Lehigh Valley 4-6-0 "Ten-Wheeler" Type Locomotives

Class J-25 (Locobase 7300)

Data from LV 3 - 1934 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Surprisingly light and small for the period, this class of Ten-wheelers came from the Sayre shops. They went into mixed-traffic service for several decades. The first retired in 1940, the last in 1951.

Class J-54/A (Locobase 3935)

Shown in Railroad Gazette's last issue of the year in 1900 (Vol XXXII, No. 52), with weights raised by table in AERJ July 1903. (The RG article had lower weights, which may well have been estimates.)

This camelback was designed by Mechanical Engineer F F Gaines. Its charge was to haul 400 tons of passenger train over the division between Easton and Wilkes-Barre over a ruling grade of 1.15%. It combined the wide Wootten firebox for anthracite coal with the Vauclain 4-cylinder compounding layout.

Retirements began in 1923 and were complete by 1929.

Class J-55 1/2 (Locobase 7301)

Data from LV 3 - 1934 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

This large class of camelback Ten-wheelers came from Baldwin and Alco and formed the underpinning for local passenger engines on the Lehigh Valley. The entire class of 105 locomotives was delivered with 23"-diameter cylinders, but the boiler proved too small to support that volume so 65 of them were rebuilt with 21" cylinders. Many were superheated in the 1920s; see Locobase 7302.

Class J-55 1/2 - superheated (Locobase 7302)

Data from LV 3 - 1934 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

The large class of camelback Ten-wheelers described in Locobase 7301 came in for a superheater upgrade in the 1920s. 172 of the 2" tubes were removed to allow for 24 superheater flues.

Class J-56/J-56 1/J-57 (Locobase 7303)

Data from LV 3 - 1934 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Conventional-firebox Ten-wheelers originally built in 1911-1912 with 23" cylinders. Like its J-55 stablemates, some of these engines saw their cylinders bushed to 21" to better accommodate the boiler's capacity. When the railroad started superheating locomotives in 1916, these engines were modified as shown in the specs. A very few retained their 23" cylinders and received identical boilers.

Specifications
Class	J-25	J-54/A	J-55 1/2	J-55 1/2 - superheated	J-56/J-56 1/J-57
Locobase ID	7300	3935	7301	7302	7303
Railroad	Lehigh Valley	Lehigh Valley	Lehigh Valley	Lehigh Valley	Lehigh Valley
Whyte	4-6-0	4-6-0	4-6-0	4-6-0	4-6-0
Road Numbers	1131-1165	1550-1556	1590-1694		1800-1820
Gauge	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std
Builder	LV	Burnham, Williams & Co	several	shops	LV
Year	1917	1901	1904	1923	1916
Valve Gear	Baker	Stephenson	Walschaert	Walschaert	Walschaert
	Locomotive Length and Weight
Driver Wheelbase	12.17'	13'	13.33'	13.33'	14.08'
Engine Wheelbase	24'	25.29'	25.33'	25.33'	26.08'
Ratio of driving wheelbase to overall engine wheebase	0.51	0.51	0.53	0.53	0.54
Overall Wheelbase (engine & tender)	60.18'	52.57'	65.57'	65.57'	67.24'
Axle Loading (Maximum Weight per Axle)	35500 lbs		53700 lbs	55194 lbs	53975 lbs
Weight on Drivers	104500 lbs	141348 lbs	154000 lbs	154964 lbs	150674 lbs
Engine Weight	137000 lbs	194758 lbs	203000 lbs	207234 lbs	202050 lbs
Tender Light Weight	105150 lbs		155200 lbs	155200 lbs	142700 lbs
Total Engine and Tender Weight	242150 lbs	0	358200 lbs	362434 lbs	344750 lbs
Tender Water Capacity	4500 gals	7000 gals	8000 gals	8000 gals	7000 gals
Tender Fuel Capacity (oil/coal)	10 tons	tons	12 tons	12 tons	12 tons
Minimum weight per yard of rail on which locomotive could run	58.06 lb rail	78.53 lb rail	85.56 lb rail	86.09 lb rail	83.71 lb rail
	Geometry Relating to Tractive Effort
Driver Diameter	63"	72"	69"	69"	63"
Boiler Pressure	190 psi	200 psi	205 psi	205 psi	200 psi
Cylinders (dia x stroke)	20" x 24"	17" x 26"	21" x 28"	21" x 28"	23" x 28"
Low Pressure Cylinders (dia x stroke)	" x "	28" x 26"	" x "	" x "	" x "
Tractive Effort	24610 lbs	25926 lbs	31183 lbs	31183 lbs	39969 lbs
Factor of Adhesion (Weight on Drivers/Tractive Effort)	4.25	5.45	4.94	4.97	3.77
	Heating Ability
Firebox Area	150 sq. ft	171.71 sq. ft	199 sq. ft	199 sq. ft	188 sq. ft
Grate Area	37.80 sq. ft	71.25 sq. ft	85.08 sq. ft	85.08 sq. ft	57.10 sq. ft
Evaporative Heating Surface	1717	2708	3159	2370	2566
Superheating Surface	332			493	530
Combined Heating Surface	2049	2708	3159	2863	3096
Evaporative Heating Surface/Cylinder Volume	196.75	396.46	281.43	211.14	190.58
	Computations Relating to Power Output (More Information)
Robert LeMassena's Power Computation	7182	14250	17441.40	17441.40	11420
Same as above plus superheater percentage	8345.70	14250	17441.40	20444.76	13374.97
Same as above but substitute firebox area for grate area	33117.86	34342	40795	47819.78	44036.69
Power L1	12470.68	4619.49	8724.60	16386.45	12907.73
Power MT	789.28	216.15	374.70	699.37	566.59