Pennsylvania Railroad 7002

Revenue service

The E7s-class was created by replacing the slide valves above the cylinders on the E2a, E2b and E2c-classes with piston valves. Unlike the E2, the E2a, b, c and subsequent E7s class used Belpaire firebox instead of a "radial stay" firebox. The original No. 7002 was an E2-class locomotive built in August 1902 by the Pennsylvania Railroad's Altoona Works in Altoona, Pennsylvania. On June 15, the PRR inaugurated its new 18-hour train service from New York City to Chicago, the Pennsylvania Special-forerunner to the famed Broadway Limited. No. 7002 was coupled to the train as the replacement locomotive in Crestline, Ohio. Delays east of Mansfield caused it to depart Crestline 25 minutes late.

No. 7002 was claimed to have achieved 127.1 miles per hour (204.5 km/h) near Elida but this speed was based solely on two passing times recorded by separate observers at two different points (AY Tower and Elida) just 3 miles apart, and it is difficult to obtain even a general indication of a train's speed from signal box registers (Speed on the East Coast Main Line p 69, by P Semmens). The train arrived on time in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It was scrapped in 1935. No. 8063 was an E2a-class also built in 1902 by the Altoona Works. It was upgraded to the E7s-class in 1916, the engine was retired in 1939.

No. 8063 was renumbered, rebuilt and altered to resemble No. 7002 and placed on exhibit as the "world's fastest steam engine" at the 1939 New York World's Fair and the Chicago Railroad Fair in 1948–49.

No. 7002 was transferred to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania from the Pennsylvania Railroad's historical collection in Northumberland, Pennsylvania in December 1979 by the Pennsylvania's successor Penn Central. On December 17, 1989, No. 7002 was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Excursion service

In 1982, the locomotive was leased by the Strasburg Rail Road to haul their tourist excursion trains, mostly as a stand-in for Canadian National 89, which spent the majority of the 1980s undergoing a major rebuild. On July 28, 1983, No. 7002 was returned to service.^[3] While it was restored to operate on the SRC's line, it did have a few mainline outings, most of which were doubleheader runs with D16sb No. 1223, another PRR locomotive on lease. On June 13, 1987, No. 7002 hauled a special train to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the Broadway Limited; No. 1223 was present at the same event. On November 19, 1988, No. 7002 made a special run to commemorate the 125th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's trip over the same route to make the Gettysburg Address.

No. 7002 made its last run on December 20, 1989. In early 1990, Nos. 7002 and 1223 each underwent an annual inspection procedure, and they both passed a hydrostatic test. But an ultrasound testing device that SRC had acquired revealed numerous thin spots in the metal sides of the locomotives' firebox walls, rendering them unsafe to operate.^[4] SRC then decided to permanently retire both locomotives from service, since the required firebox repairs would have altered their historical fabric, which the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania wished to retain. SRC also cited that the repairs would have been too costly for locomotives they did not own.^[4] The railroad later acquired Norfolk and Western 475 as a replacement in their operations.^[4]

Disposition

In early March 1990, the two PRR locomotives were moved across the street to the museum for the final time by SRC's GE 44-ton switcher. On June 4, 2010, Nos. 7002 and 1223 were “fired up” for a photo event. Since then, No. 7002 has sat on display at the entrance to the museum’s Rolling Stock Hall pilot-to-pilot with No. 1223.^[5][6]