Class E-1 (Locobase 8869)

Data from GN 1916 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

These two W & SF locomotives were relatively small for the time in terms of their boilers and grates and the firebox area was only slightly larger. They rode lightly on their drivers, too.

Class E-10 (Locobase 2970)

Data from 1899 Brooks catalogue.

Builder info from B.Rumary, 25 Kingscombe, Gurney Slade, Radstock, BA3 4TH, ENGLAND and Jeremy Lambert as supplied by Allen Stanley in March 2004. Works #2954-2961 in May 1898.

Burly passenger engine for mountain working. Fitted with a large "Improved Belpaire" boiler and long, narrow firebox with 24 sq ft of arch pipes. Comparison with another Brooks product from just 5 years earlier (Locobase 2978) is striking: the later machine is significantly bigger in all dimensions, so much so that even with the larger cylinders, the boiler is more than capable of supplying steam.

Delivered to the Eastern Railway in 1898, the class was renumbered in 1899 and taken into the Great Northern with those new numbers in 1902. The class was scrapped over an 8-year period beginning with 1007 in February 1928. 1001 went in November, then 3 in 1929 (1000 - April, 1002 - May, and 1005 - December). 1006 was scrapped a year later in October 1930 and 1004 was gone in March 1932. For some reason, 1003 hung on for another 4 1/2 years before being scrapped in October 1936.

Class E-10-S (Locobase 8834)

Data from GN 1 - 1929 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Only the first two of the E-10 Ten-wheelers that formed this class retained their saturated boilers. The rest mated their Belpaire fireboxes to new superheated boilers. At the same time, they apparently lost their "arch pipes".

Class E-12 (Locobase 8841)

Data from GN 1916 and GN 1 - 1929 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection. See Locobase 7460 for a short history of the SF & N. Works numbers were 15248-15249.

A year after the second of the class that would later be designated E-13 arrived on the SP & N (Locobase 8842), this pair repeated the design with a small difference -- each fire tube was 2 1/2" longer.

The SF & N sold the pair to the Great Northern in July 1907. A small disagreement between the two diagram books illustrates the occasional difficulty encountered in compiling Locobase. Both describe the same boiler - identical numbers of tubes of identical diameters and measuring exactly the same length. In 1916, that equated to 1,570.80 sq ft of tube heating surface; in 1929, the total came to 1,584.5 sq ft.

Class E-13 (Locobase 8842)

Data from GN 1916 and GN 1 - 1929 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Sporting a bulky firebox topped by the steam dome as part of an extended wagon-top boiler, these freight Ten-wheelers came from Baldwin. The firebox was deep and dropped between the last two driving axles, but its modest grate area limited the amount of heat the system could generate.

The pair originally was supplied as single locomotives to two different railroads. The Nelson & Fort Sheppard took delivery of 948 (works #13807) in October 1893 and gave it #8. and the Spokane Falls & Northern (15059) received a similar engine in September 1896 as their #10. After a stint in British Columbia, #8 went to the SP & N and later to the Great Northern in 1907 as 948 along with the #10, which received 949. In 1934, the GN sold 949 to the Waterville Railway, which eventually scrapped the tired Ten-wheeler in May 1947.

Class E-14 - 1st batch (Locobase 6682)

Data from GN 1916 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection. Works nuumbers were 33840-33845 in September 1909; 33883-33887, 33907-33914, 33940-33943, 33948 in October; 33989 in November.

A long article -- http://www.gn1355.org/mechanical_attributes_of_the_h5.htm (viewed 11 July 2005) -- describes both the E-14 and the H-5 Pacific that resulted from a substantial rebuild. It is based on a reference sheet originally drafted by Doug Bemrich for the GNR Historical Society and based on research by Bemrich and Larry Obermeyer, Jr.

The later E-14s were closer to the GN's Pacifics of the time than to the railway's other Ten-wheelers, the article points out. As such, they immediately took over the heaviest trains and served them well during the 'teens. But by the early 1920s, the railway had decided to rebuild them as Pacifics.

Locobase notes that there were other 4-6-0s of similar or larger size in terms of boiler and grate size, although few if any ever matched the E-14's cylinder volume. Possibly, it's the last number that's the key to the class's short life as a Ten-wheeler, Locobase suspects. E-14s were strong and had drivers tall enough to pull heavy passenger trains at a good clip. But they were probably a bit short-winded; certainly the boiler demand factor (964) suggests a hard-working steam vessel. Also, the class's Emerson superheater was difficult to service and the Belpaire firebox was probably too shallow to draft well given the size of the grate.

Class E-14 - 2nd batch (Locobase 8844)

Data from GN 1916 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection. Baldwin produced this class in July 1910 (works #34988-34990) and August (35008-35014). Ten additional locomotives were sold upon completion to the Spokane, Portland & Seattle; see Locobase 8845.

As noted in Locobase 6682, the first batch of E-14s were "short of puff". Clearly the railway and the builder thought so because this batch delivered in the next year had considerably bigger boiler dimensions and an enlarged grate and Belpaire firebox. The troublesome Emerson superheater was discarded in favor of a Schmidt smoke-tube installation, itself still a modest contributor to overall heating surface area.

Class E-15 (Locobase 8843)

Data from GN 1916 and GN 1 - 1929 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection. Baldwin produced all of the class in July 1910 in the following work-number batches: 34898-34903, 34936-34940, 34959-34963, 34979-34981. Almost as an afterthought, the builder produced one more (35023) in the next month.

This set of passenger Ten-wheelers may well have been delivered with superheaters. Clearly a first-generation installation, the superheater made a modest contribution to overall heating surface. Indeed the design has a narrow grate fitted between the rear drivers.

Although many of the class served the GN for years, it was overshadowed by the E-14 design (Locobase 6682), which had a much bigger grate.

The GN sold 3 of the class - 1074-1076 - to the Spokane, Portland & Seattle in November 1925, where they took class ID D-7 and road numbers 160-162. This trio was retired in April 1944.

Most of the others went much earlier, with the GN scrapping beginning in November 1927. A few survived World War II and were scrapped in 1947-1949, with the last - 1090 - going in November 1949.

Class E-2 (Locobase 8837)

Data from GN 1 - 1929 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

So far Locobase hasn't been able to uncover the identity of this subsidiary of the GN. Clearly a light-rail operation, though, given the slide valves, small dimensions, and light weight. 17 put 1,500 more pounds on the drivers, but was otherwise identical.

Class E-3 (Locobase 8838)

Data from GN 1 - 1929 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Class E-4 (Locobase 8870)

Data from GN 1916 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

This Ten-wheeler was in the middle of pack for its day, all things considered. It did, however, have a puny firebox.

Class E-6 (Locobase 8839)

Data from GN 1 - 1929 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Although apparently from the same basic design as the 1899 Rogers engines shown in Locobase 8838, these had much smaller drivers and were freight engines. They also had larger grates and a few more tubes.

Class E-7 (Locobase 2978)

Data from 1899 Brooks catalogue.

Builder info from B.Rumary, 25 Kingscombe, Gurney Slade, Radstock, BA3 4TH, ENGLAND and Jeremy Lambert as supplied by Allen Stanley in March 2004. Works #2275-2284, 2286-2294 in April 1893.(The single-number gap was filled by a Prairie delivered to the Cincinnati, Lebanon & Northern as their #9.)

Relatively high-drivered Ten-wheeler for the GN, presumably for flat running. Fitted with an "Improved Belpaire" boiler and long, sloping firebox. Large, beehive steam dome over the second driver set with sand dome half its size ahead. An article on the Web entitled "The Great Northern Flyer" by Ted Doyle -- http://www.gnflyer.com/Flyer.html, last accessed 7 July 2007 - says that this class was the first set of GN Ten-wheelers to be acquired specifically for pasenger service. They were rated for 9 passenger cars and a trailing load of 350 tons. He adds: "While reliable Eight-Wheelers (4-4-0's) continued to handle the train for the level parts of the journey, the E-7 would serve as the backbone of the transcontinental passenger power pool until around the turn of the century."

954 was scrapped in May 1924, all but 3 others were scrapped in 1926 with the last to go (952, 957, and 962) being withdrawn in 1926 but scrapped in January 1927.

Class E-8 (Locobase 4127)

Part of a mixed batch of Rogers-built locomotives that began delivery in 1901, these 10-wheelers arrived in two batches. The second 10 came in 1903. They were smaller than the earlier Brooks 10-wheelers, but had the Belpaire boiler used by most Great Northern engines.

Class E-9 (Locobase 8840)

Data from GN 1 - 1929 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Although Locobase doesn't have much specific information on this decade of Ten-wheelers, he can say that they were main-line power that ranked in the top third in size and weight among North American 4-6-0s. When compared to similar locomotives delivered in the first half of the 1890s, this mixed-traffic class still serves as an example of a big engine.