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copyright © Mike Swederska; used by permission.
Mike Swederska is another one of S-scale's modernday brass builders. He recently completed the St. Louis Iron Mountain and Southern 2-10-2 #1702. This is a project he started in early November of 2025 and completed in July 2026. He estimates that he has over 450 hours into its construction, and that was before painting and final preparations for operations.
As you will see in the videos, in the real world, this locomotive ran at very slow speeds as a helper over the grades. Mike stated that the nickname for this engine was the "dragger" due to her strength. She operated from St. Louis to Kirkwood Hill as a helper, and was not considered a mainline locomotive.
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