Class 11 / Q-6 (Locobase 11637)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines, 1888, as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Vol 15, p. 142. Works numbers were 10163-10164 in August 1889.

Originally chartered as the Fort Wayne, Muncie & Cincinnati, this railroad connected Muncie, Ind to Fort Wayne. In 1901, it was taken over by the Lake Erie & Western, which later rolled into the New York Central system.

Class 13 (Locobase 11106)

Data from Schenectady Locomotive Works, Illustrated Catalogue of Simple and Compound Locomotives (Philadelphia: J B Lippincott, 1897), pp. 6-7.

Class 211 (Locobase 11109)

Data from Schenectady Locomotive Works, Illustrated Catalogue of Simple and Compound Locomotives (Philadelphia: J B Lippincott, 1897), pp. 10-11

Virtually identical to the Fitchburg locomotive from the same catalogue and shown in Locobase 11108, this design had somewhat smaller drivers and a 1"smaller cylinder diameter. Adhesion weight also came in slightly lower.

Class 289 (Locobase 14264)

Data from "Eight-Wheel Passenger Locomotive," American Engineer and Railroad Journal Vol , 74, No 4 (April 1900), p.120

At a time when most express passenger locomotives with such large boilers were being delivered as Atlantics (4-4-2), this Eight-wheeler emerged from Schenectady. The AERJ reported that the 289 was intended to pull heavy expresses between Springfield and Boston. Given the constraints of fitting the firebox between the drivers (a limitation the 4-4-2 addressed by moving the drivers ahead of the firebox), the builder pitched the boiler quite high and achieve a depth at the front of nearly 80 inches.

Locobase has no direct information on how many engines might have run in this class, but thinks it likely to have been few or even possibly limited to this single example. Certainly express locomotives of such size on the New York Central, which leased the B&A in 1899, were built as Atlantics.

Class 6 (Locobase 12990)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Volume 29, p. 137. Works number was 28735 in August 1906.

Admittedly small for a standard-gauge Eight-wheeler of the 19nought decade, the 6 had even a shorter career than might have been expected on this Michigan short line. It was scrapped in September 1924.

Class ??? (Locobase 5713)

Data from November 1894 American Engineer & Railroad Journal (AERJ).

Designed to pull six "Wagner" cars (vestibuled and heavy) over the Berkshires without helpers, The schedule demanded a running time of 183 minutes over 103 miles (33.7 mph average) over a profile that included 8 miles of 1.5% ascent eastbound and a steeper grade for 12 miles westbound.

The design was also limited by a maximum weight on drivers of 74,000 lb and lighter-weight components including a hollow crank pin were designed to meet that requirement. The AERJ also noted that the lower weights would also reduce hammer-blow. AERJ's surmise that the total heating surface was about as large as feasible for an 8-wheeler was correct for the time and only a series of French designs ever had larger boilers at such adhesion weights.

Class ??? (Locobase 10075)

Data from "Report of the Committee on the Best Form of Construction of Locomotives for Fast Passenger Trains", Report of the Proceedings of the ... Annual Convention of the American Railway Master Mechanics' Association (American Railway Master Mechanics' Association, 1881), p. 69.

Mr. A B Underhill, the B & A's Superintendent of Motive Power, commented on he found necessary for express trains. As reported, he said "... the average speed of express trains on their road is 40 miles per hour, each train having from 6 to 8 coaches, about one-third of which are drawing-room cars. Average weight of drawing-room car, 68,000 pounds; weight of coach, 46,000 pounds, carrying 70 passengers each. [Underhill]has had no experience with single driver locomotives, and judging from what he has learned of the performance of that class of engines, is not very favorably impressed."

NB: The direct heating surface (including the firebox heating surface) is an estimate calculated by subtracting the calculated tube heating surface from the reported total evaporative heating surface.

Class A / C-15 (Locobase 5236)

Data from a reproduction of the New York Central's 1902 Locomotive guide found on http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/ncy-lbp96.gif (visited December 2002). Built before many of the other 4-4-0 classes, this anthracite-burning quintet had an unusually shallow firebox with a wide grate. Also, these engines had very small boilers for their cylinder volume.

C-15As (3 of the 5) had 70" drivers.

Many more of this basic design were built with the narrow, deep firebox. See Locobase 5240.

Class A / C-4 (Locobase 5226)

Data from a reproduction of the New York Central's 1902 Locomotive guide found on http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/ncy-lbp91.gif (visited December 2002). One of the oldest classes to appear on that roster, these engines sit firmly in the post-Civil War era of locomotive design. Some were built by Schenectady, others by NY&HRR shops at East Buffalo, Syracuse, and West Albany.

Class A-1 / C-5/C-5A (Locobase 5227)

Data from a reproduction of the New York Central's 1902 Locomotive guide found on http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/ncy-lbp91.gif (visited December 2002). A successor to the C-4, these continued the line of narrow-grate Americans. Differences included cylinders an inch larger in diameter (18"), more firetubes, but a smaller grate (except for 960, which had a wider grate that amounted to 20 sq ft in area.). Some were built by Schenectady, others by NY&HRR shops at East Buffalo, Syracuse, and West Albany.

The single C-5A was identical except for its 73" drivers.

Class A-1x / C-6 (Locobase 5228)

Data from a reproduction of the New York Central's 1902 Locomotive guide found on http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/ncy-lbp95.gif (visited December 2002). Continuing the line of 70"-drivered Americans, this class reproduced the C-5 dimensions with these differences: a shallower firebox, but larger boiler diameter. I'm guessing they were going for more steam-making room

Some were built by Schenectady, others by NY&HRR shops at East Buffalo, Syracuse, and West Albany. Several had "Rome" as a builder, but I'm not sure if that was Rome shops or the Rome Locomotive Works.

Class A-2 / C-7 (Locobase 5229)

Data from a reproduction of the New York Central's 1902 Locomotive guide found on http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/ncy-lbp97.gif (visited December 2002). A smaller American than the 70" mainliners, I suspect these were branch-line engines.

Built by NY&HRR shops at East Buffalo, Syracuse, and West Albany.

Class Adirondack (Locobase 13517)

Data from "Trial of Engines on Boston & Albany RR", Locomotive Engineers Journal, Volume IX, No 10 (October 1875), p. 541..

Locobase 13516 describes the trials run between this locomotive and the Mogul named Brown. Most of the trials were run between the Adirondack, which had the same driver diameters and power dimensions, and the Brown Both of the Eight-wheelers were designed by the B & A's Master Mechanic Wilson Eddy, a well-known locomotive builder of his day. (See Locobase 13519 for a discussion of Eddy's design philosophy, much of which is evident in our description of both Eddy engines here and in Locobase 13517.)

Both of the Eight-wheelers had straight boilers "...without dome, with perforated pipe, throttle valve in smoke box." The author considered that the "distinctive difference" lay in shorter ports that measured only 10 in long and 1 1/4 in wide. The author also points out that "...the Springfield [i.e., those produced by Eddy in the B & A's Springfield shops] boiler is known to be a free and liberal steamer with ample steam room. The furnace [i.e. firebox] is wider and shorter", according to the report, which gives the dimensions as 65 3/4" long for the Mogul vs 54" for the Eight-wheelers and 35" wide in the Mogul vs 41 1/2" wide in the Eight-wheeler.

The squarer firebox "...brings all parts of it withing reach of the fireman, so that he can put the coal where he wants to, without throwing it."

But there was more. The perforated steam pipe (vs the prominent steam dome) "..which takes steam from and directly over the point where it is made, is supposed to have considerable effect upon the dryness of the steam used." Furthermore, bringing the steam forward to the throttle in the firebox, which was "as close as possible to the cylinders" allowed the steam "to accumulate in the pipes and chest to a higher pressure during the interval when both valves are closed."

This convergence of practices in steam-circuit design was "...believed to act favorably on the economic expansion of the steam."

Class B // C-17/C-17A (Locobase 5240)

Data from a reproduction of the New York Central's 1902 Locomotive guide found on http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/ncy-lbp117.gif (visited December 2002). See also Matthias Nace Forney, Locomotives and locomotive building: being a brief sketch of the growth of Rogers Locomotive Works, pp. 80-92 and American Machinist, Volume 6, No 49 (1 December 1883), pp 1-2.

Built to the same dimensions as the anthracite-burning shallow-firebox C-15s (Locobase 5236), this much larger aggregation had the more typical narrow firebox. The American Machinist's report commented on the luxury afforded to the recently deceased Howard Fry, the railroad's chief of motive power:

"It is seldom that the mechanical head of a railroad company enjoys the privilege of having his motive power prepared ahead for heavy traffic. Where railroads increase by annual sections, and the travel augments in like proportion, the locomotives are apt to grow in size just a little behind the business, the consequence being that the trains are habitually too heavy or too fast for the engines that pull them."

What Fry accomplished by thinking ahead unfolds in the next few sentences:

"These engines start out at nearly the maximum weight, which locomotive designers have thus far found practicable for high-speed locomotives. The engines are calculated to take a train of twelve of our heaviest coaches over a level track at a speed of forty-five miles an hour.

"When a demand for higher speed arises, the weight of trains will have to be reduced, and

when they are made light enough the engine can maintain a speed of sixty-five or seventy

miles an hour."

As and Bs were used in July 1885 to set what Chief Train Dispatcher W H Wheatly proclaimed was "...the fastest run ever made in the United States and Canada, and I doubt if it ever has beeen equalled in the world." Wheatly was boasting of a 202-mile run from Buffalo to Frankfort that was made in a running time of 205 miles. The entire 426.6 miles was covered in a little over 9 hours including stops.

When they were renumbered in 1899, the class was divided between 30C-17s, with 69" drivers (62" centers) and the 37 C-17As, which had the alternate 70" wheels (63" centers). (Three of the 70 were sold to the Norfolk Southern Railway before the 1899 renumbering.)

Class B-1 / C-10 (Locobase 5232)

Data from a reproduction of the New York Central's 1902 Locomotive guide found on http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/ncy-lbp101.gif (visited December 2002).

Notice the spread between driving axles as the designers increased the boiler size. Firebox was slightly larger than earlier Americans, but not by much. The Rome works built 4 of the locomotives still in service in 1902, Schenectady the other 12 in the series.

Class C-103 (Locobase 7069)

Data from P&LE-PMcK&Y 3 1-26 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Relatively high-drivered Americans for this western Pennsylvania industrial road. Compared to the parent railroad's contemporaneous C class, these were about the same size but had a smaller grate and larger firebox as well as taller drivers. On the New York Central, the trains this design would haul were found on branch lines where speed wasn't a premium. On the P & LE, this design pulled expresses.

Class C-104/C-105 (Locobase 7068)

Data from P&LE-PMcK&Y 3 1-26 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Slightly larger than their C-103 predecessors, these were medium-traffic passenger engines for this western Pennsylvania subsidiary of the New York Central. Compared to their contemporaries in the system, they had bigger boilers and slightly more firebox area.

Class C-16/C-16A (Locobase 5237)

Data from a reproduction of the New York Central's 1902 Locomotive guide found on http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/ncy-lbp113.gif (visited December 2002). As the NY&HRR moved toward the 20th Century, traffic demands sparked a growth in locomotive size. This class, while not possessing particularly big boilers, saw increases both in grate area and in adhesion weight. The 4 C-16As were identical except for their 70" drivers.

The 1902 guide shows only 7 locomotives, most with building dates that reflect a rebuilding program in the mid-1890s.

Class C-16B/C-16C (Locobase 5238)

Data from a reproduction of the New York Central's 1902 Locomotive guide found on http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/ncy-lbp115.gif (visited December 2002). These may be the soft-coal burning equivalents of the C-16s; the former's fireboxes were much deeper and narrower. The 7 C-16Cs were identical except for their 70" drivers.

The 1902 guide shows only 7 locomotives, most with building dates that reflect a rebuilding program in the mid-1890s.

Class C-18/C-18A (Locobase 5239)

Data from a reproduction of the New York Central's 1902 Locomotive guide found on http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/ncy-lbp119.gif (visited December 2002).

Similar to the earlier C-17s, but built a few years later with smaller drivers and slightly smaller boiler. The four C-18As had 64" drivers (57" centers).

Class C-19 (Locobase 5242)

Data from a reproduction of the New York Central's 1902 Locomotive guide found on http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/ncy-lbp121.gif (visited December 2002). Relatively large boiler for the grate area in these freight engines.

Class C-2 (Locobase 2157)

Data from 1899 Brooks Catalogue; built for the St. Lawrence & Adirondack Railway. Works numbers were 2772-2774, June 1897

Boiler was improved Belpaire type, firebox had 13.26 sq ft of arch pipes. Slightly different data from the 1902 New York Central guide to locomotives reproduced at http://www.rr-fallenflags/nyc/nyc-lbp208b.gif (visited December 2002). The St L & A engines 6, 10-12 are noted and this design certainly fits the particulars quite closely. Builder info from B.Rumary, 25 Kingscombe, Gurney Slade, Radstock, BA3 4TH, ENGLAND and Jeremy Lambert as supplied by Allen Stanley in March 2004 suggests that only 5, 6, and 7 came from Brooks.

10, 11, and 12 were delivered in 1899.

Staufer (New York Central's Early Power, 1967) says that #5 had a busy career, going to the Central Vermont as #249, then to the Rutland as #190, and finally coming under the NYC banner as #1000. After its NYC career, the former 5 went back to the Rutland as 80 and finished its career renumbered 61.

6 stayed with the St L & A until 1916, according to Rumary-Lambert, becoming NYC 1002 in that year.

Number 7 went to the Rutland as their 250, was renumbered 191, then was sold to the NYC as 1001. Then back to the Rutland as 81, closing out its career as 66.

Class C-20 (Locobase 5241)

Data from a reproduction of the New York Central's 1902 Locomotive guide found on http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/ncy-lbp120.gif (visited December 2002).

Similar to the C-18s, but with much smaller drivers (i.e., more emphatically freight engines), a slightly longer set of firetubes and larger grate.

Class C-21 (Locobase 5243)

Data from a reproduction of the New York Central's 1902 Locomotive guide found on http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/ncy-lbp120.gif (visited December 2002).

A stray one-class engine by a less-well-known builder.

Class C-22 (Locobase 5244)

The data comes from a reproduction of the New York Central's 1902 Locomotive guide found on http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/ncy-lbp123.gif (visited December 2002). Typical of the late 19th-Century locomotives built for the NY&HRR. The dome is moving forward along the boiler, which is sharply coned to the 1st course.

Class C-23 (Locobase 5245)

The data comes from a reproduction of the New York Central's 1902 Locomotive guide found on http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/ncy-lbp125.gif (visited December 2002). As the American design reaches its design peak, the dome now sits over the front driving axle, the smokebox is extended, but the grate is still relatively narrow.

Class C-24 (Locobase 5246)

The data comes from a reproduction of the New York Central's 1902 Locomotive guide found on http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/ncy-lbp127.gif (visited December 2002).

Unusual for NY&HRR Americans was the relatively close spacing of the driving axles. This put the firebox over the rear axle, raising the profile considerably.

Class C-26 (Locobase 5247)

Data from a reproduction of the New York Central's 1902 Locomotive guide found on http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/ncy-lbp120.gif (visited December 2002). Early '80s low-pressure design for the Pennsylvania coal road that was leased to the NYC & HR in 1890 and taken over in 1899..

Class C-26A (Locobase 5248)

Data from a reproduction of the New York Central's 1902 Locomotive guide found on http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/ncy-lbp128.gif (visited December 2002). Apparently based on the earlier design that was later designated C-26, this engine had the same grate but more firetubes.

Class C-51A (Locobase 2848)

Designed by GW Stevens, Chief of motive power at the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern. These rangy engines still had the dome just ahead of the cab. A rebuild in 1907-1908 replaced the boiler with a dome that sat over the front driving axle.

Class C-52B (Locobase 9726)

Data from the NYC 8 - 1917 Locomotive Diagrams, supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Class C-63A to C-63G (Locobase 9719)

Data from CCC&StL 3 -1914 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

The diagram for this class shows a typical deep-firebox American from the late 19th Century. Its steam dome stood over the firebox and behind a sharply tapering boiler course that had a second dome (for sand?) at the front. The slender first course gave a lean look to the design.

The table of engine numbers shows that most of the class were built by the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St Louis at various shops over a 6-year period. Locobase notes that the other locomotives in the class were rebuilds of earlier engines. The data in the specs relates to the C-63B; others had an arch tube that added 10 sq ft to the firebox. Some were pressed to 160 psi.

Class C-64, C-64A (Locobase 9720)

Data from CCC&StL 3 -1914 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

There were two subclasses for this boiler. Two C-64s delivered in 1902 had 69" drivers and weighed about 3 tons more; they and 4 of the C-64As (7077-7081) were built by the Pittsburgh & Erie Railway. The other 4 were built by Rhode Island Locomotive Works.

Class C-69, C-69A (Locobase 9721)

Data from CCC&StL 3 -1914 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

At least two C-69 series (which included 1 each of the C-69A (67" drivers), C-70, and C-71 classes) received one arch tube that added 10 sq ft to the firebox heating surface.

Class C-71/C-72 (Locobase 9722)

Data from CCC&StL 3 -1914 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

The latter two engines - C-72 - had a driver wheelbase of 9 feet.

Class C-73 (Locobase 9723)

Data from CCC&StL 3 -1914 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Class C-74 (Locobase 9711)

Data from CCC&StL 3 -1914 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Delivered in the same year as the C-75s shown in Locobase 9710, these engines had the more traditional deep, narrow fireboxes. Such furnaces had smaller grates but more overhal direct heating surface. The C-75s were more like the locomotives that would soon replace these Eight-wheelers.

Class C-75 (Locobase 9710)

Data from CCC&StL 3 -1914 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

These were delivered by the same builder in the same years the C74s, but they had longer, shallower, and somewhat wider fireboxes. As a consequence, these had substantially more grate area because the grate now rode above the driving axles. Overall direct heating surface did not change very much.

Class C-77 (Locobase 3146)

Data from P J Conlon, "Locomotive Lore - Chapter XIV", Machinists Monthly Journal, Volume XIII, No. 10 (October 1901), pp. 743-744. Additional data from the CCC&StL 3 - 1914 Locomotive Diagrams, supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

In his 1901 review, Conlon celebrates the 201 as "Perhaps the most successful eight-wheel passenger engine of the present day" and observes that the boiler's heating surface is "greater than has ever before been attained in an eight-wheeled locomotive." Indeed, the pair would ultimately have the largest boiler by a few square feet of any Big Four 4-4-0. Two later batches (Locobases 9724-9725/C-78, C-79) would have similar-sized boilers.

Conlon reported that the engine was designed to haul a 360-ton, 10-car train the 80 miles between Cleveland and Galion in 70 minutes. An elevation difference of 595 feet meant that the 201 had exert a "steady pull" all the way to Galion.

Locobase observes that the intended service explains the relatively small driver diameter for an express engine.

Official name for the railroad was the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago, & St. Louis.

Class C-78 (Locobase 9724)

Data from the CCC&StL 3 - 1914 Locomotive Diagrams, supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Locobase 3146 presents the comments of a Mr P J Conlon on the high worthiness of the C-77 4-4-0, which arrived on the Big Four in 1895. This pair was delivered two years later and was virtually identical except for the reduction by 6 in the count of small tubes in the boiler.

Class C-79 (Locobase 3272)

Data from Railroad Gazette (15 July 1898).

Locobase 3146's description of the C-77 characterized it as the largest 4-4-0 in service in 1901. Certainly that was true on the Big Four and its qualities were sterling enough to encourage a repeat in 1897 (C-78/Locobase 9724) and 1898 (this class).

While the C-78s had 6 fewer tubes, the C-79s were identical except for the significant change in driver diameter in favor of much taller wheels. They also had a longer stroke, which may have been adopted to compensate for the taller drivers, for the tractive effort was about the same. The boiler also may have had a a shallower firebox that had 160 sq ft of heating surface area and a total evaporative heating surface area of 2,157 sq ft.

The 15 July 1898 Railroad Gazette that reports the 1898 buy notes that the four locomotives are to be used to haul the Knickerbocker Special between Cleveland and St. Louis. This train consisted of 1 or 2 day coaches, a "buffet" car, and 3 sleeping cars for a total trailing weight of 250-300 tons. Booked average speed for the run was 40 mph.

The illustration shows a typically upright end-of-century 8-wheeler with conical safety-valve cover, rounded steam dome over the first axle, second dome forward of the boiler taper and just behind a capped stack.

Between that delivery date and the preparation of the diagram in the 1914 diagram book, all 4 engines received arch tubes, installation of which increased heating surface area by 10 sq ft.

Class C-79 (Locobase 9725)

Data from the CCC&StL 3 - 1914 Locomotive Diagrams, supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Class C-8 (Locobase 5230)

Data from a reproduction of the New York Central's 1902 Locomotive guide found on http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/ncy-lbp96.gif (visited December 2002). Slightly larger than the branch-line C-7s, but intended for the same duty, one suspect.

Of the 3 remaining in 1902, all were built by NY&HRR shops at East Buffalo.

Class C-9/C-9A/C-9B/C-9C (Locobase 5231)

Data from a reproduction of the New York Central's 1902 Locomotive guide found on http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/ncy-lbp99.gif (visited December 2002).

A large class, perhaps the largest of all 4-4-0 classes built for the NY&HRR. In fact, the C-9 designation appears to have covered a variety of very similar designs that differed in the number of firetubes or cylinder diameter or tube diameter.

In the 1902 guide the following subtypes are identified:

Lowest

engine

number # in subtype remarks

407 1 16 x 24" cylinders;169 2" tubes,

11.17' long; 48" boiler.

476 5 180 2" tubes; weight 85,800 lb

482 12 198 2" tubes; 11.67' long;

weight 85,800 lb

498 5 138 2 1/4" tubes, 11.33' long;

weight 76,000 lb

The C-9A series had mostly 47 1/2" diameter boilers and 160 2" tubes. Two of the 6 had slightly larger fireboxes. C-9B was one engine built in 1878 with a 15.8-sq ft grate area. C-9C was an 1880 engine with only 134 2" tubes, 15.3-sq ft grate, and 46" diameter boiler. 448 tipped the scales at 69,000 lb.

Class C-95A (Locobase 5207)

Data from http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/toe-p29.gif (visited December 2002).

Classic late 19th-Century American with narrow grate, dome just ahead of the cab, slender front boiler course. The Richardson balanced slide valves had 6 1/4" of travel.

Builder info from B.Rumary, 25 Kingscombe, Gurney Slade, Radstock, BA3 4TH, ENGLAND and Jeremy Lambert as supplied by Allen Stanley in March 2004. 5 in the class (works #1715-1719), all of which were renumbered 468-472 When the NYC took control, all wer renumbered again 9550-955. Of these, 9551-9553 were later renumbered 9719-9721.

Class C-95A (Locobase 5222)

Identical to Toledo & Ohio Central locomotives purchased in the same years.. The Richardson balanced slide valves had 6 1/4" of travel.

Data from http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/toe-p65.gif (visited December 2002).

Class C-97A (Locobase 5210)

This first trio from Brooks was the only subclass of the T&OC's C-97 group to be superheated. See 5211 for the result.

Data from http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/toe-p33.gif (visited December 2002).

Class C-97A - superheated (Locobase 5211)

Data from http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/toe-p33.gif (visited December 2002).

Superheating the C-97a may have been an attempt to sample the benefits at relatively low cost. In such a small boiler, the gain can't have been very great. Moreover, if the 1917 diagram is accurate, few of the other usual changes -- piston valves, Walschaerts gear, dropping the boiler pressure -- were made.

Class C-97B (Locobase 5208)

Somewhat after the fact, these Americans obviously filled branch-line needs. These had Richardson balanced slide valves with 6 1/4" of travel.

Data from http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/toe-p35.gif (visited December 2002).

Class C-97C (Locobase 5209)

Identical to the year-earlier C-97b with a few more fire tubes and Walschaerts valve gear moving Richardson balanced slide valves through 5 1/2" of travel. (Could the shorter travel represent a change to the radial valve gear from the Stephenson link motion?).

Data from http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/toe-p37.gif (visited December 2002).

Class C-X (Locobase 14547)

Data from Dimensions and Classifications of Locomotives of the NYC&HR et al, September 1905, p. 327.

In the 1905 guide, the New York Central assigned the same class ID to several locomotives of different, but relatively ancient, origins. Each variant was different enough that Locobase breaks them out into a series of entries (14544-14546).

Locobase credits the New York Central & Hudson River based on the 1905 description of its origins. He can't say for sure, however, if the 1062's description of having been built in Syracuse in 1872 refers to the original engine or to a rebuilt locomotive of a later time that was based on an 1872 engine.

Class C-X (Locobase 14548)

Data from Dimensions and Classifications of Locomotives of the NYC&HR et al, September 1905, p. 327. Works number 2765 in 1889.

In the 1905 guide, the New York Central assigned the same class ID to several locomotives of different, but relatively ancient, origins. Each variant was different enough that Locobase breaks them out into a series of entries (14544-14549).

Class Chicago (Locobase 12428)

Data from "Improved Type of Inspection Locomotive," The Railway Times, Volume 88 (9 September 1905), p. 308.

Unlike most inspection engines, the Chicago was built from scratch for the task. Its house extended from stack to footplate and was divided by a partition in front of the cab. The front room measured 12 feet long and had benches along the sides and two raised seats along the back. Especially thick boiler lagging protecting the occupants from the worst of the boiler's heat."

Class F / C-11 (Locobase 5233)

Data from a reproduction of the New York Central's 1902 Locomotive guide found on http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/ncy-lbp103.gif (visited December 2002). These are higher-drivered C-10s with more boiler tubes, a deeper firebox (which accounts for all the increase in firebox heating area), and a higher boiler pressure.

Rome and Schenectady shared the production of the first 10 in March 1889. 1004-1007 (built by Rome in 1890) originally were included in the C-6 class, but as their only difference from the C-11s was a lower boiler pressure (145 psi), they were moved to the C-11s.

Class G // C-12/C-12A (Locobase 5234)

Data from a reproduction of the New York Central's 1902 Locomotive guide found on http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/ncy-lbp105.gif (visited December 2002). Also from Schenectady Locomotive Works, Illustrated Catalogue of Simple and Compound Locomotives (Philadelphia: J B Lippincott, 1897), pp. 30-31

Locobase had thought these might be freight-oriented Americans because of the emphasis on tractive power shown in the higher boiler pressure and short-stroke cylinders. But the 1897 Schenectady Catalogue said this class operated the "...suburban trains ...out of New York City."

The C-12s had a large and relatively shallow firebox. C-12A was one locomotive (1049) that had 18" x 22" cylinders.

Class H / C-13 (Locobase 5235)

Data from a reproduction of the New York Central's 1902 Locomotive guide found on http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/ncy-lbp107.gif (visited December 2002). Very similar to the C-8s of the same vintage, but with slightly more distance between the tube sheets and a larger grate. (Curiously, the grate was much shallower, hence the lower total firebox heating surface.)

Class I / C (Locobase 5225)

Data from a reproduction of the New York Central's 1902 Locomotive guide found on http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/ncy-lbp85.gif (visited December 2002).

Although delivered originally in 1890, this class was rebuilt with extended wagon top boilers in 1901-1904. Given the date of the guide, it's likely that the data refer to that latter version.

Class I-1 / CB (Locobase 3937)

Data from a reproduction of the New York Central's 1902 Locomotive guide found on http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/ncy-lbp87.gif (visited December 2002).

A Railroad Gazette article of 26 October 1900 traced the evolution of the American-type locomotive used on the Empire State Express. RG comments about all three classes: "The engines are not intended to world beaters, but to perform the special work to which they are assigned in pulling the Empire State ExPress and to do it readily with always a safe steam reserve."

These were soon redesignated as CB. The first five were delivered in 1896, the other 6 in 1898. One of the latter was credited in the guide to the West Albany shops.

Class I-2 // CC / CD (Locobase 3938)

A Railroad Gazette article of 26 October 1900 traced the evolution of the American-type locomotive used on the Empire State Express. The I-2 is simply the I-1 with smaller drivers. These were soon redesignated as CC (Schenectady engines) and 2 CD (from the shops). The first five were delivered in 1896, the others in 1898.

RG comments about all three classes: "The engines are not intended to world beaters, but to perform the special work to which they are assigned in pulling the Empire State Express and to do it readily with always a safe steam reserve." Designed by the Central's prolific and well-known Superintendent of Motive Power William Buchanan.

Data from a reproduction of the New York Central's 1902 Locomotive guide found on http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/ncy-lbp86.gif (visited December 2002).

Class I-3 / C-3 (Locobase 3939)

Data from Railroad Gazette (26 October 1900).

The RG report traced the evolution of the American-type locomotive used on the Empire State Express. RG comments about all three classes: "The engines are not intended to world beaters, but to perform the special work to which they are assigned in pulling the Empire State Exress and to do it readily with always a safe steam reserve."

It notes that the I-3s were substantially different from the earlier classes in the boiler is considerably larger and has a straighter top line. It was a radial stay boiler instead of the earlier crown bar type. There's plenty of steam available as a result.

Most data from a reproduction of the New York Central's 1902 Locomotive guide found on http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/ncy-lbp89.gif (visited December 2002). This is the source of the 12' 1" tube sheet distance used in the specs, rather than RG's 11' 6".

Class Inspection Engine C-100 (Locobase 14450)

Data from P&LE 1 - 1908 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

This inspection engine was originally delivered by Pittsburgh Locomotive Works in March 1893 as the first of three Eight-wheelers (works numbers 1412-1414; road 96-98)). The other two were sold off by 1905 with 97 going to the Annapolis, Washington & Baltimore as their #10 and 98 to Chesapeake Beach Railroad as their #6.

The 96 was simply converted into an inspection vehicle by adding a long cab to the existing boiler and frame. It seems likely therefore that the data above also serve for the other two locomotives.

The engineer and fireman operated the engine at the back of the cab while the inspection team boarded via a winding stair at the front that admitted the boarder through doors located just behind the stack and cylinders.. Locobase's view is only from the right-hand side, so he can't say for sure if another such stair was on the left side. Other locomotives with similar arrangements had boarding stairs on each side and the boiler would have blocked crosswise movement.

Class N / C-14 (Locobase 1116)

Data from a reproduction of the New York Central's 1902 Locomotive guide found on http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/ncy-lbp86.gif (visited December 2002). Similar data found in Hollingsworth (1982) and Scientific American. See also Robert Tufnell, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Railway Locomotives (London: Quarto Publishing Ltd, 1986).

Tufnell gives cylinder dimensions of 18 1/2 x 26, heating surface of 1,895 sq ft (176 sq m) and a grate area of 32.3 sq ft.

Given either set of specifications, with one exception the numbers are just average and don't suggest a locomotive that could hit 112 mph as was claimed in 1893.

Perhaps the source of 999's magical run was in the firebox area, which hit an impressive 12% of total evaporative heating surface and thus may have steamed more freely than its contemporaries. At a 2 ft (610 mm) stroke and the 1,750 fpm (55.4 metres/min) piston speed this locomotive would have attained at 112 mph (180 km/h), however, each piston reversed direction more than 7 times every second. It's far more likely that the observers were mistaken and that 999 didn't come close to such a speed.

Driver diameter was later reduced to 78", then to 70".

Class Pony (Locobase 5386)

Data from table in the June 1907 AERJ. See also "Some Interesting Types of Locomotive Development," Railway Master Mechanic, Vol XXX, #9 (September 1906), pp. 298-300.

This intriguingly named locomotive had some odd features for an American American -- not least the four small HP cylinders. Pony was built as an inspection engine and its most physically striking feature was the long gallery that extended forward from the cab along the boiler nearly to the smokebox. Spiral staircases leading up from either side of the pilot gave access to this well-heated space.

The cylinders were arranged en banc (sometimes called "in battery"), that is, side by side. Each outside cylinder and its nearest inside mate used a common piston valve

Class Q (Locobase 2150)

Data from 1899 Brooks catalogue.

Builder info from B.Rumary, 25 Kingscombe, Gurney Slade, Radstock, BA3 4TH, ENGLAND and Jeremy Lambert as supplied by Allen Stanley in March 2004. Works #2256-2260, produced in March 1893.

The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern was a subsidiary of the New York Central. Under the catalogue listing, Brooks claims that during the 1893 Chicago Exposition, this engine pulled the "Exposition Flyer" from New York to Chicago. The catalogue adds "Near Elkhart, Ind, this engine attained a speed of 10.2 miles in less than six minutes, or at the rate of over 102 miles per hour."

In H H Vaughan's 1903 paper on the "Value of Heating Surface" (published in the 1903-1904 Official Proceedings of the Western Railway Club (pp 245-246), the Q appears with slightly different heating surface areas: 1,234 sq ft for the tubes, 155 sq ft in the firebox for a total value of 1,389 sq ft and a grate area of 18.4 sq ft.. Vaughan also characterizes the class as "very delicate steamers".

Road #94 went to the Houston East & West Texas Railway as their #8 and #598 became that road's #9. The online Handbook of Texas -- http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/HH/eqh14.html -- has some choice information about this small. Its nickname was the Rabbit and the intials HEWT were said to stand for Hell Either Way Taken. At its greatest length, the HE & WT ran 191 miles from Houston to the Sabine River with a further 40 miles on the Shreveport & Houston (an affiliated road) to Shreveport.

Even later, 598/9 became Texas & New Orleans #200 when that line took over the HE & WT in 1934. The other 3 were included in the New York Central's roster as 4107-4109.

Class Q-4 (Locobase 8570)

Data from In H H Vaughan's 1903 paper on the "Value of Heating Surface" (published in the 1903-1904 Official Proceedings of the Western Railway Club (pp 245-246).

Vaughan gives a passing salute to this class "...a good eight-wheeled freight engine, the class that is seldom heard from." The data suggest a design from the early 1880s, but the 1885 date is a Locobase estimate.

Class R (Locobase 8569)

Data from In H H Vaughan's 1903 paper on the "Value of Heating Surface" (published in the 1903-1904 Official Proceedings of the Western Railway Club (pp 245-246).

Vaughan gives no details about the provenance of this design and comments only "...an 18-inch passenger engine, a fair engine but not remarkably good." He is speaking in particular of the locomotive's steaming qualities.

Class Virginia (Locobase 13518)

Data from "Trial of Engines on Boston & Albany RR", Locomotive Engineers Journal, Volume IX, No 10 (October 1875), p. 541.

Locobase 13516 describes the trials run between this locomotive and the Mogul named Brown in which the Virginia proved more economical (as did its older sister, Adirondack). Both of the Eight-wheelers were designed by the B & A's Master Mechanic Wilson Eddy, a well-known locomotive builder of his day. (See Locobase 13519 for a discussion of Eddy's design philosophy, much of which is evident in our description of both Eddy engines here and in Locobase 13517.)

Both of the Eight-wheelers had straight boilers "...without dome, with perforated pipe, throttle valve in smoke box." The author considered that the "distinctive difference" lay in shorter ports that measured only 10 in long and 1 1/4 in wide. shorter ports that measured only 10 in long and 1 1/4 in wide.

See Locobase 13517 for further discussion of these two engines.