Valley Railroad 97 - Misplaced Pages

Steam locomotive

Valley Railroad 97

No. 97 preparing to haul an excursion train on November 26, 2021

Type and origin
Power type	Steam
Builder	American Locomotive Company (Cooke Works)
Serial number	65188
Build date	November 1923

Specifications
Configuration:
• Whyte	2-8-0
• UIC	1’D’
Gauge	4 ft 81/2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Leading dia.	28 in (711 mm)
Driver dia.	48 in (1,219 mm)
Width	10 ft (3 m)
Axle load	30,500 Ib (13.830 kg: 13.83 t)
Adhesive weight	122,000 Ib (55,340 kg: 55.34 t)
Loco weight	141,000 Ib (63,960 kg: 63.96 t)
Tender weight	132,000 Ib (59.870 kg: 59,87 t)
Total weight	273,000 Ib (123,800 kg: 123.8 t)
Fuel type	Coal
Fuel capacity	20,000 Ib (9,072 kg: 9,072 t)
Water cap.	6,000 US gal (23,000 I: 5,000 imp gal)
Boiler pressure	180 Ibf/in2 (1.24 MPa)
Cylinders	Two
Cylinder size	19 in x 26 in (483 mm x 660 mm)
Valve gear	Walschaerts

Performance figures
Maximum speed	55 mph (88.51 km/h)
Tractive effort	29.918 Ibf (133.1 kN)
Factor of adh.	4.08

Career
Operators	Birmingham and Southeastern Railroad Vermont Railway New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Valley Railroad
Class	200
Numbers	B&S 200 VTR 97 NH 97 VALE 97
Delivered	March 5, 1926
Retired	1958
Restored	1964
Current owner	Valley Railroad
Disposition	Operational

References:

Valley Railroad 97 is a preserved 200 class 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type steam locomotive that was built by the American Locomotive Company's Cooke Works for the Birmingham and Southeastern Railroad, preserved and operated by the Valley Railroad.

History

Revenue service

No. 97 was built by the American Locomotive Company's former Cooke Locomotive Works in November 1923 as No. 200. It was one of two locomotives that were intended to be exported to Cuba for use on the National Railway Company of Cuba. No. 200 however, never made it to Cuba as the order was cancelled, it was kept in storage at the Cooke Works factory until its closure in 1926.

Instead, it was subsequently sold to the Birmingham and Southeastern Railroad in February 1926 and was moved to the company's shortline in Alabama on March 5, 1926. The locomotive pulled multiple passenger and freight trains on Birmingham and Southeastern trackage until it was retired from revenue service in 1958 and put into storage.

Excursion service

In 1963, No. 200 was purchased by New York publisher Stephen D. Bogen and moved it to the Vermont Railway, it was restored and placed into service and renumbered to No. 97 to avoid conflict with the railroad's diesel locomotive No. 200. No. 97 pulled mainline excursion trains on portions of the New Haven Railroad until it merged with the Penn Central Railroad in 1968.

In 1970, No. 97 was moved to Essex, Connecticut to haul tourists trains for the Valley Railroad and was placed into service in the spring of 1973. Shortly afterward, No. 97 would replace 2-6-2 locomotive No. 103 as the Valley Railroad's train consist expanded. In 1977, No. 97's original small tender was replaced with a larger tender that was previously used from a Central Vermont Consolidation steam locomotive No. 404. No. 97's original tender currently sits out of service in Essex.

In December 2010, No. 97 was removed from service to undergo its 1,472-day inspection and overhaul as required by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), it was soon back in service on October 26, 2018.

Appearances in media

In June 2007, No. 97 was coupled to some passenger cars to be filmed at Essex station for the 2008 film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, starring Harrison Ford and directed by Steven Spielberg.