WORTHINGTON, Ohio (Railfanning.org News Wire) — Steam locomotives will return to operation at the Ohio Railway Museum for the first time in about 50 years during two special weekends beginning with National Train Day in May 2027.
The museum plans to offer rides behind Jeddo Coal Co. No. 85, a standard-gauge 0-4-0T saddle tank locomotive nicknamed “Mack,” on the weekends of May 8-9, 2027, and May 15-16, 2027. The museum said the special event will help mark the 200th anniversary of American railroading.
Vulcan Iron Works of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, built No. 85 in 1928. The locomotive originally worked for the A.E. Dick Construction Co. of Scranton, Pennsylvania, hauling material at a stone quarry.
In 1933, the locomotive moved to the Jeddo-Highland Coal Co. near Hazleton, Pennsylvania, where it worked in anthracite mining operations until 1964. After its industrial career ended, the locomotive was preserved by a private collector in Horseheads, New York.
Gramling Locomotive Works returned No. 85 to operation in 2007.
The steam event comes as the museum pursues its broader “Full Steam Ahead” development plan announced in May 2025. The plan calls for 2,900 feet of additional track, including a second running track, yard leads and display track. The museum also plans to double the length of its original main line along the former Columbus, Delaware and Marion Railway right-of-way toward Indianola Park.
Other proposed improvements include a three-track car barn, a replica interlocking tower, a trolley barn, a maintenance building, accessible walking paths, elevated boarding platforms and the restoration of historic structures.
Founded in 1948, the Ohio Railway Museum is among the oldest railway museums in the United States.
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