Class 101 (Locobase 7858)

Data from AB&C 6 -1928 Locomotive Diagrams and Passenger Car Data book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.Works numbers were 27914-27915, 27935-27936, 28015, 28041 in April 1906; 29080, 29087-29089 in September 1906; 30001, 30017, 30023-30025 in January 1907; 30059 in February; 31568-31569, 31589-31590 in August; 31685-31686, 31797 in September; and 31861 in October.

The numbering in the AB & C is very confusing as to actual delivery order as the railroad's later numbering order represents an almost random sequence of earlier numbers. In any case, Baldwin delivered all of these Ten-wheelers. The railroad superheated them later.

Information on the railroads from the online Railroad History of Georgia, entries http://railga.com/atlbirmatl.html and In 1905, financial interests organized the AB & A to purchase the Atlanta and Birmingham Railroad and to complete the long-sought direct link between the two cities. Even though it made much use of the failed Macon & Birmingham and did reach Birmingham, Alabama in 1908, the Bee Line was not much more successful. Its direct route actually connected Birmingham with the Atlantic Coast city of Brunswick, Georgia 287 miles away.

Its flimsy finances first forced a transparent reorganization as the Atlanta, Birmingham & Atlantic RailWAY in 1915, then foreclosure in 1922 and finally a further reorganization as the Atlanta, Birmingham & Coast (AB&C) Railroad. The latter, ABC route was controlled by the Atlantic Coast Line, which absorbed it entirely in 1946.

Among the railroad's dowry was this tenspot of Ten-wheelers, most of which had been converted to superheat as shown in the specifications.

Class 40 (Locobase 8389)

Data from AB&C 6 -1928 Locomotive Diagrams and Passenger Car Data book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection. Works numbers were 23033, 23056-23057 in October 1903; 23695, 23705, 23713 in February 1904; 23862

23873 in March; and 24052, 24060, 24069-24070, 24121, 24124-24125, 24133 in April.

Baldwin's first set of Ten-wheelers for this alphabet road was supplied in singlets and pairs They were equipped with two 3" arch tubes in the firebox.

Three years after this class was delivered, Baldwin began supplying a superheated version that rolled on taller drivers; see Locobase 7608.

Class 56 (Locobase 7608)

Data from AB&C 6 -1928 Locomotive Diagrams and Passenger Car Data book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection. Works 31312-31313, 31347-31348 in July 1907; 31461-31462, 31490-31491, 31555, 31563 in August 1907.

This class of Baldwin Ten-wheelers were superheated variants of the 40 class (Locobase 8389) that the same builder had produced for the AB & A in 1904. (When renumbered later, the first 4 - 56-59 -- were for some reason numbered after the later six.)

Locobase suspects that this class was delivered with saturated boilers and Stephenson valve gear, although the entire class is shown in the 1928 book as operating piston valves with Baker gear. Also changed in 1907 was the driver diameter, which expanded by 4". Any resulting decrease in tractive effort was more than offset by a 20-psi increase in boiler pressure.

The 56-59 engines seem to have had heavier frames, but otherwise were identical to 60-69. They had piston valves in universal chests and two 3"-diameter arch tubes. Some later had their cylinders bored out to 20".