Valley Railroad 3025 is a China Railways SY class 2-8-2 "Mikado" type steam locomotive.

It was built in July 1989 by the Tangshan Locomotive and Rolling Stock Works as SY-1658M, and it was exported to the Knox and Kane Railroad (K&K) in the United States.

1658 began hauling tourist trains for the K&K between Marienville, Kane, and Mount Jewett, Pennsylvania, and it often operated over the railroad's primary attraction, the Kinzua Bridge.

In October, it was sold at an auction to the Valley Railroad (VALE), who shipped it to their Essex, Connecticut location and rebuilt it to cosmetically resemble a New Haven locomotive.

[4] The SYs received some design features the JF1s and JF6s lacked, including taller smokestacks, alternate motion bracket arrangements, a higher boiler pressure (210 psi (1,400 kPa), a lower axle loading (15 tonnes (33,000 lb), and all boxpok driving wheels.

[3][5] Their tender tanks, which carried 9.5 tonnes (21,000 pounds) of coal and 25,000 liters (6,600 U.S. gal) of water, were designed with sloped-back sides for improved rearward vision for crews, since the SYs often operated in reverse.

[18][a] Its boiler design had to be altered to meet both the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) boiler code and Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) regulations; a stock-standard Chinese steam locomotive was not permitted to operate in the Northeastern U.S., due to certain construction methods.

[20][24] The firebox sheets had to be thickened, the crownsheet staybolts had to be enlarged, and the welding technique for assembling the boiler sections had to be altered.

Trade Fir was docked at the Port of Camden in New Jersey, where the two SY locomotives were unloaded onto the Beckett Street Terminal.

[26] Operating the SY in excursion service was quickly deemed a success, as Cornell became impressed with its improved performance and efficiency.

[29][30] The loss of the scenic trip over the bridge and the absence of a steam locomotive slowly began to affect the K&K's excursion ridership.

[29] In February 2003, workers from an Ohio-based construction and repair company began to restore and stabilize the Kinzua Bridge to eventually reopen it for the K&K.

[28][30] On July 21, after all of the workers left for the day, a major storm spawned a tornado which struck the bridge, resulting in eleven of its twenty support towers toppling over.

[33][35][36] In the early morning of March 16, 2008, an arsonist approached the K&K's equipment shed in Kane, and set it on fire, with their remaining locomotives still inside.

[35][40] The following month, VALE crews removed many parts from the SY, including all of the wheels, the cab, the smokestack, and the air compressor, and then the locomotive was chained to a beam trailer and shipped via truck.

[27][38] The tender tank was rebuilt with its handrails removed, and its sloped-back sides were extended upward to form a cuboid design.

[38][44] The locomotive was also cosmetically decorated with some original New Haven parts, including a former whistle, a former bell, and two former headlights, and a new numberplate was fabricated.

3025 hauled its inaugural train for the VALE, which was the second section of that day's North Pole Express excursion, from Essex to Chester, and return.