Wilmington and Western 98 is a preserved 4-4-0 "American" type steam locomotive built in January 1909 by the American Locomotive Company's Schenectady Works for the Mississippi Central, it is now preserved and operated by the Wilmington and Western Railroad.

98 continued service until December 1944, when it was retired from the Mississippi Central before being left in dead storage.

[1] In 1947, it was sold to steam engine collector Paulsen Spence for use on the gravel-hauling Comite Southern, a 1,000-foot industrial spur, in Tangipahoa, Louisiana.

[1][6][5] The engine was later shipped to the Illinois Central shops in McComb, Mississippi for repairs.

98 was moved and stored at the Comite Southern were it was eventually rebuilt there by the Illinois Central Railroad shop employees who were working there on the weekends and placed into service hauling gravel on the line and would later serve on the Louisiana Eastern Railroad for several years until being retired for a second time in January 1960.

98, along with other steam engines, on a proposed tourist railroad that would run on an abandoned Baltimore and Ohio branch line in Wilmington, Delaware.

98 was moved to the Strasburg Rail Road in Pennsylvania for temporary storage in June 1961.

[5] It began pulling the W&W's trains on October 8, 1972, between Wilmington and other small towns along the route.

98 suffered several derailments during the forward and return trip due to its driver wheels being 5'8 inches wide.

98 would be taken out of service as wider tires would be installed on the locomotive's rear drivers to help give it smother traction when operating excursions.

[7] In December 1977, the Marshall brothers outright donated the engine to the Historic Red Clay Valley Inc., and 5 years later, the railroad obtained complete control of the Ex-B&O rail line.

98 was briefly repainted into its original Mississippi Central Railroad appearance with a centered headlight and relocation of the bell.

98 has undergone two extensive overhauls in order for its condition to comply with FRA standards.