Class E (Locobase 891)

Data confirmed by locomotive diagrams from 1900 hosted on http://www.nprr.org/Steam%20Diagrams/Forms/AllItems.aspx (7 Feb 2004).

394-398, also by Baldwin, appear to have been identical.

Class E-2 (Locobase 893)

Data confirmed by locomotive diagrams from 1900 hosted on http://www.nprr.org/Steam%20Diagrams/Forms/AllItems.aspx (7 Feb 2004) from a 1944 Northern Pacific Locomotive Diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection. On the latter diagram, heating surface is given as "1,613.5 sq ft (tubes only)."

Class E-3 (Locobase 895)

330-346 were produced in 1889, 347-358 followed in 1890.

Data confirmed by locomotive diagrams from 1900 hosted on http://www.nprr.org/Steam%20Diagrams/Forms/AllItems.aspx (7 Feb 2004).

Class E-4/E-6 (Locobase 896)

Data confirmed by locomotive diagrams from 1900 hosted on http://www.nprr.org/Steam%20Diagrams/Forms/AllItems.aspx (7 Feb 2004). The diagram refers to engine numbers 310-311, but all the information matches up. The E-6 diagram on NP TO 1944 Locomotive Diagrams shows that the 365 (originally 299) was identical, but was pressed to 145 psi.

Class E-5 (Locobase 900)

Data confirmed by locomotive diagrams from 1900 hosted on http://www.nprr.org/Steam%20Diagrams/Forms/AllItems.aspx (7 Feb 2004) and from a 1944 Northern Pacific Locomotive Diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

The shorter driver wheelbase is an indication, confirmed by the diagram, that the firebox now rode above the rear two axles rather than between it. As a result, the inside firebox length jumped 30% from approximately 78" to 102"

Class E-7 (Locobase 899)

Data confirmed by locomotive diagrams from 1900 hosted on http://www.nprr.org/Steam%20Diagrams/Forms/AllItems.aspx (7 Feb 2004).

The Northern Pacific Railway Historical Society -- http://research.nprha.org/Lists/Steam%20Roster/DispForm.aspx?ID=284&Source=http%3A%2F%2Fresearch%2Enprha%2Eorg%2FLists%2FSteam%2520Roster%2FAllItems%2Easpx%3FPaged%3DTRUE%26p%5FTitle%3DSID0200%26p%5FID%3D200%26View%3D%257b1622F62C%252dA1EA%252d45AB%252d9CBD%252d3A1E46679886%257d%26PageFirstRow%3D201 -- gives Cooke's works numbers as 2223-2225, which is confirmed by the compilation of Cooke locomotives by B.Rumary (25 Kingscombe, Gurney Slade, Radstock, BA3 4TH, ENGLAND) and supplied to Locobase by Allen Stanley in March 2004.

The Monte Cristo was a railway that connected a gold-rush town with the Northern Pacific at Everett. An account on http://wasteam.railfan.net/emcr/emcr.html (accessed 4 February 2007) relates the railway's short history. Although advanced by Everett's founders and partially underwritten by John D Rockefeller, the railroad suffered from the unfamiliarity of its distinguished parentage with local conditions: "Long time residents of the area warned the railroad's surveyors of the river's capacity for sudden and violent flooding. They ignored the advice, dismissing the river as a 'little trout stream'. Words they'd soon regret. Three bridges and six tunnels in lower Robe Canyon were completed by November 1892, just in time for the largest storm in 20 years.

The storm washed out the grade at many locations, and covered it with landslides in others. The Railway's board of directors dismissed the storm as a 100 year storm and ordered the line repaired, beginning a pattern that would repeat itself continually for the next 40 years. The decision of the board of directors of the Railway to route the railroad through the lower 5 miles of the canyon is acknowledged as their greatest blunder."

Combined with the low quality of the gold deposits, this vulnerability to nature's wrath meant the E & MC would have a short life. The NP took it over in 1903 only to sell it to the Rucker brothers, who ran a sawmill and whose equipment accelerated the line's deterioration. By the late 20s, the line was effectively abandoned; its rails were pulled up in 1936 and sold to Japan.

Class E-8 (Locobase 898)

Started life as Port Townsend Southern's # 3, but was taken into the Northern Pacific not too long afterward.

Data from http://www.nprr.org's roster listing (7 Feb 2004) and from 1944 Northern Pacific Locomotive Diagrams book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Class P - compound (Locobase 3283)

Works # ranged from 4543 to 4726.

Class P - simple (Locobase 901)

Ps were delivered in two batches of 8 -- one set worked compound, the other simple expansion. The latter is shown here.

Class P-1 - compound (Locobase 906)

Data from a 1944 Northern Pacific Locomotive Diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

This set of twelve engines were delivered as shown, 2-cylinder cross compounds, in company with an almost equal number of simple-expansion engines of the same design (see Locobase 8157). 209-212 were produced first in 1899 (works #5122-5125) followed by 213-218 (5710-5715) in 1900, and completed by 207-208 (5930-5931) in 1901.

They were later simpled with two 20" x 26" cylinders. Four were later upgraded with superheaters.

Class P-1 - simple (Locobase 8158)

Data from a NP 1 - 1929 Locomotive Diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

At the same time as the NP was taking delivery of the P-1 express passenger Ten-wheelers as cross-compounds (Locobase 906), it was purchasing the same design as simple-expansion locomotives and taking delivery of some of each as several batches. 229-232 arrived in 1899 (works #5118-5121) with 233-236 in 1901 (5932-5935) and 226-228 in 1902 (25660-25661, 25841) .

Some were later superheated.

Class P-2 - compound (Locobase 8155)

Data from a 1944 Northern Pacific Locomotive Diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

This is the original configuration for this decade of engines that formed part of a series of cross-compound Ten-wheelers. Seven were later simpled; see Locobase

Class P-2 - simpled (Locobase 907)

Originally built as cross-compounds with one 22" HP and 34" LP cylinder each; see Locobase 8155. , 7 later were simpled as shown.

Class P-3 (Locobase 910)

Data from a 1944 Northern Pacific Locomotive Diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Two Alco builders supplied engines in this class, which was an extension of the P-2 cross-compounds (literally - the fire tubes were a foot longer). Schenectady delivered 10 in 1901 (works # 5916-5925) and Richmond added 10 in 1902 (works # 25662-25671). It appears from the 1944 diagram that the Minneapolis & International acquired 2 (road numbers 300-301) and that they were in addition to the 20 that went to the NP.

These cross-compounds were never simpled and only a couple were left on the roster by 1925.

Class P-3 (Locobase 8157)

Data from a 1944 Northern Pacific Locomotive Diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Locobase 910 describes the 20 cross-compound Ten-wheelers of this class that went to the Northern Pacific. In 1901, the Mike & Ike piggy-backed on the Schenectady order and secured two of its own. Like the NP P-3s, these were never simpled.

Class P/P-1/P-2 - superheated (Locobase 6560)

In the mid-1920s, the Northern Pacific superheated four of the P-1 Ten-wheelers that had years before been simpled. (See Locobase 906 for the compound variant.) Three P class engines were superheated along identical lines as were 4 P-2s. (The P-class heating surface is given as 1,802 sq ft and superheater as 390 sq ft, but all other dimensions are the same.)

Data from a 1944 Northern Pacific Locomotive Diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Class R (Locobase 903)

Presented in a table in the Railroad Gazette (7 Oct 1898) for comparison with other large Ten-wheelers of recent vintage. RG had a longer article on this design on 14 May 1897.

The Schenectady works # ranged from 4535 to 4593.

Class S (Locobase 902)

See Railroad Gazette (Jan 1898, Vol XXX, No 2) and "Heavy Compound for Northern Pacific," Railway and Locomotive Engineering, December 1899, p.543.

Stepping up in size, these engines (8 in one batch, 8 in another) were decidedly freight haulers of considerable power.

Class S-1 (Locobase 9542)

Data from "Heavy Compound for Northern Pacific," Railway and Locomotive Engineering, December 1899, p.543.

The article notes that this batch from Schenectady differed from earlier engines (Locobase 902) in having a piston valve servicing the high-pressure cylinder and that the change led them to "...handle much easier [sic] than the slide-valve engine." The article does not mention two other differences: a 2" increase in piston stroke, and a 4" extension in ttube length.

Class S-10 (Locobase 914)

Data from a 1944 Northern Pacific Locomotive Diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection. Correction on the heating surface data from NP spec card reproduced on http://www.mtmuseum.org/?body=jsr/roster/np328.html, visited 6 June 2005).

Relatively light engines said by some sources to have been intended for the Russian Government (see the Tell Tale article quoted below). In fact, says the Montana Museum, the class came from an order for the newly minted Chicago Southern Railroad. Incorporated in 1904, the railroad ordered 40 locomotives from Rogers. By the end of 1905, however, the project had collapsed and Rogers was left with 14 unclaimed Ten-wheelers. The Northern Pacific snapped up 10 of these in early 1907 for $14,500 each to operate on its branch lines.

Most were scrapped in 1929-1922, but the Rush City, Minn to Grantsburg, Wisc branch had a St Croix River bridge that could only bear the weight of a light Consolidation or these light Ten-wheelers. So 321 & 328 operated well into the 1940s. 321 was scrapped in 1946.

Northern Pacific's Tell Tale magazine of May, 1950 (http://www.employees.org/~davison/nprha/rvntwo.html, 19 June 2003) drew the following portrait of 328 fifty years after its introduction:

"By R. V. Nixon

In this age of Diesel-electric streamliners and fast 125-car freight trains, it is very refreshing to come across a touch of old time railroading, such as exists on the Sixth Sub-division of the Lake Superior Division. Daily except Sunday, a mixed train powered by a small Ten-wheeler, leaves Rush City for the round trip to Grantsburg, Wisc., crossing the St. Croix River on the oldest of N.P. bridges, and traveling on light 56-pound rail. At Grantsburg the engine is turned on one of the few remaining ''Armstrong'' turntables ...

" It is doubtful if such picturesque railroad scenes can be found anywhere at this late stage of the game. Probably they will be short lived as the 328 is due to be dismantled and application has been made for the abandonment of the Grantsburg [B]ranch. An interesting sidelight of the abandonment is the fact that Brakeman Jack Murray, whose father rode the first train over the branch 67 years ago, will probably work on the last run ...

"... The 328 was one of ten small 4-6-0s built by Rogers in 1907. The order was placed rather mysteriously by an agent of a foreign country, supposedly for service in Russia or Manchuria. Upon completion the locomotives were refused for some unknown reason and were purchased by the N.P. for use on branch lines.

Most of the S-10s worked in the vicinity of Fargo, although the 325 and 326 were familiar sights on the Alder, Pony and Norris branches. All have been scrapped except the 328 - which will itself soon be railroad history.

Nxon later reported:

" And that isn't all! Remember our May issue of the Tell Tale where we mourned the passing of Northern Pacific 328? As expected, the 328 was taken to Brainerd for dismantling. To use the words of one of our colleagues, ''The torch was so close the paint was scorching!''

Instead, said Nixon, the Minnesota Railfans Association persuaded the NP to donate 328 to Stillwater. Later it pulled excursion trains in Stillwater (1987-1991) and on the Osceola & St Croix Valley Railway (1992-1999).

Class S-11 (Locobase 894)

Data from a 1944 Northern Pacific Locomotive Diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection. Grant's works #1766-1768.

Class S-2 (Locobase 908)

Data from a 1944 Northern Pacific Locomotive Diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Continuation of the definitive cross-compound design that began with the S-1 class (Locobase 9542) in 1899. Principal difference was an increase in weight. Schenectady works # began with 5473-5482 and 5593-5612.

Most were scrapped in the mid-1920s.

Class S-3 (Locobase 911)

Data from a 1944 Northern Pacific Locomotive Diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Like the P-3, the S-3 was an enlargement of the basic cross-compound Ten-wheeler (Locobase 902, 9542) bought in relatiively large numbers at the turn of the century. There was only a slight increase in the length of the tubes and the number in the boiler. The grate, on the other hand, was half again as ...er ...great in area, chiefly because it was shallower toward the back and mounted above the drivers rather than between them. This allowed 30" increase in the width of the grate.

Like the earlier engines in this series, these cross-compounds were never simpled or superheated and most were scrapped by the end of the 1920s.

Class S-4 - compound (Locobase 905)

Data from a 1944 Northern Pacific Locomotive Diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection. 1902 works numbers were 20273-20277, 20308-

20309, 20366-20369 in April 1902; 20401-20403, 20421, 20456-20457, 20468-20472, 20497-20499 in May 1902; 20538-20540, 20557-20560, 20596-20599, 20621 in June; 20660-20662 in July.

Finishing off the legion of compound Ten-wheelers supplied to the railroad at the turn of the century, the NP went to a new builder and signed up for 40 of its 4-cylinder Vauclain compounds. Few Vauclain compounds had strokes as long as 30 inches, but clearly that was an NP preference.

Unlike the cross-compounds delivered by Schenectady in previous years, the Baldwins were soon simpled and many later superheated. See Locobase 912.

Class S-4 - simpled (Locobase 912)

Data confirmed by locomotive diagrams from 1900 hosted on http://www.nprr.org/Steam%20Diagrams/Forms/AllItems.aspx (7 Feb 2004).

These were the simple-expansion and superheated modifications to the Vauclain compounds that first appeared in 1902 (See Locobase 905). Drury (1993) says simply that these were the Northern Pacific's "best-known Ten-Wheelers." They were originally mountain-based passenger haulers (note the driver diameter), but "later were all-purpose engines: branchline, pusher, local freight, local passenger."

Many had 50-year careers, after which 4 were donated for display in Pasco (Wash - 1354), Missoula (Mont - 1356), Tacoma (Wash - 1364), and Helena (Mont - 1382).