Preserved/Restored PM Locomotives

Updated: 04-JAN-2022

This list encompasses known former PM locomotives restored for display, operation or non-railroad use, or simply preserved.

Parrish, Florida

Ex-FSUD NW5 #2 on display in Parrish, FloridaFort Street Union Depot NW5 switcher #2, at the Florida Railroad Museum in Parrish, Florida. Number 2 is one of only 13 NW5 switchers built by EMD (Most of the rest ended up on the Great Northern). Along with sister #1, it spent 12 years as the depot switcher for Fort Street Union Depot in Detroit, switching Wabash, PM and C&O passenger trains in and out of the terminal. During this time, both wore the PM's blue and Venetian Yellow paint in a scheme unique to the NW5s. They were serviced by the PM as part of its obligations as a tenant of Fort Street Union Depot.

After its sale to the Mississippi Export Railroad in 1959, #2 was renumbered 61 and served the MERR until it was leased and then sold to US Phosphoric Products in the mid-1970s. US Phosphoric Products successor Cargill donated it to the (then) Florida Gulf Coast Railroad Museum, where it is now stored in need of repair.

Photo courtesy of the Florida Railroad Museum.

 

Baltimore, Maryland

PM SW1 switcher #11 on display at the B&O MuseumSW1 switcher #11, at B&O Museum (901 W. Pratt Street), operable. This locomotive, restored to its "as-delivered" black and Venetian Yellow paint scheme, is used on short trips through the museum grounds.

Modifications made to this locomotive since its PM days include a twin sealed-beam headlight and full-length handrails down its sides necessitated by its years of service in the Sarnia, Ontario area.

Number 11 was one of the pieces of equipment damaged in the February 17, 2003 roof collapse at the B&O Museum. Upon removing it from the pile of debris, it was discovered to have suffered only broken glass, dents and scratches. Its damage was nowhere near comparable to the total destruction of several other older pieces in the roundhouse at the time. As a result, #11 was among the first pieces restored, in early 2004. While restoring it, the Museum staff returned #11 to near-original condition, with a single-beam headlight and its original handrail configuration. Prior to the roundhouse collapse, #11 carried the twin sealed-beam headlight and handrails along the full length of its carbody, shown above, that the C&O added to it in later years.

The PMHS contributed to the restoration of #11 by providing original lettering diagrams and paint specifications. The Society also has donated copies of its Pere Marquette Passenger Car Pictorial to the Museum Gift Shop, with all proceeds from their sale to be applied toward repaying the cost of the switcher's return to service.

Photo by Chuck Neal.
 

 

Grand Haven, Michigan

[PM Berkshire #1223 on display at Grand Haven, MI]N-1 Berkshire #1223, at Tri-Cities Historical Society display near ex-GTW coaling tower, cosmetically restored.

This locomotive was displayed for many years at the Michigan State Fairgrounds in Detroit, MI, during which time many components were removed for use in the effort to restore sister Berkshire #1225. In the early 1980s, the City of Grand Haven acquired it for display. Much hard work on the part of Pere Marquette 1223 Preservation Committee volunteers has paid off, resulting in a thorough cosmetic restoration.

In December, 2000, #1223 was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Click either here or on the photograph to see a larger version of the photo and more information about this locomotive.


 

 

Kaleva, Michigan

M&NE NW2 #3 at Suttons Bay, MI - Click for larger photoM&NE NW2 #3, formerly owned by the Leelanau Scenic Railroad. It is the last surviving locomotive from the Manistee & North Eastern.

With the closing of the Leelanau Scenic Railroad in 1994, this locomotive was sold, dismantled and moved from Greilicksville, along with the similarly-painted SW9, ex-C&O #5258, painted as LSRR #4. The new owner, an individual loosely affiliated with RailAmerica, planned to reassemble the locomotives in Traverse City, then have them moved to Saginaw, where he was to take possession of them and move them elsewhere (Vassar?) for rebuilding. This plan stalled when the crane brought onto the site during the early Summer of 1999 was unable to move the frame or trucks. All of the parts of #3 were moved to Traverse City by November, 1999; Number 4 followed in early 2000. Photos of the dismantling and moving processes can be seen on Jack Hengartner's Web site.

Number 3 sat in pieces for several years in Traverse City after being removed from the Leelanau Scenic Railroad. While at Traverse City, it was vandalized repeatedly. During the first week of January, 2005, #3 was moved by truck to Kaleva, where it has been cosmetically restored and placed on display at the Kaleva depot.

NW2 #3 at KalevaFirst photo, June, 1992 in Suttons Bay, MI by Fritz Milhaupt

Second photo, M&NE #3 at Kaleva, January 10, 2005 by Jack Hengartner

 

Owosso, Michigan

PM Berkshire #1225 at Erie, MI N-1 Berkshire #1225, at the Steam Railroading Institute's facility in Owosso. Restored over a period of 20 years, #1225 is the last operable PM steam locomotive, #1223 in Grand Haven and many of the other preserved Berkshires in the Midwest having provided parts for its restoration.

#1225 has been used by the Steam Railroading Institute and its predecessor Michigan State Trust for Railway Preservation on excursions up the former NYC St. Charles branch under the Shiawassee Valley Railroad name in the early 1990s. More recently it has been the centerpiece of an"Engineer for an Hour" program, excursions on the Great Lakes Central, and as the focal point of SRI's extremely popular North Pole Express holiday trains.

After years of crumbling, the brick backshop which had housed #1225 since the early 1980s was demolished in Fall, 2000. A new home for #1225, a few hundred feet west, was constructed as part of a new site including a welcome center, a 7.5" gauge miniature railroad, and a new multi-stall storage building and restoration facility. A major component of the facility is the turntable formerly located at the ex-PM roundhouse in New Buffalo. Information on the Steam Railroading Institute can be found on the Steam Railroading Institute's web site.

1225 is shown at Erie, Michigan en route to her 1991 appearance at the NRHS National Convention in Huntington, WV.

 

 

Port Huron, Michigan

PM 2-4-0 "D.B. Harrington" - Click here for larger photoD.B. Harrington, currently undergoing cosmetic restoration at St. Clair Community College.

The D.B. Harrington was built in 1878 for PM predecessor Port Huron & Northwestern by Porter, Bell & Co. It served the PH&NW for only a few years, and was sold by 1884 after its limited speed and pulling capacity proved to be insufficient for the railroad's needs. It bounced around among various logging companies in northern Michigan until 1923, when it was retired from its last job, serving as a stationary boiler for a cherry cannery in Glen Haven. Displayed at the cherry company's offices until the early 1930s, it was placed on loan to the City of Traverse City, which put it on display in Clinch Park. The D.B. Harrington remained on display until 1965, at which time it was acquired by the Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio. Its boiler deemed no longer even repairable, the engine was put on display until about 1974, when park expansion overran its display site and it was moved into storage.

After a brief period under ownership by the Henry Ford Museum, during which time its tender was deemed too far gone for restoration and replaced with a replica, the Museum decided that the locomotive no longer fit its needs, and in 1991 it was transferred to the Port Huron Museum. In early 2018, plans were put into motion to have the D.B. Harrington cosmetically restored at St. Clair County Community College.

The photo here shows it as it looked while stored at Cedar Point.

Thanks to T.J. Gaffney for providing the history of this locomotive. A complete history of the D.B. Harrington is available on the Lakeshore Guardian's web site

 

 

 



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The contents of this Web site are Copyright © 2015, John F. ("Fritz") Milhaupt, All Rights Reserved, except for the PM #11 photo, Copyright © 1997, Chuck Neal, and SRI #61/FSUD #2, Copyright © 1999, Florida Gulf Coast RR Museum, both used with permission.