Steam & Excursion > What preserved steam locomotives have the same number?

What are the odds? I will omit low single and double digit loco numbers as they would be too common. I know there are more, but off the top of my head there are two 1223s and two 3001s.

Victor Baird

Posted from Android



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/02/26 10:47 by wabash2800.

SP 5021
ATSF 5021

Very good! And the SF was not a Harriman road.

Txhighballer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> SP 5021
> ATSF 5021

Posted from Android

TVRM/U.S.A. #610 and T&P/SOU #610. That one always created a little bit of confusion since both engines performed in the Southern steam program.

Excellent. There are a few more.

Victor Baird

Posted from Android

New Hope & Ivyland in Pennsylvania, the Valley Railroad in Connecticut, and the Nevada Northern all roster engines wearing #40.

Both steam and diesel ATSF 2546 are preserved. The steam locomotive is in Ripley Park in Marceline, Mo and the CF7 is at the Kentucky Railroad Museum. 

Don't forget EJ&E 765 and NKP #765.

Posted from iPhone

AT&SF 2-8-0 643 at Oklahoma City, OK
PRR 0-6-0 643 at Williams Grove, PA
B&LE 2-10-4 643 at Sugar Creek, OH

AT&SF 2-8-0 735 at Lindsborg, KS
Soo Line 4-6-2 735 at Minot, ND

ATSF 2-6-2 1015 at Emporia, KS
C&NW 4-4-2 1015 at Kirkwood, MO

AT&SF 2-6-2 1024 at La Junta, CO
Soo Line 2-8-2 1024 at Thief River Falls, MN

AT&SF 2-8-0 2522 at Fiarview, OK
MP 4-6-0 2522 at Paris, AR

AT&SF 2-8-0 2542 at Arkansas City, KS
IC 4-8-2 2542 at McComb, MS

AT&SF 2-10-4 5021 at Sacramento, CA
SP 4-10-2 5021 at Pomona, CA

AT&SF 2-10-4 5030 at Santa Fe, NM
GTW 4-6-2 5030 at Jackson, MI

And that's just duplicate numbers of preserved Santa Fe steam.

This sounds like an inquiry custom-made for an AI chatbot to process.  The data is out there on the web, freely available, but it would take a human days to go through it all.  I fed the following inquiry into ChatGPT:

"Compile a complete list of preserved steam locomotives in the United States of America where more than one preserved locomotive from different railroads has the same road number. Include road number, railroad, wheel arrangement, and display location. Exclude locomotive numbers that are two digits or fewer."

ChatGPT came back with:

"There are currently no confirmed cases in the United States of:

• Two preserved steam locomotives,
• From different railroads,
• Having the same road number,
• With the road number being three digits or greater.

This conclusion is based on the most comprehensive public preservation records available as of 2026; if your research includes private, non-public, or recently rediscovered locomotives, those may not be reflected in standard rosters."

Obviously, that's wrong.  Anybody ever tried a similar railroad-related inquiry with AI and had better luck?  Is it that I'm not structuring the question properly?

Evan_Werkema Wrote:
> Obviously, that's wrong.  Anybody ever tried a
> similar railroad-related inquiry with AI and had
> better luck?  Is it that I'm not structuring the
> question properly?

I copied and pasted your question verbatim into Elon Musk's Grok, and here's what it responded with (I haven't fact checked it, so take it for what it's worth). Note it still missed out on ones like 5021, but that can be easily amended by having it do a deeper search. Grok's info pasted below, and screenshot showing the table data that came with it; I couldn't properly copy and paste table into Trainorders format, so it's here as a screenshot.

------------------------------Key Preserved Steam Locomotives with Shared Road NumbersBased on available data from comprehensive databases and lists of preserved steam locomotives in the US, the following road numbers (three digits or more) are shared by multiple preserved locomotives from different railroads. This list focuses on instances where at least two locomotives from distinct railroads have the same number. Each entry includes the road number, railroad, wheel arrangement, and display location. The evidence indicates these are the known duplicates, though inventories can change over time due to restorations or relocations.Road Number 101

• Railroad: Tuskegee, Wheel Arrangement: 2-6-2, Location: Illinois Railway Museum, Union, IL
• Railroad: USATC (Korean National Railroad), Wheel Arrangement: 2-8-0, Location: National Railroad Museum, Green Bay, WI

Road Number 102

• Railroad: Sumter & Choctaw, Wheel Arrangement: 2-8-2, Location: National Railroad Museum, Green Bay, WI
• Railroad: Long Bell Lumber, Wheel Arrangement: Shay2Tr, Location: Vernonia Park, Vernonia, OR
• Railroad: GAN, Wheel Arrangement: 4-6-0, Location: End-O-Line Railroad Park, Currie, MN
• Railroad: WF&P, Wheel Arrangement: 2-6-2, Location: Wabash, Frisco & Pacific Railroad , Glencoe, MO

Road Number 104

• Railroad: GP, Wheel Arrangement: 2-8-2, Location: NRHS Oregon Coast Chapter, Coos Bay, OR
• Railroad: ORAMLumber, Wheel Arrangement: 2-6-2T, Location: Modoc Northern Siding, Merrill, OR

Road Number 105

• Railroad: Sturm & Dillard (Jones Contracting), Wheel Arrangement: 0-6-0, Location: Age of Steam Roundhouse , Sugarcreek, OH
• Railroad: VSP&SSRR, Wheel Arrangement: 2-6-2, Location: Modoc Northern Siding, Merrill, OR

Road Number 191

• Railroad: Republic Steel, Wheel Arrangement: 0-6-0, Location: Monticello Railway Museum, Monticello, IL
• Railroad: DSP&P (C&S), Wheel Arrangement: 2-8-0, Location: Colorado Railroad Museum , Golden, CO

Road Number 201

• Railroad: MC&SA (ICC), Wheel Arrangement: 2-6-0, Location: Sherley Heritage Park, Anna, TX
• Railroad: IC, Wheel Arrangement: 2-4-4T, Location: Illinois Railway Museum, Union, IL

Road Number 202

• Railroad: Detroit Edison, Wheel Arrangement: 0-6-0, Location: TLE&W RY , Grand Rapids, OH
• Railroad: WM, Wheel Arrangement: 4-6-2, Location: Hagerstown City Park, Hagerstown, MD

Road Number 225

• Railroad: D10h, Wheel Arrangement: RBM&N (CP), Location: Reading Outer Station, Reading, PA
• Railroad: M-3, Wheel Arrangement: 2-8-8-4, Location: US 2, Proctor, MN

Road Number 401

• Railroad: Southern, Wheel Arrangement: 2-8-0, Location: Monticello Railway Museum, Monticello, IL
• Railroad: WF&P, Wheel Arrangement: 4-6-2, Location: Wabash, Frisco & Pacific Railroad , Glencoe, MO

Road Number 643

• Railroad: PRR, Wheel Arrangement: 0-6-0, Location: Williams Grove Historical Steam Engine Association, Dillsburg, PA
• Railroad: B&LE, Wheel Arrangement: 2-10-4, Location: Age of Steam Roundhouse , Sugarcreek, OH

Road Number 999

• Railroad: NYC&HRRR, Wheel Arrangement: 4-4-0, Location: Museum of Science & Industry, Chicago, IL
• Railroad: Blue Mountain Railway, Wheel Arrangement: 4-4-0, Location: Blue Mountain Railway, Braddock Heights, MD

Road Number 1024

• Railroad: AT&SF, Wheel Arrangement: 2-6-2, Location: Warren Ave Park, La Junta, CO
• Railroad: L-4, Wheel Arrangement: 2-8-2, Location: City Hall/Soo Line Depot, Thief River Falls, MN

Road Number 1187

• Railroad: R,H3, Wheel Arrangement: PRR, Location: Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, Strasburg, PA
• Railroad: Reading (Strasburg), Wheel Arrangement: 0-4-0C, Location: Age of Steam Roundhouse , Sugarcreek, OH

Road Number 2718

• Railroad: MSP&SSM, Wheel Arrangement: 4-6-2, Location: National Railroad Museum, Green Bay, WI
• Railroad: SP, Wheel Arrangement: 2-8-0, Location: Rachael Dorris Park, 524 S Main St, Alturas, CA

 This compilation draws from extensive inventories of preserved steam locomotives in the US, focusing on cases where the same road number (three digits or more) is used by locomotives from different railroads. The list above represents all identified instances from the searched data, which covers major states with high concentrations of preserved locos (e.g., PA, TX, IL, OH, WI, CO, MD, OR, MN, MO). Note that road numbers are assigned by individual railroads, so overlaps can occur across systems, often due to historical numbering conventions or coincidences.Additional Notes

• Wheel arrangements are standardized (e.g., 4-6-2 for Pacific type).
• Some entries have class designations in the railroad field (e.g., "D10h" for 225), reflecting how sources sometimes classify them.
• Locations are current as per the sources; some locomotives may be under restoration or moved (e.g., for operational use).
• This list is derived from cross-state data to identify overlaps, as no single source explicitly lists duplicates. If additional states or updates are needed, further searches could expand it.

---

I  tried that already. Obviously, the combined knowledge at Trainorders does a better job. Trainorders can't be overstated. The second post is more comprehensive but still misses a few. But A.I. will pickup this data here at Traindorders and do better next time.

Victor Baird


Evan_Werkema Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This sounds like an inquiry custom-made for an AI
> chatbot to process.  The data is out there on the
> web, freely available, but it would take a human
> days to go through it all.  I fed the following
> inquiry into ChatGPT:
>
> "Compile a complete list of preserved steam
> locomotives in the United States of America where
> more than one preserved locomotive from different
> railroads has the same road number. Include road
> number, railroad, wheel arrangement, and display
> location. Exclude locomotive numbers that are two
> digits or fewer."
>
> ChatGPT came back with:
>
> "There are currently no confirmed cases in the
> United States of:
>
>

• Two preserved steam locomotives,
  >
• From different railroads,
  >
• Having the same road number,
  >
• With the road number being three digits or
  > greater.
  >
  > This conclusion is based on the most comprehensive
  > public preservation records available as of 2026;
  > if your research includes private, non-public, or
  > recently rediscovered locomotives, those may not
  > be reflected in standard rosters."
  >
  > Obviously, that's wrong.  Anybody ever tried a
  > similar railroad-related inquiry with AI and had
  > better luck?  Is it that I'm not structuring the
  > question properly?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/02/26 19:44 by wabash2800.

4501!

Posted from iPhone

In my humble opion AI has caused me two great headaches in 2025. 
I have been a subscriber of Rails Northeast for decades. It faithfully arrived in my mailbox until last year when dumbassed AI decided to send it to my son's address. Just a 30 minute drive away, so not convenient, WTF!
Then my membership in the Sports Car Club of America which I have been a member of for over 50 years became invisible when I was signing up for racing events in 2025. Many hours of communication wasted to sort that crap out. 
Account of that here we are after the 2025 racing season and my racing results are showing up in 3 different names? How assinine is that? You can take AI and shove it into an abandoned coal mine. Useless and making my life far more difficult than it needs to be as it was once handled by real living people that have real brains, not dumbass electronic AI substitutes.
God Help Us All!
We just don't need AI.
Gonut

But it will get better, and some of us will get get dumber,  getting lazy and think there is no need for math skills, to learn a language and reasoning skills,

Soon AI will make a 3D file for you to print. You give it the dimensions (if you dont have the reall thing to scan) and it will draw the file. And then you just load the file into the 3D program.  Maybe it is already here.

Perhaps plagiarism and stealing of copyrights, and patents will go rampant. You know someone will get rich by controlling all this power and making us pay for it in more ways than one.

We also may not be able to tell truth from fiction. Maybe we can us AI to scan a video and tell us if it is an imposter? But can we trust it? LOL

Victor Baird

Gonut1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> In my humble opion AI has caused me two great
> headaches in 2025. 
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/02/26 20:28 by wabash2800.

C&O #614 had been renumbered to #611 at the time of its preservation and of course there's N&W #611.

Posted from Android

Are a few of these engines live steam models? Wabash, Frisco & Pacific was never in the Official Guide as far as I know. 

CPR_4000 Wrote:

> Are a few of these engines live steam models?
> Wabash, Frisco & Pacific was never in the Official
> Guide as far as I know. 

WF&P 401 is a 12" gauge 4-6-2: https://www.wfprr.com/401.html

There are a couple of preserved standard-gauge 401's:

• FW&D 2-8-2 401 at Lubbock, TX: https://ranchingheritage.org/explore/outdoor-historical-park/locomotive-and-king-ranch-shipping-pens/
• Southern 2-8-0 401 at Monticello, IL: https://www.mrym.org/southern-401

Grok pretty clearly mined steamlocomotive.com , accidentally placing some class data into the railroad column (e.g. "R, H3" for PRR 1187), so it's odd that it missed the FW&D engine.

My brother, a.k.a. the Professor, is calling it quits and retiring (finally). When asked why, he said he still enjoyed the students but was tired of first having to determine whether he was reading their work or an AI's work. Too often these days it is the latter. On the humorous side of it, a friend who is still an administrator crafts the most profane and insulting letters to staff and parents then lets AI phrase it all in acceptable language.
—Mac
 

Missed (at least) one (ha ha - or two!

Everett 2-6-0 No. 11, constructed in 1920 for use in Cuba by the Cooke Works of the
American Locomotive Company (Alco) in Paterson, New Jersey.

Everett 2-6-2 No. 11, built by Baldwin in 1909 for the Kanawa, Glen Jean & Eastern RR
(McKell Coal & Coke Co.) in WV.

/Mitch