Class J-1 - simpled (Locobase 8530)

Data from http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/el/loco/erie-j1d.gif, a locomotive diagram dated 4-20-1917 (last accessed 4 July 2007) and the Erie 1907 locomotive diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

As noted in Locobase 3271, these camelback Decapods were delivered as compound locomotives. Some time around the turn of the century, the class was simpled. It retained its 36" combustion chamber (contributing 57 sq ft to firebox heating surface) for some time after that and that configuration is shown in the specifications.

By the time of the 1917 diagram, however, the combustion chamber had been eliminated and the specs show 15 ft 0 3/8" tubes. Yet a comparison with the earlier version unearths an anomaly. With the deletion of the combustion chamber, the Erie diagram shows that tube evaporative heating surface came to 2,228 sq ft, only 16 sq ft more than the same number of tubes measuring a full 3 ft less in 1907. A straight upscale based on the longer tubes suggests instead a total tube area of 2,785 sq ft.

Class J-2 (Locobase 381)

This large class of 2-10-0s was built by Baldwin and Alco (Richmond and Schenectady Works) for the Russian Government. When that empire was overthrown, some 200 of the Russian order was diverted to railroads in the US, including the Erie which wound up with the largest single batch.

They were typical Decapods: low-drivered with big grates and no pretensions to speed, although one New York, Susquehanna, and Western decapod pulled the last passenger train to arrive in Sussex, New Jersey. (This may say more for the state of West Jersey passenger service than for any inherent qualities of the 2-10-0.)

More powerful than the earlier J1s, these engines also had a better balance between grate and boiler. They were fitted with superheaters, but were manually stoked and had no feedwater heaters.

Built by Baldwin, Richmond (Alco), and Schenectady (Alco). Schenectady built 13.

Ilustrations in Linn Wescott (Model Railroader Cyclopedia - Vol 1, 1960) and see Drury (1993), 176.

Class S / J-1 (Locobase 3271)

Data from http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/el/loco/erie-j1d.gif, a locomotive diagram dated 4-20-1917 (last accessed 4 July 2007), a History of the Baldwin Locomotive Works from 1831 to 1897 (J. B. Lippincott company, 1897), p 81, and Erie 1907 locomotive diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

The earliest source, the Baldwin history, gives the tube length and firebox heating surface as shown (12 ft, 185 sq ft) and notes a combustion chamber. They were later converted to simple-expansion operation with two 21 x 28" cylinders, boiler pressure reduced to 165 psi, and a tractive effort of 34,640 lb. The 1907 diagram add the data that the combustion chamber contributed 57 sq ft to the firebox heating surface. The 1917 diagram suggests that the chamber was later removed; see Locobase 8530 for the data on this later modification.

These engines were among the first decapods -- almost certainly the only Camelbacks of the wheel arrangement -- and relatively small compared to later 2-10-0s. The Baldwin history notes that the first, fourth, and fifth driver sets were flanged and that the last had 1/4" lateral play. The history described the role played by this quintet: "These locomotives are used as pushers on the Susquehanna Hill,where curves of five degrees are combined with grades of 60 ft per mile [1.5%], doing the work of two ordinary 'Consolidation' locomotives."