Grand Canyon Railway 4960 is a preserved O-1A class "Mikado" type steam locomotive, built in August 1923 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CB&Q). It was used by the CB&Q to pull freight trains until 1958, when the locomotive pulled its first excursion train, as part of the railroad's steam excursion program.
No. 4960, along with No. 5632, went on to pull several more trains for the steam program, including a train that was dedicated to the CB&Q's connection to Casper, Wyoming. In July 1966, the CB&Q discontinued their steam program, following a rise in insurance costs, a loss of experienced steam-age mechanics, and a change of management.
No. 4960 was subsequently donated to the Circus World Museum (CWM) of Baraboo, Wisconsin, who in turn donated it to the Mid-Continent Railway Museum (MCRY) of North Freedom, Wisconsin, where it was left in storage. In the early 1980s, the Bristol and North Western Railroad (B&NW) leased the locomotive for use on their tourist operation between Benhams and Bristol, Virginia. No. 4960's time on the B&NW was short-lived, and in 1985, the locomotive was moved to New Haven, Indiana for further storage.
In 1989, the Grand Canyon Railway (GCR) purchased No. 4960 at an undisclosed cost, and a few years later, it was moved to the railway's location in Williams, Arizona. There, No. 4960 was extensively reconditioned with multiple modifications to improve its performance and cosmetics, abandoning its original CB&Q livery. No. 4960 entered service for GCR in July 1996, and it began pulling the railway's passenger trains between Williams and the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.
In 2008, GCR's new parent company, Xanterra, discontinued their steam operations, but they resumed with reduced schedules the following year, with No. 4960 being converted to burn waste vegetable oil. As of 2026, No. 4960 remains operational at GCR, and it serves as a stablemate to Ex-Lake Superior and Ishpeming (LS&I) No. 29. Additionally, No. 4960 is the only ex-CB&Q steam locomotive in operation.
History Design
Throughout the 1910s, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy (CB&Q) Railroad ordered a fleet of "Mikado" locomotives from the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for use in general freight service. The first sixty 2-8-2s of the CB&Q (Nos. 5000-5059) were designated as the O-1 class. They were built with diameter driving wheels, cylinders, and a working boiler pressure of , and they could produce of tractive effort. They could also travel at speeds faster than .
In 1917, the CB&Q made multiple alterations to the boiler design on the O-1, and they created a new class of locomotives out of it, designated as the O-1A. The O-1As were designed with radially stayed fireboxes and feedwater heaters, and their boiler pressure was upgraded to , resulting in their ability to produce of tractive effort. The O-1As were lighter than the United States Railroad Administration's (USRA) Heavy Mikado design, but heavier than the USRA's Light Mikado design. The first eighty-eight O-1As (Nos. 5060-5147) were built between 1917 and 1922, and sixty locomotives (Nos. 4940-4999) were built in 1923. The final O-1As were numbered in the 4900-series to avoid conflict with the 5200-series assigned to the O-2 Class.
Revenue service No. 4960 was constructed in August 1923 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW), as part of that year's batches of O-1A locomotives. In revenue service, No. 4960 was mostly assigned by the CB&Q to pull freight trains in the railroad's Chicago Division. After World War II, the CB&Q initiated a $140-million program to dieselize their locomotive fleet, with multiple steam locomotives being reassigned or retired from service. No. 4960 was reassigned to work in the Beardstown Division—the final division on the CB&Q where almost all locomotives assigned were steam-powered.
On the Beardstown Division, No. 4960 served as a mine switcher to pull hopper cars loaded with Southern Illinois coal out of Herrin Junction, Illinois, and it pulled coal extras between Herrin Junction, Beardstown, and Centralia. It also pulled local freight trains between Herrin Junction, Centralia, and Metropolis, and it traveled between Centralia and St. Louis via trackage rights over the Southern Railway (SOU). By late 1958, No. 4960 was one of the final O-1As to remain in active service at Herrin Junction, and the locomotive completed its final commercial assignments for the CB&Q that same year.
First excursion service Beginning in 1955, the CB&Q hosted a series of excursion fantrips hosted by railfan clubs, including the Illinois Railroad Club, and they kicked off the CB&Q's new steam excursion program. In December 1958, No. 4960 moved from Herrin Junction to Chicago, in preparation to pull its first fantrip. The fantrip took place on December 28, when No. 4960 ran from Chicago to Galesburg, Illinois and return, and 490 passengers were on board the train that day. After the CB&Q discontinued commercial steam operations in January 1959, the railroad's president, Harry C. Murphy, commissioned for additional steam-powered excursion trains to take place. While the majority of the excursions in the 1950s were hauled by over twenty different steam locomotives, the excursions after 1960 would be exclusively hauled by No. 4960 and 4-8-4 "Northern" No. 5632.
On May 21, 1961, No. 4960 entered the Galesburg roundhouse to undergo a class 3 overhaul, and the work was completed on August 1. Following the success of the steam excursion runs, the CB&Q's passenger department began sponsoring the trips in 1962, and that same year, the railroad launched the Steam Choo-Choo excursions to educate school students about steam locomotives. Nos. 4960 and 5632 would pull the school trains across the CB&Q system, and Trains Magazine editor David P. Morgan proclaimed No. 4960 as The Great Teacher for the school runs.
Having hauled over 45,000 students in their trains by the end of 1962, the CB&Q continued the Steam Choo-Choo runs into 1963, when the railroad hauled over 75,000 students. On October 18, 1963, No. 4960 pulled a deadhead equipment train to Casper, Wyoming, in preparation to attend a special event, but en route, the locomotive smacked into the rear car of a passenger train in Douglas. The locomotive received only superficial damage upon impact, and the Casper shop crew quickly replaced the damaged headlight bracket on the smokebox door with a makeshift platform. On October 20, during the 50th anniversary of the CB&Q's entry into Casper, No. 4960 was spray painted gold and tasked to pull an excursion for between Casper and Arminto. Trains Magazine proclaimed No. 4960 as the Tenshodo Mikado for this event.
In 1964, the CB&Q discontinued the Steam Choo-Choo runs, and Nos. 4960 and 5632 were relegated to running on limited dates. The railroad began to experience rising operating and maintenance costs for their steam locomotives, a number of experienced steam mechanics had left, and having the locomotives refueled and watered in a dieselized environment was becoming difficult. In late 1964, No. 5632 was removed from service to undergo an overhaul, and No. 4960 subsequently continued to run for the diminished steam program on borrowed time. In April 1965, No. 4960 was stationed in Savanna, Illinois to pull revenue passenger and freight trains through a flood from the nearby Mississippi River. On July 1 that same year, the locomotive was selected to pull the first annual Schlitz Circus World Museum (CWM) train on the Chicago and North Western (C&NW) mainline between Baraboo and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Also on July 1, Harry Murphy retired from his position as president of the CB&Q, and he was succeeded by Louis W. Menk. Louis Menk explored ways to reduce operating costs for the railroad, and in doing so, he decided to shut down the steam program. No. 4960's flue time was set to expire on August 1, 1966, and it had been expected that the locomotive would receive a flue extension to run another year, but Menk decided against it. Throughout 1966, No. 4960 pulled some final excursion runs throughout Illinois, and on June 30, it pulled the second annual Schlitz CWM train between Baraboo and Milwaukee. On July 17, No. 4960 pulled the CB&Q's very last steam excursion train, labeled the Denrock Zephyr, between Chicago and Denrock, Illinois, and it officially marked the end of the CB&Q's steam program.
Retirement and second excursion service Following the end of the program, the CB&Q donated No. 4960 to the State Historical Society of Wisconsin (SHSW), the owner of the CWM in Baraboo, and the society was required to agree to keep No. 4960 in its CB&Q livery. The donation was for the locomotive to become a permanent addition to the CWM's collection, but a light-duty bridge prevented No. 4960 from entering the Baraboo property. The SHSW subsequently asked the nearby Mid-Continent Railway Museum (MCRY) of North Freedom, Wisconsin to store No. 4960 for them, and the locomotive moved to North Freedom under its power on July 29. The following day, No. 4960 was fired up and moved within the museum's yard; it was the only time No. 4960 ever ran at the MCRY.
Following the expiration of No. 4960's flue time, the locomotive required an overhaul, but the CWM did not have qualified employees to perform the work. The CWM subsequently relied on locomotives from other owners to pull its yearly train instead, beginning with Grand Trunk Western 5629 in 1967. In October 1970, the SHSW donated No. 4960 to Mid-Continent, and the museum agreed to keep the locomotive in its CB&Q appearance. The museum was unable to use the locomotive on their light-weight trackage, due to its heavy weight, so for a number of years, No. 4960 sat idle in the MCRY's yard.
In 1979, the Lonesome Pine Recreation Corporation, led by Harold Keene, acquired the Southern Railway's abandoned route between Bristol and Moccasin Gap, Virginia, with the intention of turning it into an enterprising tourist operation called the Bristol and North Western (B&NW) Railroad. In November 1980, Harold Keene entered negotiations with the MCRY about leasing No. 4960 for the Virginia-based operation. Despite multiple museum members being reluctant to let No. 4960 go, Mid-Continent agreed to loan the locomotive to the B&NW for ten years. The B&NW was mandated to agree to keep the locomotive in its CB&Q livery, during the lease. In January 1981, No. 4960 was moved out of North Freedom and shipped on the C&NW and Conrail, bound for Jackson, Ohio.
Upon arrival in Jackson, the locomotive was moved inside the former Jackson Iron and Steel Company (JISCO) steel mill, where steam locomotive expert Gary Bensman was hired to overhaul and return No. 4960 to service. While the locomotive was worn out from running for the CB&Q steam program, Bensman and his team felt that it was in good enough condition for tourist service, and the B&NW crews opted to only operate No. 4960 at a working pressure of , instead of . Restoration work was completed on March 1, and No. 4960 was moved to B&NW property later that month.