Class 10 / 150 (Locobase 6133)

Data from 1918 USRA diagram book of L&A locomotives supplied by Allen Stanley in March 2004. Works number was 24805 in November 1904.

The L & NW, headquartered in Homer, La, was a 114-mile railroad that connected Magnolia, Ark (about 40 miles east of Texarkana) with Natchitoches, La. It was formed in 1889 as a successor to the Louisiana North & South Railroad. Although projected to head toward Ft Smith, Ark, it never did so. It operated in receivership between 1913 and 1922

The Consolidation described here had very small drivers and a low axle loading, although its boiler was reasonably proportioned. After only 6 years with the L & NW, 10 was sold to the Louisiana & Arkansas logging road. In June 1922, the L & A sold the engine to the Grace Logging Company in Missouri.

Class H-0 (Locobase 9811)

Data from L&N 8 1927 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection. Baldwin works numbers included 17680 (April 1900), 18751 and 18818 (March 1901), 20014-20015 (January 1902), 22966-22967 (October 1903), and 23402 (December 1903).

The L & E came under Louisville & Nashville control in 1910, but continued to operate independently until 1915. This entire class retained its original configuration until scrapped. 659-660, 664-665 were scrapped in July 1933. The other half of the class lingered well into the late 1940s: 661went to the ferro-knacker in December 1948, 662 followed almost a year later in November 1949, 663 in March 1950, and 666 remained in service until March 1952.

Class H-10 (Locobase 9822)

Data from L&N 8 1927 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

When the L & N went back to Rogers two years after it took delivery of the H-9s (Locobase 9821), the Paterson, New Jersey builder produced a larger boiler with fewer but longer and larger-diameter tubes. Otherwise, the power dimensions and grate were essentially unchanged, although the boiler pressure climbed and the firebox continued to add direct heating surface.

Class H-12 (Locobase 9823)

Data from L&N 8 1927 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Locobase doesn't know for sure who built these locomotives or when, so both "Rogers" and "1897" are estimates. Comparing this H-12 to the H-10 from 1895 (Locobase 9822), however, suggests that the H-12 simply continued the Rogers design in most respects. Changes included a longer-stroke cylinder that actually reduced total volume slightly but made more use of each "lungful" and adding 22 small tubes to the boiler. Two other locomotives in this inferred batch saw still more changes; see Locobase 9824.

Class H-13 (Locobase 9824)

Data from L&N 8 1927 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Inferring from other evidence that these were Rogers engines of 1897 (like the H-12s described in Locobase 9823), Locobase notes that this pair differed from the H-12 in two important respects: a larger cylinder diameter and drivers standing 3" taller. Thus, the design developed more tractive effort while gaining some useful speed capability (relatively speaking, of course).

Class H-14 (Locobase 9825)

Data from L&N 8 1927 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Continuing in a speculative vein, Locobase contends that this class fills out the batch ordered from Rogers in ca. 1897 (see H-12 in Locobase 9823, H-13 in Locobase 9824). This class combines the 52" drivers of the H-12 with the larger cylinders of the H-13.

Class H-15 (Locobase 8138)

Data from L&N 8 1927 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

According to a compilation of Richmond locomotives by B.Rumary (25 Kingscombe, Gurney Slade, Radstock, BA3 4TH, ENGLAND) and supplied to Locobase by Allen Stanley in March 2004, works numbers were 2642-2651.

This class of Consolidations operated until 1928-1934.

Class H-16 (Locobase 2620)

Data from 1899 Brooks Catalogue, supplemented by L&N 8 1927 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

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 #3021-3035. Rumary & Lambert's Richmond listing says they supplied the middle 5 in this batch; works numbers for 890-894 were 2870-2874

The Brooks Catalogue's data is shown in the specifications; the L & N's 1927 is slightly different. This engine's most singular physical feature is the clerestory cab. Otherwise it's a relatively standard Consolidation with Improved Belpaire boiler and a fair number of large-bore flues.

After seeing a few go to the scrapyard in 1928-1930 (891, 896, 888 respectively), the class suffered a mass extinction in 1933 when all but one of the rest were retired including 9 on 30 September. Class leader 885 survived until 2 April 1934.

Class H-17 (Locobase 8139)

Data from L&N 8 1927 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Locobase knows that Richmond supplied the last 4 in this batch. According to a compilation of Richmond locomotives by B.Rumary (25 Kingscombe, Gurney Slade, Radstock, BA3 4TH, ENGLAND) and supplied to Locobase by Allen Stanley in March 2004, works numbers for 905-908 were 2875-2878 and they followed immediately Richmond's H16 locomotives (Locobase 2620).

Class H-18 (Locobase 3936)

Data from Railroad Gazette (26 Jan 1900), corrected and supplemented by L&N 8 1927 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

According to a compilation of Cooke locomotives by B.Rumary (25 Kingscombe, Gurney Slade, Radstock, BA3 4TH, ENGLAND) and supplied to Locobase by Allen Stanley in March 2004, works numbers were 2497-2501 (January 1900) and 2556-2565 in July 1900.

Very similar to the Brooks engines delivered in the same year. The drivers are slightly smaller and the boiler has 2 more tubes. As delivered, the boiler pressed 170 psi, the firebox heating surface measure 188 sq ft, grate area 28.4 sq ft, and total heating surface 2,022 sq ft. The data in the specifications come from 1927 and may represent a later batch.

This class of Consolidations operated until 1928-1934.

Class H-19 (Locobase 9826)

Data from L&N 8 1927 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

In its brief incarnation as "International Power", this Ocean State builder supplied 10 Consolidations that followed the design delivered by Cooke in the same year, but used 2" tubes instead the 2 1/4" of the Cookes. The result was less heating surface and a higher boiler demand factor.

Some members of this class remained in service until 1949.

Class H-2 (Locobase 9813)

Data from L&N 8 1927 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Locobase suspects that this locomotive's original dimensions didn't include a 180-psi boiler. The NY, WS & B sold the 149 to the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh in December 1886 for $7,175. The BR & P operated this doughty little Consolidation in class K for over 30 years before selling to the 8-mile Black Mountain Railroad in eastern Kentucky in 1919. The BM RR ran it as #1 from Blackmont to Alva even after the Louisville & Nashville bought the locomotive in 1923. After another ten years' service, the 667 was scrapped in July 1933 as part of a general clean-up and disposal.

Class H-20 (Locobase 9827)

Data from L&N 8 1927 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection. Cooke works numbers 2720-2729.

Class H-21 (Locobase 9766)

Data from Angus Sinclair, Railway and Locomotive Engineering, Vol XV, No 8 (August 1902), p. 366..

Turn-of-the-Century Consolidations with Belpaire fireboxes and a further increase in heating surface.

Class H-22 (Locobase 8140)

Data from L&N 8 1927 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

According to a compilation of Richmond locomotives by B.Rumary (25 Kingscombe, Gurney Slade, Radstock, BA3 4TH, ENGLAND) and supplied to Locobase by Allen Stanley in March 2004, works numbers for 998-999 were 2879-2880 and they followed immediately Richmond's H17 locomotives (Locobase 8140).

In fact, they were H17s with a longer piston stroke and slightly higher boiler pressure.

Class H-23/H-23A/H-25 (Locobase 9828)

Data from L&N 8 1927 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

The chief difference among the locomotives in this large class was the provision of Walschaert valve gear in the H-23A vs the Stephenson link motion that had been standard up until then. The design still seems to have been more evolutionary, featuring a modest increase in driver diameter,adhesion weight, grate area, and evaporative heating surface. Firebox heating surface included 14 sq ft of arch tubes. None of the H-23 class was ever superheated.

It was a busy time for one of the biggest locomotive firms in the world and the Baldwin works filled two orders from the L & N in singles and pairs interspersed among engines meant for dozens of other customers then on the books.

Baldwin delivered the first 20 (22552-22553, 22584-22585, 22597, 22609-22611, 22634-22635, 22655-22656, 22683, 22697, 22781, 22799, 22858, 22868, 22920, 22925) in July-October 1903. Rogers or the L & N shops themselves contributed the next 5. Then Baldwin supplied the next 35 (22965, 22990, 23011, 23026, 23030, 23036-23037, 23065

23070, 23095, 23100, 23120, 23131, 23138, 23150, 23160-23163, 23172, 23175, 23178, 23197-23200, 23211, 23218, 23227, 23244, 23254-23255, 23263-23264, 23271) in October-November 1903.

92 more came from the L & N's own shops. And finally Baldwin finished off the H-23 class September 1906 to April 1907 with 55 more (29077-29078, 29095-

29097, 29135, 29156-29157, 29180, 29192, 29208, 29234-29235, 29252, 29258, 29261, 29280, 29317-29319, 29345, 29387, 29412-29413, 29427, 29459, 29503-29504, 29535, 29556, 30072, 30081, 30090-30092, 30176-30177, 30223-30224, 30255-30256, 30306-30308, 30343- 30344, 30362, 30377-30379, 30484-30485, 30500, 30533, 30602)

A year later came the H-25s which were identical except for the adoption of piston valves. Baldwin produced an octet (32593, 32622-32623, 32648, 32654, 32658-32659, 32712) in January 1908 in the middle of run of Rogers and the L & N-shop products. Possibly the piston valves made it easier to consider superheating the class, for most of these soon received them. See Locobase 9830..

Class H-24 (Locobase 9829)

Data from L&N 8 1927 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

It's not clear why Rogers would have supplied this pair of small Consolidations in 1904, except perhaps to address a particular need for a light-footed, branch-line 2-8-0. Whatever the reason, the two engines remained in service essentially unchanged (except for the addition of 14 sq ft of arch tubes to the firebox) until their retirements in 1947 (849) and 1948 (848).

Class H-25A - superheated (Locobase 9830)

Data from L&N 8 1927 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Like most of the early 20th Century North American locomotives delivered as saturated engines, this class (Locobase 9829) was soon provided with a superheater. The H-25A variant was essentially identical to the H-25 except for the drier steam. The H-25B (Locobase 9830) had larger cylinders.

Class H-25B - superheated (Locobase 9831)

Data from L&N 8 1927 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

As with the H-25As (Locobase 9830), the most significant change to the H-25 design was the addition of the superheater. The -25Bs received cylinders that measured just 1/2" more in diameter, but that difference provided a noticeable boost in starting tractive effort. Otherwise, the design was essentially as delivered in the early part of the 1900s except for the addition of 14 sq ft of arch tubes to the firebox. Several H-25As were later refitted as -25Bs and the entire class operated into the late 1940s.

Class H-26 (Locobase 9832)

Data from L&N 8 1927 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Like the H-24s from Rogers (Locobase 9828), this pair of Virginians ran outside of the large class of standard Consolidation. For these two, however, the direction was bigger, not smaller. They pressed heavily on the rail and had larger boilers than the H-23 and H-25-series engines with many more tubes.

Unlike the big-production series, the H-26s were never superheated and went to the ferro-knacker's yard in 1940.

Class H-27 (Locobase 9833)

Data from L&N 8 1927 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Continuing the production of the basic Consolidation, the H-27s offered the one difference of a 2" longer stroke, which put them in the league of most 2-8-0 fleets that had entered service in the previous decade. Like the others, these engines were delivered with Walschaer radial valve gear and piston valves.

Baldwin produced the first 25 (35029-35033, 35069-35077, 35116-35119, 35152, 35217-35222) in August & September of 1910 and the L & N added the balance.

Class H-27A - superheated (Locobase 9834)

Data from L&N 8 1927 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Once the H-27s were in service (Locobase 9833), the railroad began to superheat them. The upgrade mirrored the makeover applied to the H-25s (Locobase 9830), except that the boiler tubes and flues were 2" longer and the weights somehow came out 3,000 lb less. As with the other class, the firebox heating surface now included 14 sq ft of arch tubes.

Class H-27B - superheated (Locobase 9835)

Data from L&N 8 1927 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Superheated H-27s followed the H-25 superheating pattern and came in two flavors: Those with the 21" cylinders (Locobase 9834) and the locomotives in this entry, which either replaced the original cylinders or bored them out 1/2". In the process, the design gained over 2 tons of weight, which was more evenly spread over the 4 adhesive axles. The firebox received its 14 sq ft of arch tubes as well.

So equipped, these medium-sized freighters served the L & N for decades, some lasting into the 1950s.

Class H-28A (Locobase 9836)

Data from L&N 8 1927 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

With the production of these Consolidation at its own South Louisville shops, the L & N hit on the formula for substantial hauling power. Retaining the 57" drivers suitable for its undulating profile, the railroad adopted bigger cylinders and fed them with a much larger grate (although the firebox heating surface area increased by only a few square feet thanks to the 20 sq ft of arch tubes). Both the tube and flue diameters increased and the number of each grew as well.

The result was a heavier locomotive (just under 100 tons adhesive weight) with lots of starting tractive effort. As Charles B Castner notes in Drury (1993), long-standing weight limits on many bridges made these and the H-29s the top-end power for fast freights into New Orleans into the 1940s.

Class H-29 (Locobase 9837)

Data from L&N 8 1927 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

The L & N's large Consolidation program begun with the H-28A in 1911 (Locobase 9836) continued in 1912 with the H-29. The only difference was the railroad's ability to strip about 7,000 lb out of the design. All other dimensions remained the same.

Class H-29A (Locobase 9838)

Data from L&N 8 1927 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

In producing the last 25 locomotives of the large-Consolidation design that entered service as the H-28 in 1911 (Locobase 9836), the shops increased cylinder diameter by 1/2" more. An accompanying increase in weight kept the factor of adhesion at just about 4. This was the final batch of 2-8-0s and they served the L & N until the end of steam.

Class H-3 (Locobase 9814)

Data from L&N 8 1927 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

An unusual feature of this low-drivered drag-freighter was the considerable gap between the first driven axle and the second. Locobase isn't sure why such a spacing would have been adopted.

Class H-30 (Locobase 9839)

Data from L&N 5 1941 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

It's surprising to see a Consolidation pair being built so late in the era, but both Castner (in Drury, 1993) and the L & N diagram books insist on the 1921 construction date. The locomotives had the usual accoutrements of arch tubes (which added 18 sq ft to the firebox heating surface), superheat, and power reverse.

Class H-4 (Locobase 9815)

Data from L&N 8 1927 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Like the H-3 shown in Locobase 9814, this Consolidation had a large gap between the first driven axles. Presuming that the H-4 succeeded the H-3 and was supplied by the same builder, this engine differed in having a larger firebox.

Class H-5 (Locobase 9816)

Data from L&N 8 1927 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Class H-6 (Locobase 9817)

Data from L&N 8 1927 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Class H-7 (Locobase 8143)

Data from L&N 8 1927 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

According to a compilation of New York/Rome locomotives by B.Rumary (25 Kingscombe, Gurney Slade, Radstock, BA3 4TH, ENGLAND) and supplied to Locobase by Allen Stanley in March 2004, works numbers for 351-366 were 652-667 (October-December 1890)

Much of this class's heating surface could be found in its firebox, relatively speaking. While the boiler was only of average size for a Consolidation of the late 1880s, the firebox was one of the largest around. Its low drivers and high adhesion weight meant a strong-pulling 2-8-0.

Class H-8 (Locobase 9818)

Data from L&N 8 1927 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection. Cooke works numbers 2169-2185.

Class H-9 (Locobase 9821)

Data from L&N 8 1927 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.