Owosso - 1225 Steam Engine Train - North Chipman Street Crossing 

One of the jewels of the Owosso, Michigan-based Steam Railroading Institute: the 1225 steam engine locomotive and tender - weighing in at 800,000 pounds - more than the maximum takeoff weights of one B-52 bomber and eight F-16 fighters combined.
In this video, you are initially looking southeast. The smoke from the 1225 can first be seen as the train weaves its way into the Westown district of Owosso. As the train turns the corner and heads northwest towards you, it is entering what were yards of the New York Central Railroad. To the left was a freight warehouse and station, and to the right was the massive Owosso Manufacturing Company that later became the Mitchell-Bentley Corporation. As recently as the mid-1950's, the freight yards were full of switches, sidings, rolling stock and both diesel and steam engines. It was at this site in Owosso, the hometown of Thomas E. Dewey, that John F. Kennedy gave one of his memorable, and at times humor-tinged, speeches during the 1960 presidential campaign.
Today the old Mitchell-Bentley building and headquarters are long gone; new facilities were built across the street. The freight station, warehouse, switches and sidings have also been removed leaving just one basically north-south track. However, business is booming again.
The single track is now owned by the Great Lakes Central Railroad, which is headquartered on the other side of Owosso in facilities that were previously regional maintenence yards of the Ann Arbor Railroad. The Great Lakes Central Railroad has had seventeen straight years of profitable operations - and business continues to grow dramatically. It is this line of track, and its others, that the Great Lakes Central Railroad generously shares with the Steam Railroading Institute for the benefit of railfans and history buffs nationwide.
The staffs of the Great Lakes Central Railroad and the Steam Railroading Institute exemplify the good people and good management that make Owosso the unique, fun, dynamic and vital place it is. This may also help to explain why Owosso is believed to have produced more people per capita whose lives have made national and international impact than any other city in the United States.