Canadian National No. 7470 is a O-18a class 0-6-0 "Switcher" type steam locomotive that currently works on the Conway Scenic Railroad in North Conway, New Hampshire.
History[]
Conway Scenic Railroad 7470
7470 was built by the Grand Trunk Railway Point St. Charles Shops at Montreal, Quebec in April 1921. The Grand Trunk classified the switcher as F9 Class and numbered it as Grand Trunk Railway No. 1795. It soon became and renumbered as Canadian National No. 7470 when the Canadian National Railway absorbed the Grand Trunk in 1923, they reclassified it as a Class 0-18-a.
7470 was originally spared scrapping, until it was saved by being sold to the Canada Dominion Sugar, where it spent some additional years as a switcher. Later, in May 1963, it was purchased by the Ontario government for a transportation museum in Canada, but that never came to fruition.
7470 was acquired in 1968 by Dwight Smith, and in 1974 joined the Conway Scenic Railroad and renumbered as No. 47. It was renumbered back to No. 7470 in the mid 1980's. Today, No. 7470 is used primarily to power the Conway-bound Valley Trains during the autumn seasons, as well as special excursions such as Steam in the Snow. It has also pulled the Notch Train on special occasions, recently as of 2011.
No. 7470 made its last run on January 15, 2015 of its Steam in the Snow event and was out of service from 2015 to 2019 for its 15-year major federally mandated inspection and overhaul. No. 7470 returned to active service again on June 1, 2019, and made its first test runs under its own power for the first time since January 2015.