Grand Canyon Railway No. 29 is an SC-3 class 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type steam locomotive, built by ALCO's Pittsburgh Works in 1906 for the Lake Superior and Ishpeming Railroad (LS&I) in Upper Michigan. The locomotive was originally numbered 14, but it was renumbered to 29 in 1924. Having gone through two major rebuilds to upgrade its performance, No. 29 served the LS&I in pulling freight and iron ore trains until being retired in 1956.
In 1963, No. 29 was sold to the Marquette and Huron Mountain tourist railroad, where it spent several years in storage alongside other LS&I steam locomotives. In 1985, No. 29 was sold to a private owner, who in turn sold it to the Grand Canyon Railway (GCR) four years later. GCR returned No. 29 to service in April 1990, and the locomotive pulled the railway's passenger trains between Williams, Arizona and the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. As of 2023, No. 29 is out of service, waiting to undergo its 1,472-day inspection. No. 29 is the sole member of the LS&I's SC-3 class.
History
Construction and revenue service
In 1902, the Lake Superior and Ishpeming Railway (LS&I) authorized to purchase three 2-8-0 locomotives, following a major increase in iron ore train traffic. The first two locomotives (Nos. 15-16) were delivered from the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1905, while the third locomotive, No. 29—originally numbered 14—was delivered from the American Locomotive Company's (ALCO) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Works in 1906 at a cost of $15,800. Classified as B-4's, the three locomotives were designed with cylinders and a working boiler pressure of , and they could generate of tractive effort. The LS&I initially assigned No. 14 to pull empty hopper cars up a 1.63%-grade to iron ore mines in Negaunee and Ishpeming, Michigan. After the hoppers would be loaded with ore, the locomotive would pull the loaded train down the grade and onto an ore dock at Presque Isle, where the ore would be loaded into vessels for shipment across Lake Superior. On June 2, 1916, No. 14 pulled a loaded iron ore train out of Negaunee before it experienced a major accident; the locomotive and several hoppers toppled down a steep embankment. It subsequently took one month to repair and return No. 14 to service.
By that time, the B-4 locomotives were replaced by three larger Baldwin-built 2-8-0's in the hill-climbing ore train assignments. The LS&I primarily reassigned the B-4's to switching at ore mines and to steam shovel operations. In 1924, the LS&I merged with the Munising, Marquette and Southeastern Railway and reorganized as the Lake Superior and Ishpeming Railroad. Almost all locomotives retained by the company were renumbered, with No. 14 being renumbered to 29. The following year, in 1925, No. 29 was moved to the LS&I's Presque Isle locomotive shops to be extensively rebuilt and modified.
The boiler received a feedwater heater and a wider firebox with thermic syphons, the cylinders were replaced with superheated cylinders, and No. 29 was reclassified as an SC-3. No. 29 was subsequently reassigned again to pull local freight trains between Marquette and Munising. In 1934, the locomotive was modified with a tender booster that was previously applied to LS&I SC-1 class No. 32—when activated, the booster would upgrade No. 29's tractive effort to . Afterward, the LS&I further reassigned the SC-3 to pull loaded iron ore trains and mixed freight trains. During and after World War II, No. 29 was stationed to work throughout the Ishpeming area, until it was retired in 1956. Shortly thereafter, it was stored inside a roundhouse in Marquette, but by 1958, No. 29 was in outdoor storage on a siding in Marquette, alongside other retired LS&I steam locomotives.
Retirement
In 1963, No. 29 was one of eleven LS&I 2-8-0 locomotives to be purchased by the newly-formed Marquette and Huron Mountain (M&HM) tourist railroad. Under M&HM ownership, the SC-3 continued to be stored while the railroad only used three other locomotives for their operations. Later, in 1984, the M&HM's owner died, and all of the equipment the railroad owned by that time was sold at an auction on January 14, 1985. During the auction, No. 29 was purchased by Steve Mattox of Council Bluffs, Iowa, and he subsequently arranged for the locomotive to be stored at the Mid-Continent Railway Museum in North Freedom, Wisconsin.