Great Northern 1147 on display inWenatchee, Washington Great Northern 1246 moved to Northwest Railway Museum in Snoqualmie, WA. Remainder scrapped
TheGreat Northern F-8 is a class of 1252-8-0 "Consolidation" typesteam locomotives built by theRogers Locomotive and Machine Works, their corporate successor theAmerican Locomotive Company, andBaldwin Locomotive Works between 1901 and 1907 and operated by theGreat Northern Railway until the mid 1950s. They operated throughout the Great Northern pulling freight trains with some being rebuilt with larger cylinders and higher boiler pressure, giving them more tractive effort. Retirement of the F-8s started as early as 1932, but some would last and continue to pull freight until 1956, when the last F-8 was retired.
The F-8's pulled mostly freight trains throughout their career, with certain ones being rebuilt to attain higher tractive efforts. They operated on the Great Northern Railroad from 1901. Beginning in 1932 some were scrapped, until the railroad was dieselized in the 1950’s. By 1956 all of them were retired and scrapped, except for Nos. 1147 and 1246 which have since been preserved.
Great Northern 1147 was retired on June 2, 1956, and put on display in a city park inWenatchee, Washington.
Great Northern 1246 was retired and placed on display at Woodland Park inSeattle, Washington on July 18, 1953. It went on loan to Fred Kepner in 1978 for restoration for tourist operation. It was then moved toChemult, thenKlamath and nowMerrill, Oregon in 2002. 1246's tender was sold to theHeber Valley Railroad in 2022 as Kepner's collection was disposed of after his death.[1] In 2023, the locomotive was acquired by theNorthwest Railway Museum and has been moved to Snoqualmie, Washington in April 2023.
Keyes, Norman C. Jr.; Middleton, Kenneth R. (Autumn 1980). "The Great Northern Railway Company: All-Time Locomotive Roster, 1861–1970".Railroad History.143 (143). Boston, Mass.: Railway and Locomotive Historical Society: 74, 76, 77.ISSN0090-7847.JSTOR43523930.
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