Baltimore and Ohio 5300

Between 1906 and 1928, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the first Class 1 railroad to be incorporated in the United States, ordered over 200 P class 4-6-2 "Pacific" type steam locomotives from the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania primarily to be used in passenger trains.[1] The final production class of 4-6-2 locomotives was the P-7 class, of which twenty were built and delivered by Baldwin in 1927, being numbered 5300–5319. This class of olive green, gold, and maroon locomotives was officially named the "President class", since all twenty of the locomotives were named after the first twenty Presidents of the United States, and No. 5300 was named after George Washington.[2]

Shortly after No. 5300 rolled out of the factory in February 1927, it was coupled to the Capitol Limited train to take part in the Fair of the Iron Horse, a celebration of the centenary of the B&O, alongside several other B&O steam locomotives.[3] After the fair ended, No. 5300 was put into service pulling the Royal Blue passenger train between Washington, D.C. and New York City, as well as the Capitol Limited between New York City and Chicago, Illinois. The locomotive rarely made any water stops along the way, as the tender was designed with a water scoop. This allowed for refilling while travelling over track pans. In 1944, No. 5300 was rebuilt with a semi-streamlined tender, and its original olive green livery was replaced with the B&O's standard solid blue livery with its name subsequently being removed from the cab. The locomotive also gained a modern twin-sealed beam headlight in 1951.[4]

As the B&O began purchasing diesel locomotives, a lot of the P class 4-6-2s were removed from the active roster, and those that were left were reassigned to secondary passenger service in Pennsylvania and Ohio.[5] By 1956, No. 5300 was among only fifty-three P class 4-6-2s left on the roster, and with the 5000 series given to locomotives from EMD, No. 5300 was renumbered 100, and the rest of the active 4-6-2s were renumbered 101–152.[6] The following year, President Washington completed its last revenue freight assignment before it was indefinitely retired from the roster, completing 30 years of revenue service, and it was sidelined for storage.

The locomotive was purchased, along with 2-8-2 300 for safekeeping and donation by Ed Striegel of Striegel Supply & Equipment Corp., a business on Chemical Road in Curtis Bay, Maryland. Mr. Striegel bought railroad equipment for parting out and future sales to other railroads, this though was not the case for the steam locomotives on the property. Upon Mr. Striegel's death, the Baltimore Sun wrote, "In the 1950s, while visiting a storage lot for decommissioned B&O steam engines, Mr. Striegel discovered two historically significant locomotives – the President Washington, No. 100, the high-wheeling Pacific Class that had pulled such classic trains as the Capitol Limited, and a Q-3 class 2-8-2 Mikado type locomotive that had been built in 1918. He salvaged them and donated them to the B&O Railroad Museum. 'They are the linchpins of our collection,' said Courtney B. Wilson, executive director of the museum. 'Ed saved two significant pieces for the museum and, without his help, they would have been lost forever,' he said. 'In my opinion, he was a phenomenal Baltimorean. He was a quiet, unassuming and a very generous guy. The museum was his favorite place to come and he was always looking for ways to improve and enhance its collections,' Mr. Wilson said.[7]

When the museum received No. 5300, it was then repainted in its original 1927 appearance which included: renumbering to 5300 from No.100, the dual-beam headlight swapped for a single beam Pyle National headlight, and the engine was repainted to the original B&O olive green and gold scheme with the Presidential series name, The President Washington, onto the cab. However, since the original B&O herald number plate was not with the engine when it left service, the number plate remained on the smokebox door. The locomotive also received another cosmetic repaint in 1981,[8] and the curved coal bunker sides tender remains much as it was in service.

No. 5300 was initially put on static display at the museum in November 1968,[9] and it subsequently spent the next thirty-seven years sitting outdoors alongside other locomotives, including No. 300 (which was renumbered to its original number, 4500), EMC EA No. 51, Chesapeake and Ohio 4-6-4 No. 490, and Reading 4-8-4 No. 2101. While being displayed outdoors, the locomotive would remain exposed to the elements and would cosmetically deteriorate.[10] In 2006, No. 5300 was put inside one of the museum's buildings to remain safe out of the elements and received a fresh repaint in its original olive green color.[11] During the winter seasons, the locomotive has been temporarily be re-lettered The Polar Express, to promote the museum's Polar Express-themed excursion trains.[12] On August 28, 2021, No. 5300 was removed from static display and towed to the museum's locomotive shop for cosmetic restoration.[13] The restoration will likely take over several years.