Revenue service The locomotive was built in 1913 by the
American Locomotive Company (ALCO) as a L-1 class 2-8-2 “Mikado” type steam locomotive. A very efficient locomotive design, the design enabled the L-1 class to pull passenger and freight trains. In November 1941, some major repairs and replacement parts were carried out on the locomotive. A larger sandbox was installed, the wooden pilot was swapped out with a new boiler tube steel pilot, and the wood and canvas roof was swapped out for steel and the cab became bigger. The last improvement was that a feed water heater was installed and the superheater itself was replaced with a Elesco type A. No. 1003 was used by the
Soo Line mostly to pull freight trains until 1954, when it was placed into standby service at the
Gladstone, Michigan roundhouse as part of the railroad's strategic reserve. In 1998, it ran a triple-header excursion with
Northern Pacific 328 and
Soo Line 2719, during SteamFest '98. In 2000 and 2001, No. 1003 pulled excursion trains on the
Wisconsin and Southern Railroad (WSOR). In July 2002, No. 1003 lead that year's
Circus World Museum (CWM) train on the WSOR from
Baraboo to
Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The locomotive made its final journey under its FRA-mandated 15-year boiler certificate on November 13, 2010. In August 2022, the engine made a round trip to
Chicago for the Metra Family Days event at the commuter operator’s Western Avenue railyard. Several months later in November, the locomotive ran a
Trains Magazine photo charter event through central Wisconsin. on November 11, 2023, the locomotive celebrated its 110th birthday were it ran the Santa Train on a short run from the Wisconsin Automotive Museum to Hartford and placed on display during the Mainstreet’s Christmas Parade; the following day, it ran a private photo freight from Fairwater and return to Hartford, in partnership with
Steel Highway Magazine and Brodie Photography. On November 2 and 3, 2024, No. 1003 ran a two-day photo charter for Ethan Brodie and Brodie Photography. Six days later on November 9, No. 1003 hauled the annual Santa Train to precede of the Wisconsin's Christmas Parade. On August 23, 2025, No. 1003 ran a photo charter special from Hartford to Burnett for the 75th anniversary of the Wisconsin Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society. On November 8, Bank Five Nine offered its assistance to No. 1003 for the Santa Train event with a donation of $2,500. ==See also==