Whitefish, Montana. The test was a success and all of the S-2s were also assigned to pull the Empire Builder over the Divide, replacing the S-1s in passenger service over the Divide and putting them in freight service. By 1949, the Great Northern had dieselised its premier passenger trains and the S-2s were then reassigned to secondary passenger runs and freight service, of which the latter service proved to be rather unsuitable for them due to their passenger locomotive design. Retirement started on August 25, 1955 and engines 2577 and 2584 made their last revenue runs in 1956 before being retired a year later. By April 1958, all of the S-2s have been retired. Accidents and incidents On August 9, 1945, No. 2588, while pulling the second section of the westbound Empire Builder, rear-ended the first section of the westbound Empire Builder pulled by No. 2584, which had stopped at Michigan, ND due to a hot box on the tender. This was the worst train accident in North Dakota and on the Great Northern. 2584 had its hot box resolved and 2588 was repaired after the wreck and both were returned to service. On January 9, 1947, No. 2581 suffered a boiler explosion due to low water level at Crary, ND. The locomotive was later scrapped following the incident. Preservation Only one S-2 survived into preservation today, No. 2584. It made its final run in late 1956 and it was stored in a roundhouse in Superior, Wisconsin. It was then retired in December 1957 and on March 21, 1958, the Great Northern had decided to hold it for historical purposes and it was eventually repainted to its original Glacier Green paint scheme. On May 15, 1964, it was put on display at the Havre depot in Havre, Montana and was dedicated there. Today, it is still on display there. It also has a marker describing the locomotive and the S-2 class in general on the engineer's side of the locomotive's tender. It is the sole surviving Great Northern "Northern" type and the largest surviving Great Northern steam locomotive. The tender from S-2 No. 2575 also survives, it is currently used as an auxiliary tender for Spokane, Portland and Seattle 700. Roster See also Great Northern P-2 Great Northern S-1 References General references Great Northern Railway (U.S.) 4-8-4 locomotives Baldwin locomotives Passenger locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1930 S-2 Standard gauge