Welcome to the official Mack #4 boxcab locomotive website.

.

Two unique locomotives even in the early years.

The mid-west style interurban boxcab locomotives were originally built as trolley freight motors #4 & #5 for the Southwest Missouri Railroad Company. The S.M.R.C. purchased #4 from General Electric for  $15,400.00 with a completion date of March 01,1924 at the Erie, PA plant. The S.M.R.C. in 1927 identically built #5 at there Webb City, MO shop complex. With the demise of the SMRC line in 1939  the Mack Truck company of Allentown, PA then purchased the #4 & #5, rebuilding them both into experimental gas electric locomotives. The two retrofitted locomotives were offered for sale as new products, but  were never sold causing Mack to exit out of the locomotive business. Both locomotives were eventually placed into switching service at the two Allentown 5-A & 5-C plants.

The journey of Mack #4 & #5 throughout Pennsylvania.

A trolley museum in 1967 acquired Mack #4 and transported it to Rockhill Furnace, PA. Then during the last two months of 1968, Mack #4 preformed  the last switching duties over the rare dual 3'  narrow and 4' 8-1/2" standard gauge rail yard at Mount Union, PA. In March of 1970 Mack #4 was then again on the move, this time assisting a fledgling eastern PA short line. Then during the first week of January 1971 Mack #4 was moved to Penndel, PA were it was placed into storage for the trolley museum. The WK&S railroad obtained Mack #5 directly from the Mack company in 1978 and occasionally operated it on tourist passenger trains. Then in March of 1986 ownership of #4 was transfered to the WK&S and it was moved to Kempton, PA.

An uncertain fate, for both Mack locomotives.

The WK&S for several years had offered both Mack locomotives to several railway and trolley museums, railroad tourist lines, the Mack Truck Museum,  and private collectors. All of these prospective clients declined purchasing the Mack #4 & #5 due to the amount of investment required, considering the intial sale price, transportation expenses, purchasing of replacement truck assemblies with traction motors, and then the restoration cost. One railfan wanted to convert and make the two rare boxcabs into storage sheds, and  some people had the extreme idea to have both locomotives see the flames of a cutting torch and become scrap iron. However these outrageous offers were not considered and the search continued to find a buyer that was interested in preserving at least one Mack locomotive, who also had the capabilities to follow through and complete the project. 

A fondness for one of these rare Mack boxcabs.

A relationship had devoloped between the WK&S and the McHugh family with a favorable outcome for Mack #4 in March of 2008. Although a few people had made comments that neither Mack locomotive was worth the expenses involved to save them. These remarks did not discourage Jimmy, Ann, & JC McHugh, who were adamant that they would restore #4 when others felt it was not worth the effort to do so. The McHugh's nostalgia for this rare old boxcab, and that #4 was also a part of Pennsylvania's industrial railroading heritage is why they wanted to see it preserved. In June 1970 on the last day Mack #4 was in serivce, Jimmy McHugh placed his 9 year old son on the engineers seat and Mack #4 was the first locomotive JC McHugh operated.