Differences between Pere Marquette 1225 in real life and in the Polar Express. 

I assume 1225 was picked for the movie because of the obvious 12/25 being the date of Christmas. I grew up with the polar express movie and find the polar express and the Hogwarts express to be my personal favorites and most iconic movie trains of all time. From the whistles to colors, and movies they are in, I love ‘em both

Biggest difference: Pere Marquette can't drift.

I was in Owosso when they recorded all the sounds from the engine. I was later told, that that some of the sounds were enhanced to fit the motive, but that all the sounds were actually from the 1225.

Pretty good video honestly. Although, for a more joke side of it, one good difference; the real 1225 doesn't have a flux capacitor on the left side, inside the cab. Whereas the Polar Express does.

The polar express in the movie was similar sounding to Sierra no 3’s Lima 5 chime steam whistle

Fun fact: when you hear the whistle in the movie the first time it is the real 1225’s whistle.

Here's a coincidence: the number 1225 is similar to the date of Christmas Day. December 25th.

Great video showing the comparison Merry Christmas

What a neat video!! Being a native Michigander, and with so many Michigan references in terms of the Pere Marquette 1225 train, the main character and Chris Van Allsburg being from Grand Rapids, this movie is always fun to watch!

You forgot one! The 1225 in real life has marker lights on the smoke box but in the movie, there are no marker lights.

@ 2:29 my childhood memories came RUSHING back to me 😱

There is another difference between the real 1225 and the one in the movie that wasn’t mentioned. There is a flux capacitor from Back to the Future in the cab of 1225 in the movie.

How cool would it be when a possible life action version of the polar express has the real 1225 (may it be a duplicate model or the real train).

does the movie deserve copyright due to the whistle - WELL FIGURE THAT AT ON TRAINS AN TRAINZ

I have had the joy of riding behind the 1225 two different times and taking pictures of her numerous times.

Fun fact the number 1225 is the date for Christmas Day (December 25th)

This is a great video! I’ve been trying to point out the differences between the two for years, people just think I’m crazy. Also, I wish Lionel would watch this video. They clearly don’t understand that the polar express in the movie doesn’t look exactly like 1225. Their models are so inaccurate!

The thing that most people call a “cow catcher” is actually referred to by railroaders as a “pilot”.

I personally just suddenly learned from watching another awesomely excellent RU-vid video sometime ago titled Goofs in the Polar Express by G W R Studios where Pere Marquette #1225 as 1 of the only 2 sole-serving Berkshire type of steam-driven railway tender locomotives was basically built in 1941 by the Lima Locomotive Works when the know-it-all kid mentioned that the very 1 of 2 Berkshire type of steam-driven railway tender locomotives certainly was basically to convinitly have been officially built in 1931 by the famously well-known Baldwin Locomotive Works when 'twas ACTUALLY built in the year of 1941 by the famously well-known Lima Locomotive Works in Lima in Ohio respectfully!

Why do I like this whistle sound 2:28

Pretty good video honestly. Although, I think coincidentally the whistle of the Polar Express and the basis of the loco itself both came from Lima.

Another fun fact, the motion of the Baker valve gear is highly exaggerated. I don't know why this is, but it's a fun tidbit nonetheless.

Worth noting, although the know it all kid gets some figures wrong, he does have a point in saying It's an S3 built at Lima. Because aspects of the Polar Express are closer to an Erie S3 Berkshire (no number boards, for example). Its also very interesting that a piece of concept art for Smokey and Steamer shows one of them with an Erie hat. The engine is also not numbered in the film, all examples of it being numbered are from art and merchandise. Chris Van Allsburg did grow up around 1225 when it was on display, so I suppose you could say the Polar Express is a fusion of 1225 and an Erie S3. With a flux capacitor upgrade, of course.

I saw another difference about the 1225. The front defender thing is bigger than the real 1225.

Fun fact before the release of the polar express in 2004 sierra railway 3's whistle sounds are recorded in 1992 for clint eastwood's western film Unforgiven with sierra 3 featured in it

I have three fun facts you probably didn't know about the 1225 & The Polar Express, that you didn't mention in this: 1. The Polar Express is based off of 1225's prototype blueprints. (Don't know if this info is true, but I've seen this before) 2. Remember how Know-It-All said in the film that the engine is an S-3 class berkshire? Well, guess what? There were a few REAL S-3's that operated on the Erie Railroad, and were also surprisingly built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works, like in the film. Here's a photo of one of the S-3's on the Railroad Photos Archive website. Even though the locomotive looks nothing like the Polar Express in the film, it's still the same class of engine: www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=4732259 3. You are correct about how the sounds of the Polar Express are recorded directly from the 1225 (Minus the whistle, being from Sierra Railway No. 3), but do you know how they did it? Well, if you didn't know, the Skywalker Sound Team went to Michigan to record sounds of the 1225 for the film. But how did they make 1225 sound very different to how she does normally? Well, it's simple. Fully loaded freight cars. Yep, that's right. In order to get some really powerful sounds out of 1225, they made her haul either 11 or 12 hoppers, fully loaded with either grains, or sand, as well as her green tool box car that she used to haul during the 1991 NRHS Convention, so that the sound team could get sounds while riding on the train. That's why The Polar Express sounds a lot more powerful and stronger then 1225, as well as the passenger cars wheels sounding more like freight car wheels when their rolling along the tracks. (Here's a fourth fact, but its not really a difference, its more of a (something you didn't notice) kind of thing.): If you pay really close attention in the background in some shots of the cab, there is a Flux Capacitor on the Left-hand (Fireman's side) of the cab. The Flux Capacitor was the thing that controlled time travel in the Back To The Future movies for the Delorean. And coincidentally, Robert Zemekis directed all 3 of BTTF films, as well as The Polar Express too. Hopefully you found some of this info cool! : )

I love 1225. It is one of my favorite steam engines. I live pretty close to it so I can go and see it a lot of the time in the winter time I really like 1225s whistle better than the whistle they used in the Polar express I wish they would’ve used 1225s whistle in the movie. She broke down last night but it sounds like she’s going to do the last polar express run of the year so we’ll see what happens.

The headlight design is from the Delaware & Hudson challengers and the whistel is a Baldwin brass roundtop 3 chime I have a ho scale polar express that I've custom built as a movie replica

Music:Alan Silvestri(2004) Lyrics:Glen Ballard

The only difference is that 1225 can’t Tokyo drift

2:04 The whistle is from the Sierra railway no 3

Another fact is that this locomotive was actually built just a day before Pearl Harbor was attacked and the engine helped the war effort when the US joined WWII.

As someone who made a 3d model of the Polar Express recently, I should add that the cab area is completely different, the windows on it to begin with, have a single glass part, instead of 2. The overall roof on the cab is also completely different. And obviously I don't think we even need to talk about the interior. The top area also has quite the differences, but I'm afraid I can't go into detail due to me lacking knowledge on the terminology. The boiler is bigger near the firebox area too. In the footplate, near the smokebox, it is also completely different, glacier gulch, anyone? As for the tender, I must mention the ladders are on the right side, and there's an additional ladder on top, and the area that connects between the loco and tender are completely different, same for the bogies. I'd go into more detail, but I don't wanna seem like the know it all from the movie, but still, a nice video nonetheless.

1225's whistle was used in spongebob squarepants and kamp koral

Chris van allsburg when writing the book also picked pierre Marquette 1225 as the basis of it since he grew up seeing the engine on display in the park where he lived

Awesome dude that’s amazing

Well, if you certainly were very shockingly surprisingly good enough to ask me, my own official observational theoical guess here certainly would basically be very shockingly surprisingly no complete doubt whatsoever 'bout it that Pere Marquette #1225's own official feed H2O heater certainly would most likely be hidden somewhere within the frame underneath the boiler with additional pipes to send the preheated water up into the boiler via water injector that officially sends H2O from the locomotive's own official tender directly over into the boiler!

I understand that someone actually tumbled down on the coal into the cab so they could have the right noise for when the boy did the same thing?

Marquette(PM 1225)’s Polar Express Model And Marquette(PM 1225)are the same Berkshire

And PM 1225 has a Nathan 6 chime and in the movie she has a Lima 5 chime

Here's another difference 1225 can't drift on ice And also the polar Express has a thing on the floor of the cab that you step on to open the firebow doors while the 1225 has a standard lever

Year built: October,1941

3:08, believing is seeing! Not seeing is believing!

loved it!

The whistle used in the movie is NOT from Sierra Railway No. 3.

I thought that they used that number as a reference to Christmas Day (12/25).

Pere Marquette 1225 Polar Express 2:20 [train whistle] 2:31 [train whistle]

the differnts between them both is that polar express dose not have green marker lights but 1225 dose and no number plates and the cow is differnt on the polar express then the 1225 and the walk was on the front of the boiler and many many more

you forgot to mention the flux capacitor in the cab

Finally! Someone made this video so I don’t have to! Thank you!

you should make a video trying to explain if its even possible for the polar express to work.

Fact: Polar Express engine has numbers, 1225

warner bros ask for the blueprint and modified the locomotive so its looks like a magic train also the whistle is from sierra railway no.3 and polar express is faster also can drift on ice

You forgot to mention the shrouds over the air compressors are missing on the movie model. Also if you pay attention at different scenes you will notice that the power reverse cylinder was copied on both sides of the engine where in real life it is only on the engineers side. If you want to get really nitpicky then I could mention the lack of safety valves, low water alarm, air compressor muffler, hot and cold water pump and steam turret cover on the movie model. Plus they didn’t quarter the wheels on the movie model. I’m sure there is other stuff I missed too.

But, The Polar Express Is Baldwin 2-8-4 S-3 class Berkshire type steam locomotive

which polar express whistle comes from?

The snow plow is also much bigger on the Movie version of this train

Did you know that 1225 was actually the number for Christmas Day?

Also, the shape of the polar looks similar to the s3 Berkshires from the erie

Very nice

The main difference is that the real 1225 would not survive the movie

It’s the same

Whenever I think of American steam locomotives I thing of this or the Disneyland 4-4-0’s

In the cab the reverse is different. In real life 1225 as a screw reverse with power reverse. But in the movie it had a conventional Johnson Bar/Reverse lever with power reverse.

Hey I hate to be that person but actually on the polar express 1225 is under the cab window on the polar express model

*Seeing Is Believing*

Do the differences really matter?

The polar express has a flux capacitor in it

2:18 thats from a horror movie AHHHH

Why didn’t they add my real whistle in the movie

MY SECOND NAME IS PERE

I live in Michigan

that felt so short

Didn't the kid in the movie say it's a Baldwin locomotive?

I thought the polar express was 765

But I have never been on the Pere marquett

I always thought the Polar Express was a Baldwin locomotive in the film rather than a Berkshire, personally, both versions of the locomotive look splendid

Fun fact the 1225 doesn’t have water feeder

What’s a water heater

Its not a cowcatcher. Its called a Pilot. : )

He's probably the brother he's probably the brother engine 1225

YOU FORGOT THE FLUX COMPASATER

Honestly, one of the many things we do in my family for Christmas, we watch The Polar Express before bed and with all the action in the movie we follow along, during the hot chocolate song my mom bring hot chocolate, and then we go to bed at the end of the movie. it's easier for me and my brother and sister 2 go to bed after watching the movie because of the calming tone it has.

Oh this is the train kid irl

The letters in that ‘still’ look white, but if you watch the Movie, they’re the similar colour to the actual 1225...Check again.

0:22

VillairBarrett

Maybe they should build the Polar Express locomotive much like the movie version.

And the real one

Ok The 1225 On Ticket

2:31

You forgot the worst part that the light is built in the fricking smoke box door!

2021 person be like

Nooooooooooooooo I missed the stream

You know pere marquette 1225 and polar express on 2004 polar express fake real one reall

The Polar Express actually does have the 1225 like its real life counterpart: the numbers underneath the cab windows

Doesn’t the annoying boy say that it’s a Baldwin 284 S-Class? I know that’s wrong but.

The wistel from the polar express is the wistel of the union pacific

ㄷㄷ

But owned by santa