NEW HAVEN, Ind. — On an overcast September day, one chapter closed while another opened for the Mohawk that refused to abdicate.
New York Central 4-8-2 No. 3001 had a morning departure from its longtime home at the National New York Central Railroad Museum in Elkhart, Ind., on Sept. 15. The big Alco was bound for its new home at the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society’s restoration facility in New Haven, Ind. Two years of prep work, after acquiring the Mohawk-type in 2024, culminated on that day with the society’s carefully coordinated move over Norfolk Southern with the railroad’s NYC heritage unit No. 1066 appropriately leading the trek.
On its first mainline outing in more than 40 years, several brief inspection stops were made to examine the Mohawk’s components and bearing temperatures. Otherwise, the cavalcade, consisting of Nos. 1066 and 3001, plus the former American Freedom Train auxiliary water tender, hopper car No. 42390, and HZRX-Locomotive Leasing’s EMD SW1500 No. 1501, was all business heading toward the Fort Wayne area. By the afternoon, the 4-8-2 was backed into the Fort Wayne Railroad’s shop building, ready to begin its estimated $4 million restoration, which aims to return No. 3001 to operation.
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