Chesapeake & Ohio

In January of 2026, a ghost from the distant past graced the rails of the old Ann Arbor Railroad mainline in the farmlands of central Michigan. After being postponed by almost a year, Lerro Photography hosted the long-awaited winter photo charter at the Steam Railroading Institute in Owosso, MI with Pere Marquette 2-8-4 #1225, which was re-lettered and re-numbered as Chesapeake & Ohio #2699.

With such an obscure identity in which to transform #1225, one might wonder why #2699 in particular was the locomotive selected for such a masquerade. In 1946, the Pere Marquette was absorbed by the C&O, with many of their N-class Berkshires receiving new numbers to adapt to the roster of their new banner. While #1225 never ended up losing her original number, she did wear C&O paint for the latter part of her in-service career, and was seen in that scheme during her years on display at Michigan State University prior to her restoration in 1970s. The primary reason in which #2699 was chosen was because that locomotive was one of the few ex-Pere Marquette Berks to receive the classic “For Progress” logo on the tender, making them seem complete when roaming the vast mileage of the C&O’s system.

The photo charter lasted over the course of three days on the third weekend of January, beginning with a night photo session on Friday at the turntable in the Owosso yard. #1225 looked nearly unrecognizable, and in addition to the new lettering, she wore a guest whistle originally from C&O L-2 Hudson #307, the very same whistle that was used on Nickel Plate Road #765 during the 1991 NRHS Convention in Huntington, West Virginia. The following two days were spent performing scores of photo runbys over the Great Lakes Central Railroad between Owosso and Ithaca, MI, with stops at many of the most iconic photo locations along the line, as well as a few new spots that had never been done before. #2699 faced north on Saturday and south on Sunday, providing photographers with a wide variety of different angles to capture. With little signs of modern life in the wide open farm country, it was a spitting image of classic Midwest railroading in the ‘40s, and adding to the nostalgic flavor was a 1926 Dodge that was posed with #2699 for several runbys. Another stellar night photo shoot was performed at the iconic Carland Elevator on Saturday night.

One great obstacle faced over the weekend was the weather, as the participants braved VERY cold temperatures and sometimes unbearable winds, with gusts pushing 30 mph in the already frigid air. Nevertheless, a grand time was had by all, and #2699 put on a fabulous show the entire weekend.

So come along with us, as we step back in time to witness a rare glimpse of Chesapeake & Ohio #2699, "The Snowbound Berkshire"!

A very special thanks goes out to Lerro Photography and the Steam Railroading Institute for all their hard work in bringing this event to life!

We would also like to give a special thanks to ‪@TyTytheTrainGuy‬ for providing additional audio!