who accepted the gift of the locomotive. In 1955, Michigan State University Trustee, Forest Akers, the former VP of Dodge Motors, was asked by C&O Chairman Cyrus Eaton if the university would be interested in having a steam locomotive (Eaton did not want to scrap the engines but was having a hard time finding places that would accept them) so that engineering students would have a piece of real equipment to study. ( November 2020) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Please clean it up to conform to a higher standard of quality, and to make it neutral in tone. This article may be written from a fan's point of view, rather than a neutral point of view. After ten years of service, the engine was retired from revenue service in 1951. įor the first part of its service life, 1225 was used to shuttle steel and wartime freight between Detroit, Saginaw, Flint and northern Indiana steel mills. The majority of the class N locomotives were scrapped between 19, but class N-1s 12 were both preserved. Although all the Berkshires received new numbers, only class N engines were repainted into standard C&O livery and renumbered. Part of the merger agreement, however, included the stipulation that locomotives that were acquired and fully paid for by PM would remain painted for PM after the merger. The locomotives remained on the roster through the PM's merger into Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) in 1947 class N locomotives were renumbered to 2685–2699, class N-1 to 2650–2661, and class N-2 to 2670–2681. The build was complete in October 1941, and delivered to the Pere Marquette Railway. PM ordered this type of locomotive in three batches from Lima: class N in 1937 (PM road numbers 1201–1215), class N-1 in 1941 (numbers 1216–1227) and class N-2 in 1944 (numbers 1228–1239). 1225 was built in 1941 by Lima Locomotive Works in Lima, Ohio (LLW) for the Pere Marquette Railway (PM). The locomotive, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is now used on excursion trains called, 'the North Pole Express' from Owosso, Michigan, to Ashley, Michigan over the former Tuscola and Saginaw Bay Railway, now Great Lakes Central Railroad operated by the Michigan Steam Railroading Institute. 1225 to operational status, an effort that culminated that started its first excursion run in 1988. 1225, and in 1971, The Michigan State University Railroad Club was formed and began work to restore No. In 1969, a group of students took an interest in No. Slated for scrapping, 1225 was acquired by Michigan State University in 1957 and placed on static display.

1225 in regular service from the locomotive's construction in 1941 until the railroad merged into Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) in 1947 she remained in use on C&O's Michigan lines until 1951. She is perhaps most famous for serving as the basis for the locomotive in the 2004 film, The Polar Express. 1225 is one of two surviving Pere Marquette 2-8-4 locomotives, the other being 1223, which is on display at the Tri-Cities Historical Society near the ex- Grand Trunk Western (GTW) coaling tower in Grand Haven, Michigan.

Pere Marquette 1225 is a class 'N-1' 2-8-4 ' Berkshire' type steam locomotive built in October 1941 for the Pere Marquette Railway (PM) by Lima Locomotive Works (LLW) in Lima, Ohio. 1225 on an excursion in 2008Ĥ ft 8 + 1⁄ 2 in ( 1,435 mm) standard gaugeġ short ton (0.89 long tons) of coal per 12 miles traveled (1 metric ton per 21 km)

Maquette steam