Chicago & Alton 2-8-0 "Consolidation" Type Locomotives

Class H Odd (Locobase 9099)

Data from C&A 6 - 1918, 12 - 1920 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Who knows for what reason the Alton retained this "odd" Consolidation? It was quite small, more than a decade older than any of the other 2-8-0s, and did indeed have the odd cylinder dimensions of 17" diameter by 26" bore. But there it was in 1924, slide valves and tall skinny stack, high dome over the second coupled axle, no superheat.

Class H1 (Locobase 9055)

Data from C&A 12 - 1920 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

The specifications show the locomotives as delivered in their full, saturated-boiler state. A smallish grate saw some compensation in the relatively generous firebox heating surface. Steam admission came through 12" piston valves.

A later diagram (from 1930) shows that 15 tubes were removed (or simply blanked out) and the firebox heating surface was reduced by a small amount and the grate had narrowed by an inch and a quarter. By this time, several had been superheated; see Locobase 9056.

Class H1 - superheated / E-46 (Locobase 9056)

Data from C&A 12 - 1920 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Superheated in the usual way by the Alton in the 1920s, the H1 lost 160 tubes, but gained a useful amount of superheat in the flues. The 12"piston valves still served the cylinders and the small grate had not grown dramatically (it had in fact shrunk a bit), but the overall heating surface loss was low and the railroad pressed the boiler to its original pressure.

The result was a relatively light drag freighter with a short boiler that extracted quite a bit of added power from the original design.

Class H2 (Locobase 9097)

Data from C&A 6 - 1918, 12 - 1920 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection. Works numbers ran 20623-20624 (June 1902), 20638-

20639, 20658-20659, 20682-20683, 20722, 20743 (July 1902).

These Consolidations stand as good representatives of the upper limit of tube count in a saturated boiler. 442 holes in a tube plate must have represented something of a maintenance nightmare. Otherwise, the designs had the usual features for a turn-of-the-century 2-8-0, including 12" piston valves. All of these were later superheated; see Locobase 9098.

Class H2A / E-47A (Locobase 9098)

Data from C&A 6 - 1918, 12 - 1920 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Delivered with a saturated boiler stuffed with boiler tubes (see Locobase 9097), this class later adopted a modestly scaled superheater installation that, even so, nearly offset the the loss in heating surface from sacrificing 191 tubes for 36 flues. Unlike other C & A updates, this design retained its Stephenson valve gear.

Class H3 (Locobase 9092)

Data from C&A 12 - 1920 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection. Works numbers 25966, 25982, 25991-25992, 25995, 26001, 26012-26013, 26042, 26051 (July 1907) and. 28176, 28225, 28249, 28250, 28266-28269, 28275, 28338 (May 1906).

Steam admission came through 12" piston valves.

Most engines in this class were superheated; see Locobase 9093.

Class H3 - superheated / E-48 (Locobase 9093)

Data from C&A 12 - 1920 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection. Works numbers 25966, 25982, 25991-25992, 25995, 26001, 26012-26013, 26042, 26051 (July 1907) and. 28176, 28225, 28249, 28250, 28266-28269, 28275, 28338 (May 1906).

Steam admission came through 12" piston valves.

The medium-sized Consolidations that came to the C & A in 1905-1906 lost very little heating surface area when they were superheated. Thus the superheat added more than the usual power to the basic design. These drag freighters served the Alton, then the Baltimore & Ohio through the end of the 1940s.

Class H7 (Locobase 9094)

Data from C&A 12 - 1920 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

These were substantial Consolidations with drivers tall enough to serve main-line freight trains. Steam admission came through relatively capacious 14" piston valves.

All of this class were superheated; see Locobase 9095.

Class H7 - superheater / E-49 (Locobase 9095)

Data from C&A 12 - 1920 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Originally supplied as saturated-steam engines in 1909-1910 (Locobase 9094), this class was superheated in the 1920s. Unusually for such conversions, the exchange of tubes for flues resulted in a net gain in total evaporative heating surface. Possessing such healthy steam production and relatively capacious 14" piston valves, this locomotive proved serviceable in a variety of roles to the end of the steam era.

Class H8 / E-50 (Locobase 9096)

Data from C&A 6 - 1918, 12 - 1920 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Compared to the Consolidations supplied by the same builder in the previous year (Locobase 9094) , these engines had smaller boilers and drivers. Also, they were never superheated. Even so, they were taken into the Baltimore & Ohio's roster when that railroad took over the Alton in 1931.

Specifications
ClassH OddH1H1 - superheated / E-46H2H2A / E-47AH3H3 - superheated / E-48H7H7 - superheater / E-49H8 / E-50
Locobase ID9099905590569097909890929093909490959096
RailroadChicago & AltonChicago & AltonChicago & AltonChicago & AltonChicago & AltonChicago & AltonChicago & AltonChicago & AltonChicago & AltonChicago & Alton
Whyte2-8-02-8-02-8-02-8-02-8-02-8-02-8-02-8-02-8-02-8-0
Road Numbers499400-409400-409 /2612-15, 2960-65420-429 / 450-596450-459/ 2957-2966410-429410+ / 2967-2986430-439430-439 / 2987-2986440-442 / 2997-2999
GaugeStdStdStdStdStdStdStdStdStdStd
BuilderBrooksBrooksC & ABurnham, Williams & CoC & ABurnham, Williams & CoC & AAlco-BrooksC & AAlco-Brooks
Year1890190019221902192219051922190919241910
Valve GearStephensonStephensonStephensonStephensonStephensonStephensonStephensonBakerBakerWalschaert
Locomotive Length and Weight
Driver Wheelbase14.42'15.75'15.75'15.60'15.60'15.67'15.67'17.79'17.79'14.33'
Engine Wheelbase22.58'24.25'24.25'24.33'24.33'24.33'24.33'26.79'26.79'22.08'
Ratio of driving wheelbase to overall engine wheebase 0.64 0.65 0.65 0.64 0.64 0.64 0.64 0.66 0.66 0.65
Overall Wheelbase (engine & tender)44.15'54.85'54.06'54.54'54.54'55.42'55.42'58.17'58.17'54.24'
Axle Loading (Maximum Weight per Axle)44500 lbs49000 lbs53000 lbs
Weight on Drivers80000 lbs170000 lbs170000 lbs180500 lbs180500 lbs184860 lbs184860 lbs203500 lbs203500 lbs172000 lbs
Engine Weight95000 lbs189000 lbs189000 lbs200000 lbs200000 lbs207360 lbs207360 lbs228000 lbs228000 lbs192000 lbs
Tender Light Weight75000 lbs130680 lbs136800 lbs143000 lbs143000 lbs136680 lbs136680 lbs166600 lbs166600 lbs126500 lbs
Total Engine and Tender Weight170000 lbs319680 lbs325800 lbs343000 lbs343000 lbs344040 lbs344040 lbs394600 lbs394600 lbs318500 lbs
Tender Water Capacity3000 gals6000 gals6000 gals7000 gals7000 gals6000 gals6000 gals8250 gals8250 gals6000 gals
Tender Fuel Capacity (oil/coal)6 tons15 tons16 tons15 tons15 tons15 tons15 tons16 tons16 tons12 tons
Minimum weight per yard of rail on which locomotive could run33.33 lb rail70.83 lb rail70.83 lb rail75.21 lb rail75.21 lb rail77.03 lb rail77.03 lb rail84.79 lb rail84.79 lb rail71.67 lb rail
Geometry Relating to Tractive Effort
Driver Diameter48"57"57"57"57"57"57"62"62"51"
Boiler Pressure160 psi200 psi200 psi200 psi200 psi200 psi200 psi200 psi200 psi185 psi
Cylinders (dia x stroke)17" x 26"21" x 32"21" x 32"22" x 28"22" x 28"22" x 30"22" x 30"23" x 30"22.5" x 30"21" x 28"
Tractive Effort21290 lbs42088 lbs42088 lbs40418 lbs40418 lbs43305 lbs43305 lbs43515 lbs41643 lbs38073 lbs
Factor of Adhesion (Weight on Drivers/Tractive Effort) 3.76 4.04 4.04 4.47 4.47 4.27 4.27 4.68 4.89 4.52
Heating Ability
Firebox Area99.80 sq. ft241 sq. ft238 sq. ft182.20 sq. ft197.80 sq. ft214.80 sq. ft237.50 sq. ft197 sq. ft219.70 sq. ft173 sq. ft
Grate Area22.75 sq. ft35.30 sq. ft33.60 sq. ft54.30 sq. ft54.30 sq. ft33.60 sq. ft33.60 sq. ft33.60 sq. ft33.60 sq. ft54.40 sq. ft
Evaporative Heating Surface997284822263572286632522672337228832670
Superheating Surface489576576582
Combined Heating Surface997284827153572344232523248337234652670
Evaporative Heating Surface/Cylinder Volume145.96222.01173.52289.96232.65246.38202.44233.74208.82237.87
Computations Relating to Power Output (More Information)
Robert LeMassena's Power Computation3640706067201086010860672067206720672010064
Same as above plus superheater percentage364070607930.341086012677.3667207911.7267207848.7310064
Same as above but substitute firebox area for grate area159684820056173.263644046180.154296055923.653940051320.4032005
Power L12803.466002.9611577.886914.2113941.026227.2713018.096241.7313801.154952.30
Power MT309.03311.39600.58337.80681.10297.06621.01270.48598.06253.91

Credits

Introduction and specifications provided by Steve Llanso of Sweat House Media.

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