Class 25 (Locobase 2148)

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 #2427-2429, produced in May 1894.

Narrow firebox measured 7 ft long by 35" wide.

Class A1 - 400 (Locobase 7664)

Data from ACL 1930 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection. Production date is estimated.

Apparently preserved in the 1930 book as an homage to the railroad's early days, the diagram does not show builder or year. But all signs point to the 1870s at the latest. The cabbage stack forward, low-pressure boiler, small heating surface area and grate all suggest sometime in that decade. See Locobase 7665 for another example from the same period.

Class A1 - 401 (Locobase 7665)

Data from ACL 1930 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection. Production date is estimated.

This pair of locomotives may have been older than the 400 shown in Locobase 7364. As with that engine, their appearance in a 1930 diagram book must have stood as a memorial to the 1870s.

Class D (Locobase 7350)

Data from ACL 1913 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

These cabbage-stackers were part of the Atlantic Coast Line's dowry when it was formed in 1900.

The gracefully drawn elevation shows a typical Eight-wheeler of the time with its ornate steam dome perched over the firebox's crown sheet. The firebox itself nestled deeply between the driving axles. A smaller steam dome sat on the first boiler course just ahead of the front driving axle.

Rogers built four of the locomotives for the Wilmington & Weldon. Meanwhile, another constituent -- eventually named the Atlantic Coast Line of South Carolina -- had purchased 7 identical engines.

The W & W was one of the principal predecessors, first as the Wilmington and Raleigh that began service in 1840, having completed the Wilmington-to-Weldon route that was at the time the world's longest railroad. (according to the North Carolina Business History website http://www.historync.org/railroad-WWRR.htm entry, accessed 31 Dec 2005).

In 1854, the railroad acquired its Wilmington & Weldon identity. By 1859, the W & W operated schedules day and night between Wilmington & Weldon. ( See the schedule at http://docsouth.unc.edu/nc/wwrr1859/wwrr1859.html (accessed 31 Dec 2005).) The express trips took 8 hours and had numerous flag stops. Over time the W & W combined and consumed several other railroads.

Class F-1 (Locobase 7354)

Data from ACL 1913 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Three years after Rogers delivered locomotives to the Wilmington & Weldon and the ACL of South Carolina, they repeated the order with slightly larger engines. The ACL-SC received 4, the W & W 2. In most respects, they were identical to the earlier locomotives, but all of the dimensions had been enlarged to a degree. Like most of the other ACL classes, these engines operated for decades.

Class F/F-2 (Locobase 7355)

Data from ACL 1913 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

A large collection of Eight-wheelers came into the ACL in 1900 when it was formed out of several predecessors. This particular group was the most numerous and had stocked 4 railroads as follows:

The ACL of South Carolina - 24 locomotives (504-527)

Wilmington & Weldon - 17 locomotives (123-135, 141-144)

ACL of Virginia - 13 locomotives (387-399)

Norfolk & Carolina -- 6 locomotives

Class H (Locobase 7352)

Data from ACL 1930 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

As far as Locobase can determine from the diagram in the book, this pair were originally produced as Vauclain compounds. The tiny HP cylinders took the steam first, then shared it with the not-so-very-much larger LP cylinders. They were later converted to simple expansion; see Locobase 7675.

Class H - simpled (Locobase 7675)

Data from ACL 1930 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Although similar in many ways to the D class that were delivered to the W & W ten years earlier (Locobase 7350), these Eight-wheelers were larger, operated at a higher pressure, and stood on taller drivers. This pair originally were delivered as Vauclain compounds (Locobase 7352). To convert them to simple-expansion,, It appears that the ACL simply removed the smaller cylinders

When the ACL printed their 1930 diagram book, they still were listed as active.