Design and revenue service Throughout the 1910s, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy (CB&Q) Railroad ordered a fleet of 2-8-2 "Mikado" locomotives from the Baldwin Locomotive Works of
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, for use in general freight service. The first sixty 2-8-2s of the CB&Q (Nos. 5000-5059) were classified as the O-1 Class. The Beardstown Division was the final division on the CB&Q to be fully dieselized. In December 1960, No. 4963 received a major overhaul inside the CB&Q's roundhouse in Galesburg, and it was subsequently loaned to the
Missouri-based Bevier and Southern Railroad (BVS) to operate alongside fellow O-1A No. 4943. The BVS assigned No. 4963 to pull coal trains between coal mines in Brinkley and the BVS-CB&Q interchange in
Bevier. In the fall of 1962, No. 4963 was removed from service on the BVS, when the CB&Q loaned an
EMD NW2 to the railroad, and the O-1A was returned to Galesburg, two years later. In 1966, the CB&Q's steam program was discontinued, and all of their remaining steam locomotives were sold off.
Private ownership and legal disputes In 1967,
Railroad Club of Chicago member Richard Jensen purchased No. 4963 to add to his growing locomotive collection. He moved the O-1A to the
Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad's (C&WI) 47th Street Roundhouse outside of
Dearborn Station in Chicago for storage, having already reached a lease agreement with the railroad's president, Robert McMillian. Jensen planned to restore No. 4963 to operating condition for use in excursion service, and he relied on ticket sales from excursion trains powered by
Grand Trunk Western 5629 to fund its overhaul. In 1968, McMillan left the C&WI, and successor Robert Dowdy decided to demolish the 47th Street Roundhouse and to rip up the surrounding 51st street rail yard. By the end of August, Jensen had his locomotives and parts coupled together in one consist for shipment, but they still remained in the 51st street yard. The locomotive was subsequently moved to the IRM's property in
Union, Illinois, where it was cosmetically repainted and put on static display with the rest of the museum's collection. == See also ==