Pere Marquette No. 1225 is a 2-8-4 Berkshire steam locomotive built by Lima Locomotive Works in October 1941.
It was one of 39 Berkshire-type locomotives ordered by the Pere Marquette Railway for fast freight service.
No. 1225 hauled freight across Michigan and adjoining routes during the 1940s, including wartime industrial traffic from the region sometimes described as the Arsenal of Democracy.
The locomotive worked for roughly a decade before steam was displaced by diesel power.
Chesapeake & Ohio donated 1225 to Michigan State University in 1957, where it became an outdoor engineering display.
Beginning in 1969, Michigan State University students organized a railroad club and began the long process of restoring the locomotive.
The preservation effort evolved into the Michigan State Trust for Railway Preservation, and the locomotive was moved to the former Ann Arbor Railroad shop complex in Owosso in 1982.
No. 1225 moved under its own power again in 1985 and subsequently became the centerpiece of what is now the Steam Railroading Institute.
The locomotive’s drawings and recorded sounds were used as major references for the steam locomotive portrayed in the 2004 animated film The Polar Express. The film locomotive is not literally 1225, and the historical page should keep the fictional connection separate from the real Pere Marquette engine.
Mechanical status changes with required inspections and repairs. The Steam Railroading Institute removed 1225 from service in late 2024 for superheater and boiler work, so TransitSatellite should time-stamp operating status instead of treating “operational” as permanent.