Howard Tunnel southbound. Trailing a smoky black plume, the Northern Central Railway's ornate York 17 charges out of the south portal of the historic Howard Tunnel, in the town of Seven Valleys, Pennsylvania, on a fall afternoon.
After lying dormant for roughly 20 years, the tracks through this nearly 200 year-old tunnel were recently re-opened by the new Northern Central Railway, which is a tourist railroad operating out of New Freedom, PA. Unlike most steam tourist lines in the US, which typically use historic freight locomotives built 75-100 years ago and whatever passenger equipment they can acquire, the Northern Central decided from the very beginning to model their operation after the Civil War era railroad that originally operated on this right-of-way. Since there were no Civil War era locomotives left that were still operable, that business plan left them no choice but to build a brand new engine and consist, which would be relatively faithful representations of the historical equipment. Accordingly, York 17 was commissioned to the Kloke Locomotive Works, of Elgin, IL, which had already successfully built one such engine using the plans and patterns for the replicas at the Golden Spike National Historical Park. The York 17 was delivered to New Freedom, PA in the spring of 2013, and has been operating there ever since.
