Pere Marquette 1225 came up lame on the first day of the north pole express trips last weekend. They had to use diesels on the first trip and all remaining trips. Apparently the 11/29 Friday train will be diesel powered as well.

SRI is being tight lipped about any repairs or if the 1225 will be back at all this season. Some information as to what is being done to correct the problem would be nice. Supposedly there is a leaky super heater problem.

Unfortunately, the 1225 does not have the best track record. At the 1991 NRHS convention a thermic syphon developed a leak in the firebox. NKP765 had to pull the 34-car train AND the dead 1225 the rest of the day on the Huntington to Hinton excursion. In 2009 at train festival the 1225 suffered a flue failure and drained the boiler and flooded the showgrounds. This resulted in the 765 again having to pick up the slack the rest of the weekend as the 1225 sat on display cold.