Valley Railroad 3025

No. 3025 at Deep River in 2021.

| Type and origin

References: [1]
Power type| Steam
Builder| Tangshan Locomotive and Rolling Stock Works
Serial number| SY1658M
Model| SY
Build date| 1989
| Specifications

Configuration:
| ​
• Whyte| 2-8-2
• UIC| 1’D1’
Gauge| 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Driver dia.| 53.94 in (1,370 mm)
Wheelbase:| ​
• Drivers| 14 ft 6 in (4.42 m)
Length| 70 ft 10 in (21.59 m)
Adhesive weight| 154,323 lb (70,000 kg; 70.00 t)
Loco weight| 194,007 lb (88,000 kg; 88.00 t)
Fuel type| Coal
Fuel capacity| 20,000 lb (9,072 kg; 9.072 t)
Water cap.| 6,600 US gal (25,000 L; 5,500 imp gal)
Firebox:| ​
• Grate area| 49.514 sq ft (4.6000 m2)
Boiler pressure| 198.7 lbf/in2 (1.37 MPa)
Heating surface:| ​
• Firebox| 187.2 sq ft (17.39 m2)
• Tubes and flues| 1,851 sq ft (172.0 m2)
• Total surface| 2,312 sq ft (214.8 m2)
Superheater:
| ​
• Heating area| 461 sq ft (42.8 m2)
Cylinders| Two
Cylinder size| 20.87 in × 27.95 in (530 mm × 710 mm)
Valve gear| Walschaerts
| Performance figures

Maximum speed| 50 mph (80.47 km/h)
Tractive effort| 38,147 lbf (169.7 kN)
Factor of adh.| 4.05
| Career

Operators| Knox and Kane Railroad, Connecticut Valley Railroad
Class| SY
Numbers|

* KKRR 1658
* KKRR 58
* NH 3025
* CVRR 3025

Retired| 2006
Restored| November 25, 2011
Current owner| Connecticut Valley Railroad
Disposition| Operational

Valley Railroad 3025 is a China Railways SY class steam locomotive that was built in 1989 by the Tangshan Locomotive and Rolling Stock Works for the Knox and Kane Railroad of Pennsylvania, US, where it remained until that railroad's demise. It was purchased by the Valley Railroad Company of Connecticut in 2008, and later rebuilt as a masquerade of a New Haven J-1 "Mikado" locomotive and re-numbered 3025.[2]

## History

[edit]

Knox and Kane Railroad 1658, as it was then known, was one of three China Railways SY class steam locomotives that were built by the Tangshan Locomotive and Rolling Stock Works in 1989 exclusively for tourist operations in the United States. Sloan Cornell, the founder of the Knox and Kane Railroad, purchased the locomotive at an undisclosed cost, and it arrived in Pennsylvania in the beginning of 1990.[2]

The locomotive ran for the Knox and Kane between 1990 and spring of 2006, when the railroad ceased all operations.[2] In storage in an engine house in Kane, locomotive 58 and other rolling stock was subjected to an early-morning arson attack on March 16, 2008. The locomotive was severely damaged, more so than its housemate, the 2-8-0 No. 38, which had thicker boiler skin. Its cab was lined with wood, which was completely destroyed.[citation needed]

On October 10,2008, the locomotive was purchased at a liquidation auction by the Valley Railroad.[3] The new owners restored the locomotive to operating condition, and transformed its appearance to that of a New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad locomotive, numbered 3025.[4] Restoration was completed in 2011, and the locomotive entered revenue service on November 25, 2011, pulling the North Pole Express and becoming one of the railroad's regular road locomotives.[2]

## Gallery

[edit]

* Valley Railroad 3025 operating as Knox and Kane No. 58 in July 1990

* No. 3025 being parked near the Kinzua Bridge as Knox and Kane No. 58 in October 2001

* 3025 operating on the Connecticut Valley Railroad in 2011, after being restored.

* Firebox doors of 3025

* 3025 at Goodspeed Station during the Lee Carlson Memorial Photo Charter on April 24, 2021.

* 3025 at Tate’s Cut in Deep River on September 24, 2021

* VALE 3025 about to depart from Essex on December 17, 2021

## References

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to SY 1658 steam locomotive.

1. ^ "China State Railways / Chinese State Railways 2-8-2 Locomotives in China". Retrieved January 29, 2022.
2. ^ a b c d Associated Press (December 25, 1989). "Steam Rides Again! China Engines, U.S. Rails". The New York Times.
3. ^ "New Haven 3025". www.friendsvrr.org. Retrieved 2021-09-14.
4. ^ "Essex Steam Train - www.rgusrail.com". www.rgusrail.com. Retrieved 2022-01-10.