# Pennsylvania Railroad 3750

39°58′56″N 79°9′40″W﻿ / ﻿39.98222°N 79.16111°W﻿ / 39.98222; -79.16111
Pennsylvania Railroad 3750 is a steam locomotive that was built at Juniata Shops in April 1920 for the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) as a K4 class 4-6-2 Pacific type, and it along with the other K4s, was one of the most reputed mainline passenger locomotives of the entire system. No. 3750 also pulled Warren G. Harding's political campaign train during 1920 and three years later, hauled his funeral train from Washington, D.C. to Baltimore, Maryland. In the 1950s, it saw its final revenue run, pulling commuter trains in New Jersey.
After retiring from revenue service in late 1957, it was salvaged for preservation and renumbered to represent No. 1737, the prototype of the K4 class that was scrapped due to its poor condition. Afterwards, on December 17, 1979, the locomotive was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1983, No. 3750 was given back its original number and was designated alongside fellow surviving K4 No. 1361 as official state steam locomotives of Pennsylvania by the Pennsylvania General Assembly on December 18, 1987. It is now located at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania (RRMPA), just outside Strasburg, Pennsylvania in the United States.

## History
### Revenue service and modifications

No. 3750 was one of the fifth batch of 50 K4s (Nos. 3726-3775) built in February-August 1920 at the Pennsylvania Railroad's (PRR) Juniata Shops in Altoona, Pennsylvania. It was first built with a square-shaped headlight, a round number plate, a screw reverser, and a 70-P-75 type tender, which held 7,000 US gallons (26,000 L) of water and 12.5 tonnes (28,000 lb) of coal. No. 3750 along with the other K4s served as PRR's primary mainline passenger steam locomotives. It was initially assigned to run on PRR's Northeast Corridor mainline between Newark, New Jersey and Washington, D.C., pulling passenger trains. During that same year of 1920, No. 3750 was chosen to be one of the locomotives pulling the political campaign train of the infamous Warren G. Harding. Three years later, it pulled Harding's funeral train from Washington, D.C. to Baltimore, Maryland.
In the mid-late 1920s, No. 3750 was re-equipped with a cylindrical-shaped headlight and a keystone shaped number plate. Additionally, No. 3750's original tender was replaced with a 90-P-75 type, which held 9,700 US gallons (37,000 L) of water and 21 tonnes (46,000 lb) of coal. In the 1930s, PRR's passenger train consist grew longer and heavier, which led to No. 3750 and the other K4s required to double head and even triple head each other. Additionally, No. 3750's tender was modified with a mechanical stoker added to increase the locomotive's performance, while No. 3750 was re-equipped with a power reverser. At the same time, PRR's Northeast Corridor lines were electrified and the locomotive was relocated to the Chesapeake region, running from Washington, D.C. to Wilmington, Delaware; and York, Pennsylvania along with a brief visit to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. During World War II, No. 3750 was re-equipped with a larger 110-P-75 type tender, which held 11,980 US gallons (45,300 L) of water and 18.5 tonnes (41,000 lb) of coal. In 1946, the locomotive was leased to the Long Island Railroad (LIRR), pulling commuter trains on their entire system.
No. 3750 returned to the PRR in 1948, and was re-equipped with a cast steel pilot and a vertically retractable coupler. Its headlight and dynamo's positions were switched from the front and top of the smokebox. Additionally, a platform stand was added to the bottom front of No. 3750's smokebox for the maintenance crew to attend and inspect its headlight and dynamo. Afterwards, the locomotive was allocated to the Central Region west of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, mostly in Ohio. In 1955, No. 3750 returned to the Eastern Region, where it hauled commuter trains on the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Atlantic City, New Jersey. A year later, the locomotive was loaned to the northern New Jersey Shore to pull commuter trains between Perth Amboy and Bay Head, New Jersey on the New York and Long Branch line before finally being retired from revenue service in October 1957. Following its retirement, No. 3750 was put into storage at the West Philadelphia roundhouse, awaiting its fate.

### Preservation

During the 1950s, PRR began to salvage each steam locomotive class for preservation; A5 0-4-0 No. 94, B6sb 0-6-0 No. 1670, D16sb 4-4-0 No. 1223, E6 4-4-2 No. 460, E7 4-4-2 No. 7002, G5 4-6-0 No. 5741, H3 2-8-0 No. 1187, H6sb 2-8-0 No. 2846, H10 2-8-0 No. 7688, L1 2-8-2 No. 520, and M1b 4-8-2 No. 6755 at the Northumberland roundhouse in Northumberland, Pennsylvania. Additionally, they chose No. 1737, which was the first of the K4 class built. However, they left it outside the Northumberland roundhouse, exposed to the elements due to PRR refurbishing many of their preserved steam locomotives inside the roundhouse with no room left. As a result, No. 1737 was made in very poor condition to be preserved.
On April 29, 1958, PRR decided to save No. 3750 from being scrapped by renumbering it as 1737 with the number plate and a nearly identical 110-P-75 type tender from the real No. 1737, and kept it in storage alongside the other preserved steam locomotives at the Northumberland roundhouse. In February 1960, the deteriorated No. 1737 locomotive was broken up for scrap.
In 1969, No. 3750, still numbered 1737, was moved to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania (RRMPA) in Strasburg, Pennsylvania. The entire PRR steam locomotive collection came under threat in the 1980s when the PRR's successor, the Penn Central estate, sought to raise cash by selling it for scrap. The Pennsylvania Legislature intervened, and forgave some back taxes in exchange for PC deeding the collection to the state. The entire PRR steam locomotive collection is now preserved at the RRMPA.
During a cosmetic restoration in 1983, No. 3750 had been given back its original number. On December 18, 1987, the Pennsylvania General Assembly designated Nos. 3750 and 1361 as the official state steam locomotives, while also designating GG1 No. 4859 as the state electric locomotive in the same bill. The No. 3750 locomotive currently sits on outdoor display at the RRMPA, exposed to the elements. The RRMPA volunteer group plans to have the locomotive cosmetically-restored prior to it being placed in a planned roundhouse.