#1980
Great Northern class P-2
🇺🇸 United States ·built by Baldwin Locomotive Works· from 1923· class of 28 American 4-8-2 locomotives
6 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Empire Builder Great Northern Railway steam locomotive: Great Northern Railway· Public domain
- 2. Great Northern P-2, Kandiyohi County, Willmar, MN-01: Myotus· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 3. Great Northern class P-2 Mountain 4-8-2 -2523: Myotus· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 4. Great Northern Christmas 02: Greg Gjerdingen· CC BY 2.0
- 5. Great Northern Christmas 03: Greg Gjerdingen· CC BY 2.0
- 6. Great Northern Christmas 04: Greg Gjerdingen· CC BY 2.0
what is it?
The Great Northern P-2 was a class of 28 4-8-2 "Mountain" type steam locomotives built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1923 and operated by the Great Northern Railway until the late 1950s. The locomotives were built as passenger locomotives and the class had the honor of pulling the first Empire Builder train. Today, two P-2s survive, No.
who runs it
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- First built 103 years ago, in 1923.
- Weighs about as much as 29 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 31.1 m long: about 7 cars parked nose to tail.
- Served for 35 years (1923–1958).
steam locomotive: Burns coal, wood or oil to boil water; the steam drives pistons that turn the wheels.
spec sheet
- built
- 1923
- in service from
- 1923
- retired
- 1958
- status
- retired
- number built
- 28
- kind
- Steam
- traction
- steam
- origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- builders
- Baldwin Locomotive Works
- operators
- Great Northern Railway
- top speed
- 80 km/h
- power
- —
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- wheel arrangement
- 4-8-2
- length
- 31.1 m
- weight
- 176 t
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q87199312, Wikipedia: Great Northern class P-2 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.