The Norfolk and Western No. 2050 is a Y3a class 2-8-8-2 type steam locomotive built by the American Locomotive Company's (ALCO) Richmond Works as a copy of the USRA 2-8-8-2s in 1923 for the Norfolk & Western Railway. It was used on the Norfolk and Western system to haul heavy freight and coal trains for much of its career.
Withdrawals of the class began in the 1950s and most of the class were cut up for scrap once the Norfolk and Western Railway had dieselized. No. 2050 was the only member of the Class Y3a to manage to survive into the preservation era. After its retirement at the height of dieselization, it was sold to the American Rolling Mill Company (ARMCO) alongside two of its sister locomotives to work as stationary boilers. After surviving throughout the 1960s and into the early 1970s in Stationary Boiler service, it was due to be scrapped but was instead purchased for preservation by the Illinois Railway Museum.
To this day, the No. 2050 currently remains a permanent fixture on static display in the Illinois Railway Museum and is unlikely to ever run again.
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