Class A1 (Locobase 8200)

Data from St Louis-Southwestern diagram from p 55 of Joseph A Strapac, Cotton Belt Locomotives (Huntington, Calif: Shade Tree Books, 1977, reprinted in 1999 by Indiana University Press), supplemented by data from StL&SW 1 - 1932 Folio 725 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection. Works numbers were 551-553 in October 1886, 554-557 in November, 558-560 in December, 561 in January 1887, 562-563 in February, and 564-565 in March.

As Strapac notes, these Eight-wheelers fell on the small side of contemporary 4-4-0 designs. As traffic demands grew on the StL, A & T (as on all other railroads in the late 1890s), these little engines were outmatched by the trains now required. Retirements began at that time with a big reduction in 1911. By 1914, only 9 of both the A1 and B1 classes combined remained. Two went to Jonesboro, Lake City & Eastern.

Class B2 (Locobase 8431)

Data from St Louis-Southwestern diagram from p 50 of Joseph A Strapac, Cotton Belt Locomotives (Huntington, Calif: Shade Tree Books, 1977, reprinted in 1999 by Indiana University Press)

Strapac explains that these locomotives were originally delivered to operate on the 6-foot gauge of the Erie system. Some were built by the New Jersey-based Atlantic & Great Western itself, others by Rogers. In 1879, the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio reduced the gauge to standard and modified the locomotives accordingly. When the Saint Louis-Southwestern converted from 3' gauge to standard in 1886, the Erie made 25 of these locomotives available for a pittance.

As it turned out, the clapped-out Eries weren't worth much more than that and the StL-SW undertook a rebuild:"...the bell was jacked up and a new locomotive slid underneath; virtually nothing was left that could be called original. In fact, three were converted to cross-compounds."

The dozen locomotives rebuilt in 1894-1899 proved useful branchline engines for another 3 decades. Two were scrapped in 1909, while the rest left in the late 1920s. Five were scrapped in 1927, 1 in 1928, 1 in 1929, and the last in 1933.

Class C2 (Locobase 8462)

(Note: Official name for the Cotton Belt was St. Louis-Southwestern.)

Data from StL&SW 1 - 1932 Folio 725 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

The first 7 of these Eight-wheelers came from Rogers' Paterson, NY works in 1900. Pittsburgh added 4 more in May 1901 (works #2253-2257), and Rogers, now formally part of the Alco combine, supplied the remainder in 1903. Most used Stephenson link motion for the slide valves, but at least 3 were retrofitted with Walschaert gear.

One of the class -- #40 -- later substituted one thermic syphon for the 15 sq ft of arch tubes in the original firebox. The subtraction and addition netted 18 sq ft in the firebox, but only 7 sq ft overall, so the tradeoff may have been seen as not worth the effort.

The class was retired over a long period, 17 years being required to withdraw all 18 engines.

Class D1 (Locobase 8463)

(Note: Official name for the Cotton Belt was St. Louis-Southwestern.)

Data from StL&SW 1 - 1932 Folio 725 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection. Works numbers were 29505, 29517, 29545, 29557, 29566 in November 1906.

Entering service 3 years after the Alco bunch (Locobase 8463), this set of Baldwins were larger and had longer boilers (although fewer tubes). They also were coal-fired.

They were all retired in 1933 (58-59, 61 in March, 62 in April, and 60 in May).