Class 600 (Locobase 2883)

Data from Alvin F Staufer's Baltimore & Ohio Steam and Electric Locomotives (Medina, Ohio) supplied by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection May 2005, as amended by Joseph Snowden Bell, The Early Motive Power of the Baltimore & Ohio (1912) .

Designed and built by Master of Machinery John C. Davis, this relatively low-drivered passenger engine was one of a kind. J Snowden Bell (1912) notes that it ran on the Third Division, which included the notorious 17-mile grade with a ruling grade of 2.2%. Although it had more heating surface and put 4 more tons on the drivers, 600 "...apparently did not give as good a performance in this service, as it was not long continued in it, and was not duplicated for passenger service, although others of the same design were subsequently built for fast freight."

Class J C Davis (Locobase 1026)

Kinert, 1962. Data confirmed and supplemented by http://www.steamlocomotive.info/ddsearchnew.cfm database, lookup 12 Nov 2004. More data from Alvin F Staufer's Baltimore & Ohio Steam and Electric Locomotives (Medina, Ohio) supplied by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection May 2005 and Joseph Snowden Bell, The Early Motive Power of the Baltimore & Ohio (1912) . (Where there is a conflict in data, Bell's information trumps.)

Although Kinert doesn't say, research suggests that the illustration and data refer to the B & O locomotive J C Davis, number 600. It was later renumbered 918. When this engine was displayed at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, it was described as the heaviest passenger locomotive in the world. Although it ran at first as a passenger engine, it soon moved to freight service.

Photographs show the typical dual-diameter boiler (narrow first course, swollen second course), steam dome well forward, widely separated driving axles, diamond stack and all the other elements of a mid-70s design. Boiler pressure is extremely low (check out the factor of adhesion).

Preserved for decades and shown at various railroad fairs, the J C Davis was damaged "in a more dramatic manner than any other locomotive" when the B&O roundhouse roof collapsed on 17 Feb 2003. The cab was demolished and some of the boiler-top appurtenances were damaged.

Class K-16 (Locobase 6567)

Data from 1954 Baltimore & Ohio assorted locomotive diagrams supplied by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection May 2005. Works numbers were 36881-36886 and 36897-36900 in September 1911.

These were ordered as 0-6-0s with 19" cylinders, but rebuilt as Moguls with more volume before delivery. Although their sloping tender suggests a career in switching, it's likely that the B & OCT intended these for transfer operations, too, for which a leading truck would be useful. The result was a very stubby 2-6-0 with no pilot and tiny sand domes flanking an equally small steam dome.

14" pistons suggest free-flowing steam as does a useful amount of superheat in this Mogul. Lima added 10 more in 1917 that had nearly identical specs; see Locobase 6562.

The Baldwins remained in service for decades with the last retiring in 1949.

Class K-17 (Locobase 6562)

Data from Alvin F Staufer's Baltimore & Ohio Steam and Electric Locomotives (Medina, Ohio) supplied by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection May 2005.

Late-in-the-day Mogul design virtually identical to the 1911 K-16s supplied by Baldwin (see Locobase 6567). Like the K-16s, the K-17s were fitted with a sloping tender that confirms its career service as a switcher in the Chicago area. 14" pistons suggest free-flowing steam as does a useful amount of superheat.