Pennsylvania Railroad Mikados

The Pennsylvania Railroad built a fleet of 574 “Mikado” type locomotives between 1914 and 1919. It was the largest single class of Mikados. This group was designated as Class L1 and was assigned numbers scattered from 2 through 9866.

In 1913, J. T. Wallis, who was the Superintendent of Motive Power for Lines East together with two of the railroad’s mechanical engineers, Alfred Gibbs and Axel Vogt, came up with an idea for using some of the same parts for a badly needed Class L1“Mikado” type freight hauler and it new Class K-4 “Pacific” type passenger locomotive. The two locomotive designs used identical boilers and the same Belpaire firebox as well as many other mechanical parts. There were 425 of the Class K-4 “Pacific”, which meant the PRR had 999 almost identical locomotives.

The Class L1 “Mikados” were built in the Juniata Shops in Altoona, PA and by the Baldwin Locomotive Works and the Lima Locomotive Works. The Juniata shops built 344, Baldwin built 205 and Lima built 25.

Starting tractive effort was 61,465 lbs. This was the equal of any built in its time period, although the lack of a stoker as original equipment was a minus. Yet, its service record was not truly what one might have expected. For one thing, the mighty I1s and I1sa 2-10-0, which replaced the L1s in coal hauling and Pittsburgh Division service, followed it into service very closely. Then, the M1s took away a large part of the low grade fast freight traffic. Finally, in the 1930s, the electrification of freight traffic between New York and Potomac Yard and later, Enola, combined with the tremendous loss of business during the Depression period placed hundreds of these 2-8-2s in storage until wartime demands brought them back onto the road. Some were still hand fired, and some were sold to other roads: the Santa Fe and the Lehigh & New England.

There is one surviving PRR Class L1 2-8-2 locomotive. It is number 520 that is now on display at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg, PA.

PRR 2-8-2 Roster
Class	Qty.	Road Numbers	Year Built	Builder	Notes
L1	574	2 …….9866	1914-1919	PRR, Baldwin & Lima	1
L2	5	9627-9631	1919	ALCO	1,2

Notes

Class L1 and Class L2 Road Numbers
Class	Qty.	Road Numbers										Year Built	Builder	Notes
L1	31	14	266	426	489	710	1128	1175	1337	1404	1466	1914	PRR	#266 sold to Int. in 1948
		203	366	476	496	780	1129	1191	1341	1452	1547
		207	385	480	559	1127	1172	1235	1344	1464	1579
											1752
	123	11	405	615	1165	1335	1483	1578	1782	3278	3497	1915	PRR	#1315 sold to LNE in 1941
		26	410	640	1169	1349	1489	1580	1790	3280	3498			#734 sold to C&I in 1941
		29	424	658	1192	1353	1491	1582	1799	3281	3499
		39	463	718	1241	1354	1507	1584	2759	3282	3543
		71	510	734	1264	1358	1509	1590	2973	3283	3609
		75	535	762	1268	1360	1511	1596	3159	3284	4030
		103	537	853	1269	1366	1520	1614	3160	3487	4069
		120	548	860	1283	1369	1528	1627	3272	3488	4094
		270	552	934	1299	1378	1543	1685	3273	3489	4111
		318	554	1028	1315	1386	1545	1715	3274	3490	4112
		388	567	1074	1318	1389	1572	1716	3275	3494	4126
		399	587	1141	1334	1443	1574	1768	3276	3495	4149
									3277	3496	4152
	52	72	447	714	924	1272	1368	1478	1523	1581	1671	1916	PRR	#190 sold to LNE in 1941
		137	469	742	931	1275	1383	1486	1529	1595	1712			#1642 sold to DT&I in 1948
		190	546	831	932	1286	1442	1498	1537	1612	1732
		216	597	903	1014	1338	1455	1513	1548	1617	1797
		370	686	923	1143	1365	1472	1514	1570	1642	3227
										1643	3231
	126	2	211	500	651	1173	1343	1626	3491	3639	3652	1916	Baldwin	#520 put on display in 1957
		46	242	512	703	1182	1348	1632	3546	3640	3653			#1388 sold to C&I in 1941
		64	252	513	729	1183	1352	1747	3607	3641	7025			#3642 sold to DT&I in 1948
		67	254	514	738	1186	1357	1784	3629	3642	7086			#1626 sold to Int. in 1948
		110	258	520	776	1197	1364	1786	3630	3643	7150			#7025 converted to oil burner in 1940s
		126	259	533	786	1240	1385	1791	3631	3644	7227			#7248 converted to oil burner in 1940s
		135	283	578	843	1242	1388	1792	3632	3645	7243
		138	289	604	906	1282	1444	2099	3633	3646	7245
		185	342	618	977	1304	1447	2730	3634	3647	7246
		200	362	633	1138	1306	1468	3464	3635	3648	7247
		205	398	635	1140	1307	1471	3474	3636	3649	7248
		206	431	650	1171	1319	1534	3477	3637	3650	7259
						1342	1625	3483	3638	3651	7261

Class L1 and Class L2 Road Numbers (Continued)
Class	Qty.	Road Numbers										Year Built	Builder	Notes
	94	22	121	275	555	804	1159	1723	3089	6210	6292	1917	PRR	#4185 sold to ATSF in 1945
		40	171	276	608	806	1390	1741	3294	6238	6295
		56	180	280	630	809	1412	1788	3518	6248	6296
		69	196	305	631	818	1427	1860	3600	6253	6297
		88	210	356	687	844	1428	2358	3603	6255	6298
		93	221	407	731	921	1635	2369	4162	6264	6299
		101	224	449	781	925	1638	2526	4174	6265	6306
		111	241	468	783	1017	1650	2745	4185	6269	6308
		117	267	473	801	1137	1651	2911	4188	6270	6309
								3053	6205	6272	6312
	49	840	935	1174	1393	1662	2760	4028	4190	7697	9704	1917	Baldwin	#4031 sold to ATSF in 1945
		868	938	1194	1467	1682	3226	4031	7340	9217	9705			#7342 sold to ATSF in 1945
		878	939	1320	1487	1684	3229	4072	7342	9229	9721			#7637, 9356 & 9704 converted to
		890	941	1376	1656	1697	3230	4082	7637	9353	9722			oil burners in late 1940s
			1059	1380	1657	1755	3512	4130	7650	9356	9730
	25	7008	7128	7228	7242	7331	7345	7483	7638	9365	9860	1917	Lima	#7220, 7228, 7232, 7249, 7344, 7628,
		7117	7220	7232	7249	7344	7418	7613	7646	9752	9861			7638 9235, 9860 & 9866 converted
							7481	7628	9235	9753	9866			to oil burners in late 1940s
	44	174	603	657	793	969	1374	1449	1542	1633	1719	1918	PRR	#1719 sold to LNE in 1941
		420	605	674	950	978	1375	1454	1556	1639	1778
		556	611	682	951	1122	1391	1463	1585	1672	1828
		577	637	791	952	1164	1429	1474	1598	1695	3236
								1518	1603	1718	3408
	17	876	1372	1967	1971	1975	1986	2271	2461	2682	2861	1918	Baldwin	#1986 sold to LNE in 1941
					1972	1982	2253	2359	2671	2757	2937
	13	2943	2963	3076	3078	3579	3581	3583	3585	3587	3589	1919	Baldwin
									3586	3588	3590
L2	5	9627	9628	9629	9630	9631						1919	ALCO	USRA allocated locomotives

Specifications
Class	L1	L2
Wheel Arrangement:	2-8-2	2-8-2
Length:	82’-0 1/4”	81’-11 3/8”
Drivers:	62” dia.	63” dia.
Weight on Drivers:	232,500 lbs.	214,500 lbs.
Total Locomotive Weight:	324,700 lbs.	292,000 lbs.
Locomotive & Tender Weight:	514,550 lbs.	481,000 lbs.
Grate Area:	69.89 sq. ft.	66.7 sq. ft.
Cylinders (dia. x stroke):	(2) 27” x 30”	(2) 26” x 30”
Boiler Pressure:	205 psi	200 psi
Tractive Effort:	61,465 lbs.	54,723 lbs.
Tender Capacity:
Water:	8,835gals.	10,000 gals.
Coal:	19 ½ tons	18 tons

Pennsylvania Railroad Mikados

Notes

Photos

References