Erie No. 2603, later No. 5014, was built in 1914 by Baldwin in Philadelphia. None of these 850,000-pound-plus locomotives were preserved.
Herb Broadbelt
Q With so much talk about Union Pacific’s Big Boy, I was wondering about other North American “big steamers.” Do you know the current location of any of the Erie Railroad’s three 2-8-8-8-2 Triplexes? — Bennett Meyer, Winston-Salem, N.C.
A Once the largest steam locomotives in North America, all three of Erie’s Baldwin Locomotive Works-built 2-8-8-8-2 Triplex locomotives were used in pusher service over Gulf Summit near Deposit, N.Y. All were scrapped by the 1930s. The only preserved Erie steam is a 4-6-2 shipped to South Korea to re-build that country’s railroads following the Korean War. — Jim Wrinn
