Atlantic Coast Line No. 1504 is a class P-5-A 4-6-2 'Pacific' type steam locomotive built by the American Locomotive Company in March 1919. Built under the USRA standards USRA Light Pacific it was numbered #497, designed to pull troop trains during WWI, but by the time it rolled out of the works the war had come to a close. When it joined the Atlantic Coast Line in 1920 it was renumbered as #1504, and put to work on the railroad's named passenger trains, like the Miamian & the Dixie Flyer for about 19 years; diesel locomotive replaced the P-5-As on said trains in the late 1940's. After being reassigned to fast freight in Tampa, 1504 was inevitably retired in 1952 and placed into storage. Having had little change to her as built condition, she was set aside for posterity and moved to the Jacksonville Union Terminal (now the Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center) for display in 1960.
1504 was made a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark in 1990, and is the only remaining USRA Light 4-6-2. The locomotive is currently being restored to operation by the U.S. Sugar Corporation in Clewiston, with restoration beginning in August 2021.
Trivia[]
- When No. 1504 was in passenger service, it was equipped with an Atlantic Coast Line (ACL) 6-chime whistle, which was later removed in favor of the ACL single chime in the late 1940s when No. 1504 was in freight service during its last years.