Pere Marquette 1223

Pere Marquette No. 1223 is a 2-8-4 "Berkshire" type steam locomotive was built by Lima in 1941 for the Pere Marquette railroad.

## History

No. 1223 hauled freight between Toledo and Chicago in the years immediately before and after World War 2.

When Pere Marquette was absorbed by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, 1223 was assigned number 2657 but never had the new number applied.

The locomotive was retired from service in 1951.

After retirement, 1223 was moved to New Buffalo, Michigan to be scrapped. However she was repainted and moved in 1960 for display at the state fairgrounds in Detroit. The money for that was provided by the donations collected by school children around the Detroit Area.

In 1980, Michigan state fair officials wanted to expand the grandstands but 1223 stood in the way. The city of Grand Haven won the bidding process.

Today the locomotive is on Static display at a Park in Grand Haven, Michigan.

## Trivia

No parts from 1223: Later 1220 be saved for replacement were used to restore sister engine 1225 to operating condition, due to the objections of the Michigan Railroad Club, then unofficial custodians of the engine.

She is one of two surviving Pere Marquette 2-8-4 (Berkshire) engines.

But Pere Marquette 2-8-4 Berkshire #1220 was selected for the 3rd. For the Homeward Bound Trip to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in 1965 until 1990. When the Abliene and Smoky Valley Railroad (ASVR) purchases Pere Marquette 1220 from The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania into operational restoration for tourist excursion service on the vintage Rock Island trackage from Abliene to Enterprises, Kansas. Later NS and CSX Diesels pulled Pere Marquette 1220 out of the museum begins a ferry move to Kansas City, Missouri from Paradise, Pennsylvania where Pere Marquette 1220 spend a night in KCS's Kansas City yard. One day later, NS and CSX diesels uncouples Pere Marquette 1220 as BNSF, KCS and a ATSF Hertiage Diesels arrived and couples Pere Marquette 1220 up and countines to new home trip into Abliene for a final destination. In 2000, Pere Marquette 1220 arrived in Abliene Kansas and pulls into the restoration shops. However, when Pere Marquette #1220 was being disassembled for restoration work, the plan was thwarted in 2019, when the ASVR's other steam locomotive Santa Fe #3415 went out of service, leaving both locomotives disassembled outside the ASVR's workshop. In 2023, a year after Santa Fe #3415 was restored back to operation, the ASVR announced that they were determined to restore the Pere Marquette #1220 locomotive to back to operation, depending on its current condition. As of May 19, 2030, the ASVR has recently announced the 22-year restoration of 1220 to operating condition. During the restoration process, 1220 will undergo conversion from a coal burner to an oil burner with a test fire as of 2050 and the date of completion is currently estimated for sometime in the early 2052 which Pere Marquette 1220 will be repainted back to original Pere Marquette appearance before it was repainted in ATSF Paint scheme by the end of 2052 or New Year's Day 2053.

The locomotive was not paid off at the time and the merger agreement stated that equipment still under trust was to remain in Pere Marquette livery.