Revenue service

No. 4070—originally numbered 474—was built in December 1918 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) in Schenectady, New York, as part of the United States Railroad Administration's (USRA) order for twenty-five Light Mikado locomotives to be assigned to the Grand Trunk Railway.^[1] The locomotive was primarily assigned in revenue service to pull freight and commuter trains out of Detroit, Michigan.^[1] In 1925, following the GTR's reorganization as the Grand Trunk Western (GTW) under Canadian National (CN) ownership, No. 474 was renumbered to 3734, and it was rebuilt with an extended smokebox and an enclosed coffin feedwater heater.^[1] In 1948, the No. 3734 was selected to serve as a backup locomotive for President Harry Truman’s re-election train, which ran through Michigan.^[1]

During the 1950s, No. 3734 was primarily relegated to operate out of Durand, Michigan.^[1] In 1958, the locomotive was rebuilt at the GTW's Battle Creek, Michigan shops with a larger tender, and it was renumbered again to 4070.^[1] No. 4070 was last assigned by the GTW to pull gravel trains between Pontiac and Oxford, Michigan.^[1][2] No. 4070 was retired from service on March 29, 1960, after it pulled its final revenue train from Pontiac to Durand, and the railroad discontinued commercial steam operations that same month.^[2] No. 4070 was subsequently stored in Durand and sold for a proposed museum, but this idea never came to fruition.

Excursion service

In 1961, Louis S. Keller, a member of the National Railway Historical Society's (NRHS) Iowa Chapter, purchased No. 4070.^[2][3] In the fall of 1966, the Midwest Railway Historical Foundation (MRHF) acquired the locomotive from Keller on a five-year lease, and it was moved into storage under the Cleveland Union Terminal.^[3][4] In June 1968, No. 4070 was moved to the Chicago and Western Indiana’s (C&WI) 47th Street Roundhouse in Chicago, where the MRHF contracted Richard “Dick” Jensen and his crew to help restore the locomotive to operating condition.^[2][5][6]

As part of the agreement, Jensen would use No. 4070 to pull two passenger excursions on the GTW's mainline.^[2] On November 3, No. 4070 operated for the first time in over eight years, and it pulled an excursion from Dearborn Station in Chicago to South Bend, Indiana, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the locomotive's 1918 construction date.^[7] No. 4070 pulled a second excursion between Chicago and South Bend, on March 23, 1969, but following issues with the fireman and No. 4070's Duplex stoker, the train arrived late in Chicago at 3:00 am the following day.^[2][6][8]

On August 31, 4070 pulled its first official MRHF excursion from Erie to Greenville, Pennsylvania on the Bessemer and Lake Erie (B&LE) mainline.^[2][9] In 1971, MRHF bought out their lease with Lou Keller, gaining full ownership of the No. 4070. From 1971 to 1973, the MRHF leased a 1-mile (1.6 km) spur from the B&LE at Conneaut Lake Park, and No. 4070 was used to pull summer weekend excursions on the line.^[2][10] Unsatisfied with the length of the spur, the MRHF searched for a longer railroad to run excursions with No. 4070.^[10]

No. 4070 crossing the Cuyahoga River near Akron, Ohio, in September 1975

The MRHF approached the Chessie System to operate regular steam excursion trains on their former Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) Valley Division between Cleveland and Akron, Ohio, and local community leaders supported the idea.^[10] Chessie System chairman Cyrus Eaton agreed to allow the foundation trackage rights, and it led to the formation of the Cuyahoga Valley Preservation and Scenic Railway Association (CVP&SRA).^[1][10] No. 4070 was relocated to a leased stall at the former B&O Clark Avenue roundhouse in Cleveland.^[10] On June 26, 1975, No. 4070 pulled the new Cuyahoga Valley Line's (CVL) inaugural train from Brookside Park outside the Cleveland Zoo to Hale Farm and Village.^[10]

During the first operations seasons of the CVL, every excursion train was mandated to be assisted by a Chessie diesel locomotive for whenever No. 4070 suffered a mechanical problem, but as the MRHF proved the locomotive's reliability, the requirement was lifted in later years.^[10] In September 1975, No. 4070 was moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to pull three excursions for Steam Tours, Inc. on the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie (P&LE) mainline between Pittsburgh and Brownsville.^[10] During the first excursion, the fireman was struggling to get the locomotive's Duplex stoker to work before he resorted to hand firing it for the remainder of the run.^[10] In May 1977, No. 4070 pulled two more excursions for Steam Tours while doubleheading with Reading 2102 between Pittsburgh and Altoona, Pennsylvania over the Horseshoe Curve.^[10][11] During the return run of the first excursion, No. 4070 snapped its right eccentric rod at speed while climbing the curve, and the excursion had to be completed behind diesel locomotives.^[10][11] The damaged eccentric rod was subsequently repaired, and No. 4070 completed the second doubleheader excursion without incident.^[10]

In 1982, No. 4070 pulled an excursion train on the CVL while being fitted with a headboard that stated “The American Flyer”. The following year, in 1983, the locomotive was temporarily relettered as a Chicago, Burlington and Quincy locomotive, and it moved to South Dayton, New York for filming of the movie The Natural, and it was released in 1984. No. 4070 continued service on the CVL, until it suffered major mechanical difficulties in 1990. Upon inspection, the locomotive was found to be in need of a major rebuild. Since the cost of the rebuild proved to be expensive, No. 4070 was retired from excursion service, and the Cuyahoga Valley Line went on to operate their own excursions without MRHF's assistance. Dissembly of No. 4070 began, and it continued at a slow pace during the 1990s. Financial difficulties within the MRHF at the time and a stall collapse of the Cleveland roundhouse dwindled work on No. 4070 before it stopped.

Disposition

In 2011, the process of restoring No. 4070 to operational condition began by members of the Midwest Railway Preservation Society (MRPS). The locomotive's boiler and tender both underwent ultrasonic testing. The locomotive's drypipe, and front and rear tube sheets were found to be in need of replacing. The smokebox, firebox, frame, running gear, tender and many assorted parts needed major work before No. 4070 was able to run again. No. 4070's restoration was estimated to cost $1,290,000 to complete. As of 2024, the MRPS has re-organized their portion of the roundhouse for more suitable space to work on No. 4070, and they have seamed the crack the locomotive's frame has had from a turntable incident in 1955.