• An engineer inspects the running gear of a steam locomotive at Steamtown NHS

    Steamtown

    National Historic Site Pennsylvania

Canadian Pacific 2317

Looking up at the front of Canadian Pacific 2317. The gray smokebox on the front end is very evident. A plume of smoke comes from the top of the locomotive.

Canadian Pacific 2317 looms high in this photograph.  Visitors are often surprised at the size of locomotives and railroad cars.  The CP 2317 is considered a medium-sized locomotive - about 450,000 pounds (including the tender).

NPS Photo

Canadian Pacific #2317

Owners: Canadian Pacific Railway, #2317

Builder: Montreal Locomotive Works, June, 1923

The Canadian Pacific #2317 was built in 1923 as a heavy passenger locomotive. It was built as the eighteenth locomotive of the G-3-c series. (On the Canadian Pacific, "G" stood for the 4-6-2 "Pacific"-type locomotive. The "3" means it was the third design of this wheel arrangement, and the "c" means it was the third production run.) Ultimately, it proved a good design and CPR eventually acquired 173 G-3 4-6-2 steam locomotives. (Only two survive.) It remained in operation until 1959 when, after 36 years of service, it was placed in storage.

F. Nelson Blount acquired the locomotive for his Steamtown Foundation. After Blount's death, the Foundation did bring the 2317 back to operation in 1978. It moved -- with the Steamtown collection -- to Scranton, PA, in 1984, and was donated to the National Park Service in 1987.

At the end of the 2009 season, CP 2317 was moved to the Roundhouse for storage, awaiting it's mandatory 1,472-day FRA-mandated inspection at some future time.

 
CP 2317, a black steam locomotive, rolls past a white and green railroad tower in East Stroudsburg, PA.
Canadian Pacific 2317 rolls past the historic switch tower in East Stroudsburg, PA on a cloudy September morning.  The tower controlled the switches (turnouts) in the railroad yard by the passenger station.
NPS Photo, Ken Ganz
 

Click to return to the Operating Locomotives page or the Explore Steamtown's collection page.

Did You Know?

A cup of water expands to 1,600 times its volume when boiled, changing from a liquid to a gas!

When boiled, a cup of water creates about 1,600 cups of steam! When the resulting steam is contained in a vessel such as a steam locomotive boiler, it can create up to 300 pounds per square inch of pressure. Learn more about steam locomotives at Steamtown National Historic Site! More...