St. Louis-San Francisco Railway 1630 is a 2-10-0 Decapod steam locomotive that currently is preserved and operating at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois.
The 1630 was originally built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Eddystone PA in 1918. It was originally built as a 5 foot gauge for use in Russia as a “Ye” class to be used on the Russian State Railroads, but due to the Bolshevik Revolution the locomotive was never shipped to Russian and in 1920 it was converted to standard gauge and sold to the St. Louis – San Francisco Railway.
From 1951 until it’s ultimate donation to the Illinois Railway Museum in 1967, the 1630 operated for the Eagle Picher Company hauling lead ore to their smelter. After arriving at IRM The 1630 continued to haul passenger trains at the museum from 1972 until the early 2000s.
From 2004 until 2013 the 1630 underwent nearly 10 years of federally mandated repairs and inspections. On October 30, 2013 the 1630 returned to steam for the first time in nearly a decade. On Memorial Day Weekend 2016 the 1630 hauled nearly 140 empty coal cars out of storage, making it the longest revenue freight train hauled by a steam locomotive in the United States in at least a quarter of a century.
This year marks the centennial of the 1630 and it continues to haul excursions nearly every weekend throughout the summer at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union Illinois. I highly recommend a visit to Illinois Railway Museum. Please feel free to drop us a comment if you have any questions or are interested in this or any other photograph on our website.
All images copyright Great Lake Lights Photography.