San Francisco & North Pacific / Northwestern Pacific / Arizona & New Mexico / South Pacific Coast / San Antonio & Aransas Pass / Texas & New Orleans / Central Pacific / Houston & Texas Central / Alamagordo & Sacramento Mountain / Southern Pacific / Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio 4-4-0 "American" Type Locomotives

Class 1 (Locobase 7237)

Data from the SA&AP 6 - 1917 Locomotive Diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection. (See Locobase 7235 for a description of this SouthEast Texas railroad.)

This pair of Baldwins (works #7626, 7628) were the first SA & AP engines, if their original road numbers are any guide. They stayed with the railroad until the mid-teens.

Class 13 (Locobase 8160)

Originally operated by the Santa Fe as their #25 Colorado Springs (and renumbered #7, then #45), this Baldwin Eight-wheeler came to the California Northwestern some time later as its #6. Once part of the NWP in 1907, it was renumbered 13.

The 13 was retired in 1929.

Class 21 (Locobase 11523)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines, 1903, as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University - their catalogue Vol 26, p. 176. Works number was 23392 in December 1903.

Connelly credits it to the Alamarogdo & Sacramento Mountain, but the Specifications state that the tender will be lettered "A & NM Ry".

Class 24 (Locobase 8165)

Data from the NWP 10 - 1950 Locomotive Diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection. See the excellent roster on http://ncespee.railfan.net/rosters/oldnwptxtros.html, access 9 February 2007. Works number was 24035 in April 1904.

This Baldwin Eight-wheeler went into service as the SF & NP as their #24. Three years later, the Northwestern Pacific took over the locomotive and renumbered it #21. As happened to the other 4-4-0s from the early days of Redwood Empire railroading, this engine was scrapped in the late 1930s.

Class 36 (Locobase 7236)

Data from the SA&AP 6 - 1917 Locomotive Diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection. Builder's numbers were 606-607, 610-611, 613, 690.

The SA & AP was chartered in 1884 to build a line between San Antonio and the Aransas Bay on the Gulf of Mexico near Corpus Christi. Over the next 16 years, lines radiated from San Antonio to Corpus Christi, Kerrville, and, through Kenedy (sic) Junction to Houston. From the latter line, another line ran northwest from Yoakum to Waco. The excellent Texas History site says that by 1891, the SA & AP comprised 688 main-line miles.

Possibly the railroad grew too fast. In any event, it had entered receivership in 1890. The Southern Pacific acquired it in 1892, but was forced by the Railroad Commission of Texas to divest itself of the road in 1903. Further extension south towards Brownsville on the Mexican border at the mouth of the Rio Grande was begun, but not completed for 20 years.

In 1925, the ICC gave permission to the Espee to take control of the SA & AP. The Espee leased the railroad to the Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio Railway for a few years until it was merged into the Texas & New Orleans, a major component of the Southern Pacific, in 1934.

Class 38 (Locobase 7235)

Data from the SA&AP 6 - 1917 Locomotive Diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection. Builder's numbers were 608-609.

The SA & AP was chartered in August 1884 to build a railroad between San Antonio and Aransas Bay at Corpus Christi. The distance of the mainline was 135 miles.

Class 50 (Locobase 7238)

Data from the SA&AP 6 - 1917 Locomotive Diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection. (See Locobase 7235 for a description of this SouthEast Texas railroad.) Locobase guesses that the diagram is wrong on the tube diameter (it says 2") because the tube length and number doesn't permit so large a heating surface otherwise.

For some reason, the SA & AP treated these locomotives as belonging to distinct classes, but the available data is identical except for the wheelbases. 50 had the driving wheelbase shown in the specs, 54-56 measured 1/2" longer at 8' 6" (8.5 ft) , 51 lengthened to 8' 9" (8.75 ft) and 153 had a 9' wheelbase. 51's diagram doesn't show engine wheelbase, but 153's shows 23' 10" (23.83 ft) and a total engine-and-tender wheelbase of 60' 7" (60.58 ft). 153 also put more adhesion weight on the rail with 67,300 lb, which produced an engine weight of 103,700 lb.

They were typical mixed-traffic turn-of-the-century Eight-wheelers and the SA & AP got them second-hand beginning in 1908 (50 & 51), 1909 (153), and 1910 (54-56)

Class 51 (Locobase 8166)

Interesting quartet of Eight-wheelers (works #54580-54583) with small first courses in their boilers compared to the much larger barrel behind the taper. The small steam dome sat over the first driven axle. Another key feature was the design's size, which came quite a bit bigger than most other NWP locomotives of any arrangement.

These engines, like all of the other NWP 4-4-0s, were scrapped in the late 1930s as passenger traffic dwindled.

Class 60 / E-40 (Locobase 8657)

Data from the T&NO 3 -1932 Locomotive Diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Bought only a few years before the SA & AP was leased to the Texas & New Orleans (itself wholly owned by the Southern Pacific), this quartet of Eight-wheelers (works #55390-55393) offers plenty of surprises. Certainly the pains taken to generate useful steam stand out in these small locomotives. A large firebox with an equally imposing grate provides generous direct heating surface, supplemented by a tidy superheater layout.

This class served Texas railroading right through World War II and beyond. Two went to the ferro-knacker's yard in 1947 (223 in September, 222 in December); the other two served until 1954, when 221 was scrapped and 220 was sold to Louisiana Engineering as their #1 in September.

Class 70 / E-39 (Locobase 8653)

Data from the T&NO 3 -1932 Locomotive Diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection. Works numbers were 58084-58087, 58096 in November 1924.

For some reason, when the SA & AP went back to Baldwin for more small Eight-wheelers, they shrank the design still further from that of the 60s that went into service in 1922 (Locobase 8657). The cylinders were narrowed by an inch, the boiler and grate both shrank, and the axle loading dropped by 2 tons.

Apparently the size was satisfactory for the service as the engines served the SA & AP and the Texas & New Orleans (which leased the SA & AP later in the 1920s) as the E-39 class right through World War II, after which they all headed to scrapyard in March-April 1947.

Class 854 (Locobase 11111)

Data from Schenectady Locomotive Works, Illustrated Catalogue of Simple and Compound Locomotives (Philadelphia: J B Lippincott, 1897), pp. 22-25 and from T&NO 3 - 1932 Locomotive Diagrams books supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

These were delivered as saturated-steam engines sold to a variety of SP lines. The Schenectady catalogue shows both Southern Pacific and the Houston & Texas Central. They were all later superheated, according to the Texas & New Orleans diagram book, which records the following original numbers:

1895 production

H & TC 240-249

1899

L W 250-252

T & NO 253-256

G H & SA 256-258

All were superheated to a common design; see Locobase 8654.

Class 9 (Locobase 8159)

The Redwood Empire Route was founded in the early 1900s as a joint venture by the Southern Pacific and the Santa Fe to open up the thousands of acres of old-growth redwood forests in Northern California. A history of the Northwestern Pacific published on a dedicated website -- http://sunnyfortuna.com/railroad/index.htm -- says that the NWP eventually comprised over 60 logging railroads.

It was opened in 1907 and absorbed the Eureka and Klamath in 1914. In 1929 the Espee bought out the AT & SF's share.

These 4-4-0s originally went to the San Francisco & North Pacific (renamed California Northwestern in 1893 and incorporated into the NWP in 1907). These Eight-wheelers came to the SF & NP in two groups - 2 in 1883 (works #1664-1665) and one in 1888. 9 & 10 bore the names Marin and Healdsburg, respectively. 10 was scrapped in 1937, 14 in 1938, and 9 was converted to a stationary boiler in 1938.

Class 90 (Locobase 8167)

Class 91 (Locobase 8168)

Apparently based on the design shown in Locobase 8167, this engine had a quite-different firebox and tube arrangement. In addition to disposing 9 fewer tubes, the locomotive apparently had some arch tubes as the grate area was smaller and the firebox heating surface area was substantially larger.

Class 93 (Locobase 8169)

Data from the NWP 10 - 1950 Locomotive Diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

A small Eight-wheeler whose provenance is given on the Northwestern Pacific roster presented on http://ncespee.railfan.net/rosters/oldnwptxtros.html, last accessed 22 September 2007. Baldwin works number was 7249.

Class CA / E-1 (Locobase 8703)

Data from the SP Menke All-Time Steam Locomotive Diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

1432 was a survivor of three locomotives when it was scrapped in 1928. ocobase cannot say. The 6' 1" drivers show it to have been a fast passenger locomotive at one point. And the general layout, with the cylindrical dome right over the crown sheet suggests 19th Century (ca. 1880s).

Class CB / E-2 & E-6 (Locobase 8704)

Data from the SP Menke All-Time Steam Locomotive Diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

A dozen of these locomotives formed two subclasses. Locobase guesses, based on the 1898 Pacific Division Classification, that E-2 consisted of those numbered in the 200 series (210-212, 223-225) and E-6 the 300 series (377-382).

Class Cloverdale (Locobase 8161)

Among the first to operate for the SF & NP, these two bore road number 6-7 and were named Cloverdale and Petaluma, respectively. When the Northwestern Pacific took over the SF & NP, these engines were renumbered.

Class E-22 (Locobase 8654)

Data from the T&NO 3 - 1932 Locomotive Diagrams books supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection. The date for superheating is estimated.

These were delivered as saturated-steam engines and later superheated, perhaps by the Texas & New Orleans Railroad to which they were later sold.

Class E-23 (Locobase 8705)

Data from the T&NO 3 - 1932 Locomotive Diagrams books supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection is the source for specifications. See also the Espee's promotional magazine The Sunset, vol 4, #2 (December 1899) p. 76. Cooke produced several batches for both the Espee and the Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio. Works numbers were 2487-2491 in November 1899 for SP 1100-1104 , 2573-2586 in September 1900 for SP 1105-1118, and 2587-2590 in September 1900 for GH & SA 925-928

Although renumbered 261-265, the 5 for the GH & SA retained its herald until 1 March 1927 when the railway was leased to the Texas & New Orleans.

The Sunset article noted that "These new locomotives have a capacity for drawing twelve to fifteen car trains on fairly level track at an emergency speed of 80 to 85 miles per hour, and will prove a very important addition to the already large motive power equipment of the Southern Pacific, increasing the efficiency of passenger service and going far to insure punctual arrival at terminals."

Locobase believes the class was superheated before then; see Locobase 8655 for the result.

Seven years later, on 30 June 1934, the GH & SA independent identity was merged with that of the T & NO.

At that time, according to the Handbook of Texas, the GH & SA operated 40% of the SP's trackage in Texas, a total of 1,345 miles.

Class E-23 - superheated (Locobase 8655)

Data from the SP Menke All-Time Locomotive Diagrams books supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection is the source for specifications.

Like many SP engines, regardless of origins, this class acquired a superheater. In this case, probably because of the small boiler, the tube-flue tradeoff didn't yield an impressive ratio of superheated area. On the other hand, it was drier steam.

The quintet served into the 1940s, the first being retired in 1941, the last in 1951.

Class E-24 (Locobase 8706)

Data from the SP Menke All-Time Steam Locomotive Diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Locobase can't tell when these engines were built or by whom. They came to the SP after 1898, he believes, because their numbers are higher than the highest numbers on the Classification list prepared that year by the Pacific Division.

Class E-27 (Locobase 8714)

Data from the SP Menke All-Time Steam Locomotive Diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection. Works numbers were 36195-36204 in March 1911 and 36376-36380 in April.

This set of Eight-wheelers came in a two batches: They may well have been delivered with superheaters.

Big for 4-4-0s, the class lasted only about 2 decades in light passenger service before being scrapped from August 1935 to February 1936.

Class E-35 (Locobase 8715)

Data from the SP Menke All-Time Steam Locomotive Diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection. Works number was 23392 in December 1903.

One of the treats for the Locobase compiler (moi) is discovering obscure railways through the locomotives they passed along to more enduring lines. So while this little Eight-wheeler wound up on the Espee via the El Paso & Southwestern via the El Paso & Northeastern, it started out with the "Cloud-Climbing Railway".

The A & SM was chartered to connect the newly founded Alamagordo with the projected "Cloudcroft", a resort farther up in the mountains. The Mountain Monthly website -- http://www.mountainmonthly.com/logging.html, accessed 8 September 2007 -- presents a long article about the real objective, which was to cart logs down from the summit of the Sacramento Mountains. To achieve this goal, the railroad had to ascend 4,000 ft over a winding 26-mile line to a maximum of 8,700 ft, the highest elevation reached by a standard-gauge railroad. The line was finally torn up in 1947.

The 21 (later the 97 and still later the 1415) didn't last anywhere nearly that long, being scrapped in November 1925.

Class E-36 (Locobase 8716)

Data from the SP Menke All-Time Steam Locomotive Diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection. Works number was 32290 in November 1907.

Four years after the A & SM took delivery of a smallish, 63" Eight-wheeler (Locobase 8715), it went back to Baldwin for this larger version that had taller drivers. As hilly and twisting as was the A & SM, it's hard to figure where the railway could put even 67" drivers to use. And the diagram's optimistic calculation that at 60 mph, the driver rpm would 301, probably doesn't reflect actual service conditions.