#2108
Illinois Central No. 1
🇺🇸 United States ·built by Lima Locomotive Works· from 1926· American 4-6-4 Hudson Type steam Locomotive
what is it?
Illinois Central Railroad No. 1 was a 4-6-4 "Hudson" type steam locomotive built in 1937 at the Illinois Central Railroad's shops from an older 2-8-4 "Berkshire" locomotive. It was designed to pull longer and faster freight trains, but the locomotive was unable to do so, since it was prone to wheel slippage.
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 100 years ago, in 1926.
- Weighs about as much as 29 African elephants (~6 t each).
steam locomotive: Burns coal, wood or oil to boil water; the steam drives pistons that turn the wheels.
spec sheet
- built
- 1926
- retired
- 1949
- status
- retired
- number built
- —
- kind
- Steam
- traction
- steam
- origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- builders
- Lima Locomotive Works, Paducah Shops
- operators
- Illinois Central Railroad
- top speed
- —
- power
- —
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- wheel arrangement
- 4-6-4
- weight
- 176 t
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q5999377, Wikipedia: Illinois Central No. 1 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.