Valley Railroad No. 40 is a 101 class 2-8-2 "Mikado" type steam locomotive, built by the American Locomotive Company's Brooks Works in August 1920, it originally operated for the Minarets and Western Railway and was originally numbered as No. 101. It briefed served the Southern Pacific Railroad, but the Southern Pacific couldn't make any usage out of light-weight 2-8-2 locomotives and they quickly sold No. 101 to the Birmingham Rail and Locomotive dealership. Eventually, it was the Aberdeen and Rockfish Railroad in North Carolina and was renumbered to No. 40, there, it was converted from oil firing to coal firing.
No. 40 would operate on the Aberdeen and Rockfish Railroad hauling freight and passenger trains on their trackage between Aberdeen and Fayetteville, until it was retired from revenue service in 1950.
In 1976, No. 40 was purchased by the Valley Railroad in Essex, Connecticut. No. 40 was restored and placed into service on June 17, 1978 and began hauling passenger excursions for the line and would serve as a backup locomotive to No. 97.
In 1985, No. 40 had to be removed from service, after one of its driving wheel tires broke, work took several years to complete, with No. 40 returning to service on May 1, 1993. In the late 1990s, No. 40 would be taken out of service again for a major Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) 1,472-day inspection and overhaul. After years of work, No. 40 returned to service in 2007. Today, No. 40 continues hauling excursions trains for the Valley Railroad.