Baldwin Locomotive Works delivered this engine, a 2-8-0 Consolidation-type locomotive, to the Oneida & Western Railroad in 1916. In 1937, after twenty-one years of grueling Tennessee mountain service, the Oneida & Western Railroad sold it to the Rahway Valley Railroad for use on their New Jersey short line.
During its active career on the Rahway Valley, #15 hauled freight between the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad at Summit, New Jersey, and the Lehigh Valley Railroad and the Central Railroad of New Jersey at New Orange.
In 1953, with their diesel engine down for repairs, the Rahway Valley fired up and worked #15 for the last time. Shortly thereafter, the company took delivery of a second diesel and the era of steam on the Rahway Valley ended.
"...the handsome Consolidation [#15] remained the master mechanic's pet and the favorite of most observers. Her charms were even audible, in a clean exhaust and a melodious whistle on which Engineer Frank Froat could sound either muted, low tones or higher, louder notes of urgency. The admirers of that whistle are many...its notes echoed among the mountains of Tennessee."
- Steam Locomotive magazine, 1959.
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