Photos of Pere Marquette 1225: Inspiration for Polar Express

In November we went up to Owosso, Michigan, where one of the last steam locomotives made in the US resides. It's Pere Marquette 1225, and it inspired a Grand Rapids native to write a book you may have heard of, The Polar Express.



A bunch of photos of 1225, inside and out, and of the museum where it resides, are at:

http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=2453905093

You have to register one time to visit Imagestation, but it's free.

Here's a little tidbit: many working railroad museums have done "Polar Express" tours for years. With the movie about to come out, Time-Warner did something really stupid: they demanded royalties from the museums. These folks operate as a labor of love, and helped promote the book, and will help sell DVDs of the movie when it comes out.

Warner-Brothers backed off on this stupid, onerous, shoot-yourself-in-the-foot demand, but too late for many museums to call their holiday runs "Polar Express."

So the home of the actual engine that started it all had to call it "the North Pole Express" ....