Engine 2523

Engine 2523 is a P-2 class mountain type locomotive survivor of the steam engines acquired by the Great Northern Railway from Baldwin Works in Pennsylvania in 1923 to speed up mainline passenger service. A powerful and speedy locomotive of the P-2 class is one of only 28 built. Engine 2523 is one of the last to remain., The locomotive and tender are 100 feet and 5 inches long, weigh 671,550 pounds and height from rail to the top of stack is 15 feet 10 inches. Engine 2523 was initially a coal burner and later converted to an oil burner. It developed 57,580 pounds of tractive effort. Each of the eight drive wheels is 73 inches high., The St. Paul and Pacific Railroad laid the first tracks in Kandiyohi County through Willmar in 1869. The first train came through Willmar in 1870. With the help of John Spicer, the St. Cloud and Sioux Falls Railroad through northern part of Kandiyohi was completed in 1886. The St. Paul and Pacific Railroad was bought by James J. Hill in 1879 and changed the name to the Great Northern Railroad in 1890., There was a need for a high powered passenger service for the new Oriental Limited which had all steel cars and a faster schedule. By 1945, the P-2 class was no longer used for passenger service but for freight. In 1949, Engine 2523 was used in the Willmar division for freight. The Engine 2523 was retired and rested on the sidetracks in the Willmar rail yard in 1955. In 1965, Engine 2523 was saved from being scrapped and moved to the Kandiyohi County Historical Society., The track on which Engine 2523 now stands is laid to Great Northern Railway mainline specifications. The creosoted ties are supported on a sub-ballast consisting of 6 inches of rock chips and a ballast of 6 inches of crushed granite which was quarried by the Great Northern Railway in Granite Falls, MN.