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By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief
GRAND HAVEN — Much of my historical research over the last year has been focused on the rail industry (including carferries). Typically, my focus is on the impact of that industry on Mason County. Mason County is blessed to have a historical locomotive, a 2-6-0, on display at Mason County Historical Society’s Historic White Pine Village. That locomotive is similar to the three locomotives that were operated by the Mason & Oceana Railroad, a narrow gauge road that ran from Buttersville in Pere Marquette Township to Walkerville in Oceana County.
But, if you want to see one of the big guys, the closest you’ll find one in west Michigan is the Pere Marquette 1223 in Grand Haven.
The Pere Marquette 1223 is one of two surviving Pere Marquette 2-8-4 Berkshire-type locomotives. The other survivor is the Pere Marquette 1225, which still functions and is operated by the Steam Railroading Institute in Owosso. The No. 1225 was the inspiration for the motion picture “Polar Express.”
The No. 1223 was built in 1941 by the Lima Locomotive Works in Lima, Ohio, for $90,000 ($1.86 million adjusted for inflation in 2023). It hauled freight between Chicago, Saginaw, Detroit and Toledo.
The 1223 was capable of operating at 3,000 horsepower and could haul a mile-long train at 50 mph. A 2-8-4 is a steam locomotive that has two unpowered leading wheels following by eight coupled and powered driving wheels and four trailing wheels.
When the Pere Marquette Railroad was absorbed by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, the engine was assigned number 2657 but never had the number applied. Because the locomotive was not paid off, the merger agreement required any equipment still under trust to remain in the Pere Marquette livery. It was retired from service in 1951 and was moved to New Buffalo to be scrapped.
The locomotive was then donated to the State of Michigan. School children in the Detroit area raised funds to restore the locomotive. In 1960, it was repainted and moved for display at the state fairgrounds in Detroit. In 1980, state fair officials wanted to expand the grandstands but the 1223 was in the way.
The City of Grand Haven won the bid to acquire the locomotive and it was moved in 1981 with the help of the Michigan National Guard, the Grand Trunk Western Railroad and the Chessie System Railroad.
In 2000 it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is on display along Jackson Street near Chinock Pier Park between 1st and 2nd streets. The park sits along the Grand River and was the site of the Grand Trunk Western Railroad carferry docks. Carferry service began in Grand Haven in 1902.
The display also includes a box car, two cabooses and a coal tipple.
Pere Marquette Auto Box Car No. 72222, a 51-foot long steel box car built in 1946. The box car was donated by the Chessie System and restored by the West Michigan Railroad Historical Society of Grand Rapids in 1984.
Pere Marquette Caboose No. A-986 was built in 1941 by the St. Louis Car Company of St. Louis, Mo. It was retired from service in 1981 and donated to the City of Grand Haven by the Chessie System in 1983.
Grand Trunk Western Wood Caboose No. 77915 was of 1894 design and built for the Grand Trunk of Canada before being transferred to Grand Trunk Western. It was rebuilt in 1925 and donated by an anonymous donor to the City of Grand Haven in 1980.
The Grand Trunk Western Railroad coal tipple built in 1924. In 2016 it was placed on the National Register of Historical Places.
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