Come along to a look back at
St. Louis & San Francisco 4-8-2 #1522 during the heyday of her excursion
career between 1992 and 1996.
Trips include the following: Kirkwood, Missouri, area: May
2, 1992 Springfield to St. Louis,
Missouri: May 16, 1992 St. Louis to Coffeen,
Illinois: June, 1992 St. Louis to Galesburg,
Illinois: June 9, 1993 St. Louis to Brookfield,
Missouri: May 2, 1995 Galesburg, Illinois, to St.
Louis: June 26, 1995 St. Louis to Springfield,
Missouri: July 5, 1996
The 1992 Coffeen trips were
the only steam excursions on this line, which has since been abandoned and
converted into a bike trail. The run
from Springfield the month before was a deadhead move on freight.
During the 1995 runs, the locomotive was sporting a Nathan 5-chime whistle from
a Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Mikado.
The two runs shown here were deadhead moves with the locomotive pulling
freight consists.
The runs opening and closing
the show find the locomotive sporting an Illinois Central whistle, which was
co-owned by 1522 fireman Don Morice.
It’s a fond look back at the
Midwest’s own excursion locomotive, and what was the only operating 4-8-2 in
the U.S.