Norfolk & Western 4-6-2 "Pacific" Type Locomotives

Class E/E1 (Locobase 4211)

The five E class were the first of the Norfolk & Western's Pacifics. Data taken from Railroad Age Gazette (19 June 1908), which profiled these engines.

RAG commented that they were "of the usual design, having no special features except the method of equalization and spring suspension at the back."

EW King, Jr., in Drury (1993), comments that this class was the Class A Ten-wheeler running gear with a larger boiler and large firebox. He also notes that the 15 E1s that followed from Alco-Richmond in 1907 had Walschaerts gear.

These relatively small 4-6-2s were retired in 1934-1939.

Class E2 (Locobase 4394)

EW King, Jr., in Drury (1993), notes that the E2s were the first to have Baker valve gear, which he adds became the standard valve motion on the Norfolk & Western. Also, the trailing truck used outside bearings for greater stability. 11 E2a (Baldwin, 1912, 553-563) and E2b (Roanoke shops, 1913-1914, 543-552) followed and were similar; see Locobase 7820. E were updated with superheaters and became E-2a; see Locobase 7820.

E2s retired gradually, some from each subclass being scrapped as early as the late 1930s while some lasted until the late 1950s.

Class E2a/E2b (Locobase 7820)

Data from N&W 3 - 1955 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

As noted in Locobase 4394, the E-2a Baldwin Pacifics were similar to the Richmond E2s delivered in 1910. Like the E2s, they had long careers on the N & W, retiring 1940-1958.

The E2b that came from the N & W's own shops in 1913-1914 (343-352) had "Hobart-Allfree"cylinders. In the November/December Arrow (http://www.nwhs.org/arrowdb/issueList.php?issue_id=16, last accessed 25 April 2008), Ed King wrote about these cylinders as follows:

"...no drawings or diagrams of these cylinders have surfaced and from the side view and other action views of E-2bs, there seems to be little or no difference in the external appearance of the cylinders. Some aspect of the application, however, required a different location of the valve stem enabling the combination lever to be ahead of the crosshead and hung from a traveler which moved on a guide below the valve stem. Normal E-2a Baker Valve Gear hung the combination lever from the bell crank. Six of the E-2bs were rebuilt with "normal" cylinders and the valve gear was altered accordingly, and were reclassed E-2a. The 549 was one of the four not rebuilt, and lasted until 1948."

Specifications
Class	E/E1	E2	E2a/E2b
Locobase ID	4211	4394	7820
Railroad	Norfolk & Western	Norfolk & Western	Norfolk & Western
Whyte	4-6-2	4-6-2	4-6-2
Road Numbers	595-599/580-594	564-579	543-563
Gauge	Std	Std	Std
Builder	Burnham, Williams & Co	Richmond	several
Year	1905	1910	1912
Valve Gear	Stephenson	Baker	Baker
	Locomotive Length and Weight
Driver Wheelbase	12'	12.50'	12.50'
Engine Wheelbase	30.54'	32.87'	32.87'
Ratio of driving wheelbase to overall engine wheebase	0.39	0.38	0.38
Overall Wheelbase (engine & tender)	54.99'	72.19'	72.83'
Axle Loading (Maximum Weight per Axle)		56000 lbs	55000 lbs
Weight on Drivers	125000 lbs	166000 lbs	168200 lbs
Engine Weight	195250 lbs	247000 lbs	256950 lbs
Tender Light Weight	109900 lbs	167500 lbs	212000 lbs
Total Engine and Tender Weight	305150 lbs	414500 lbs	468950 lbs
Tender Water Capacity	6000 gals	9000 gals	12000 gals
Tender Fuel Capacity (oil/coal)	10 tons	14 tons	16 tons
Minimum weight per yard of rail on which locomotive could run	69.44 lb rail	92.22 lb rail	93.44 lb rail
	Geometry Relating to Tractive Effort
Driver Diameter	68"	70"	70"
Boiler Pressure	200 psi	200 psi	200 psi
Cylinders (dia x stroke)	20" x 28"	22.5" x 28"	22.5" x 28"
Tractive Effort	28000 lbs	34425 lbs	34425 lbs
Factor of Adhesion (Weight on Drivers/Tractive Effort)	4.46	4.82	4.89
	Heating Ability
Firebox Area	177.50 sq. ft	180 sq. ft	180 sq. ft
Grate Area	45.50 sq. ft	45.50 sq. ft	45.50 sq. ft
Evaporative Heating Surface	3464	4169	3320
Superheating Surface			730
Combined Heating Surface	3464	4169	4050
Evaporative Heating Surface/Cylinder Volume	340.24	323.54	257.66
	Computations Relating to Power Output (More Information)
Robert LeMassena's Power Computation	9100	9100	9100
Same as above plus superheater percentage	9100	9100	10740.25
Same as above but substitute firebox area for grate area	35500	36000	42488.89
Power L1	9687.96	9179.10	19538.85
Power MT	512.60	365.72	768.30