Vandalia Line / Pennsylvania 4-6-0 "Ten-Wheeler" Type Locomotives

Class D/G1 (Locobase 1135)

One of the classes established by Alexander J. Cassatt after he became Master of Machinery. Duty was general freight service. G1A was slightly lighter at 82,590 lb. Built between 1868 and 1873.

Class E/G2 (Locobase 1136)

Data from diagram scanned in by Robert Schoenberg of http://prr.railfan.net . One of the classes established by Alexander J. Cassatt after he became Master of Machinery. Duty was heavy freight service in the mountains, for which the G1 was modified with a larger firebox and smaller drivers.

Class G4A (Locobase 3176)

Data from diagram scanned in by Robert Schoenberg of http://prr.railfan.net . Unusually for this period, this design had a radial-stay firebox. 8 were later superheated, in the process being fitted with piston valves and Walschaerts valve gear.

Class G5s (Locobase 118)

90 built for Pennsy in 1923-1925; 31 identical locos for the LIRR from 1924-1929.

Like all Pennsys, this design had a Belpaire firebox. (See Locobase 32 for a comment on the unique design of Pennsy's Belpaire firebox.)

The Railway Mechanical Engineer (RME) of January 1924 (pp 16-18) explains that local Pennsy traffic sometimes had to scale relatively steep grades. As traffic had grown over the previous decade, the railroad more frequently had to resort to double-heading its Atlantics.

As was usually the case with initial reports, RME reported the G5s was meeting exacting schedules and could run at 70 mph because the counterbalancing allowed for such speeds on a relatively low-drivered machine.

Once in service for a while, however, the class was considered to be rough riding, hard on water, hard to fire, and not suited for heavy snow because of the low placement of the air pump. It may at first seem hard to square this set of criticisms with Edson's verdict (Keystone Steam & Electric, 1974) that they were "...very successful not only on the Pittsburgh Division, but also in New Jersey and on the Long Island Railroad, which bought 31 of their own." But given the high factor of adhesion that Edson observes "...was needed for good acceleration from numerous stops in such service,", the ill effects on the crew were apparently more than offset by the engine's ability to keep a schedule.

Class VG6a / G26a (Locobase 5845)

Builder information from B Rumary list supplied by Allen Stanley in March 2004. Works numbers were 1588-1589 (December 1895). Originally procured by the Terre Haute & Indianapolis and renumbered by them once. As 508-509, came under Vandalia control. The Vandalia Line, itself an amalgam of railroads principally including the TH & I, was taken into the Pennsylvania system in 1917.

Profiled in the American Engineer and Railroad Journal of April 1896, this cross-compound design used the "Pittsburgh" system. "One feature of this system," said the anonymous author of the article,"is the independent exhaust from the high-pressure cylinder." Working simple at low speeds, the author goes on to explain, offers substantial benefits on those divisions of the line that have heavy grades "...as it permits the engine to take a heavier load over the limiting grade of the division, a load which can usually be easily handled on the remainder of the division."

Stacked against the other American TenWheelers of the decade, this design is about in the middle of the pack.

Class X (Locobase 1153)

Used in passenger express service with heavy trains.

Class X/G3 (Locobase 3175)

Data from diagram scanned in by Robert Schoenberg of http://prr.railfan.net . Belpaire firebox, considerable growth allowance suggested by the high factor of adhesion.

Specifications
Class	D/G1	E/G2	G4A	G5s	VG6a / G26a	X	X/G3
Locobase ID	1135	1136	3176	118	5845	1153	3175
Railroad	Pennsylvania (PRR)	Pennsylvania (PRR)	Pennsylvania (PRR)	Pennsylvania (PRR)	Vandalia Line (PRR)	Pennsylvania (PRR)	Pennsylvania (PRR)
Whyte	4-6-0	4-6-0	4-6-0	4-6-0	4-6-0	4-6-0	4-6-0
Road Numbers				1961	258-59 / 508-09 / 8987-88
Gauge	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std
Builder			Altoona	Juniata	Pittsburgh		Ft Wayne
Year	1868	1869	1899	1924	1895	1893	1892
Valve Gear	Stephenson	Stephenson	Stephenson	Walschaert	Stephenson	Stephenson	Stephenson
	Locomotive Length and Weight
Driver Wheelbase	12.42'	12.67'	13.10'	14.25'	11'	11.83'	11.83'
Engine Wheelbase	23.67'	23.67'	25.42'	26.50'	21.67'	23.04'	23.04'
Ratio of driving wheelbase to overall engine wheebase	0.52	0.54	0.52	0.54	0.51	0.51	0.51
Overall Wheelbase (engine & tender)	45.83'	45.83'	56.10'	64.94'	49.79'	51.15'	51.12'
Axle Loading (Maximum Weight per Axle)	20800 lbs	23000 lbs	48000 lbs			39050 lbs	39050 lbs
Weight on Drivers	59200 lbs	62100 lbs	138000 lbs	178000 lbs	101000 lbs	112550 lbs	112550 lbs
Engine Weight	84300 lbs	84800 lbs	182000 lbs	237000 lbs	127000 lbs	138000 lbs	138000 lbs
Tender Light Weight	51400 lbs	51400 lbs	51400 lbs	176000 lbs	78700 lbs	73000 lbs	51400 lbs
Total Engine and Tender Weight	135700 lbs	136200 lbs	233400 lbs	413000 lbs	205700 lbs	211000 lbs	189400 lbs
Tender Water Capacity	2400 gals	2400 gals	8000 gals	7800 gals	4000 gals	3900 gals	3900 gals
Tender Fuel Capacity (oil/coal)	4 tons	4 tons	11 tons	13 tons	tons	7.5 tons	7.5 tons
Minimum weight per yard of rail on which locomotive could run	32.89 lb rail	34.50 lb rail	76.67 lb rail	98.89 lb rail	56.11 lb rail	62.53 lb rail	62.53 lb rail
	Geometry Relating to Tractive Effort
Driver Diameter	56"	50"	68"	68"	56"	68"	68"
Boiler Pressure	125 psi	125 psi	225 psi	205 psi	180 psi	180 psi	180 psi
Cylinders (dia x stroke)	18" x 22"	18" x 22"	20" x 28"	24" x 28"	19" x 26" (1)	19" x 24"	19" x 24"
Tractive Effort	13524 lbs	15147 lbs	31500 lbs	41328 lbs	17942 lbs	19494 lbs	19494 lbs
Factor of Adhesion (Weight on Drivers/Tractive Effort)	4.38	4.10	4.38	4.31	5.63	5.77	5.77
	Heating Ability
Firebox Area	95.97 sq. ft	111.27 sq. ft	162 sq. ft	177 sq. ft	152 sq. ft		146.40 sq. ft
Grate Area	14.50 sq. ft	16.35 sq. ft	31 sq. ft	55.19 sq. ft	24 sq. ft	31.32 sq. ft	30.78 sq. ft
Evaporative Heating Surface	1093	1096	2814	2855	1805	1901	1902
Superheating Surface				613
Combined Heating Surface	1093	1096	2814	3468	1805	1901	1902
Evaporative Heating Surface/Cylinder Volume	168.68	169.15	276.39	194.74	423.11	241.37	241.50
	Computations Relating to Power Output (More Information)
Robert LeMassena's Power Computation	1812.50	2043.75	6975	11313.95	4320	5637.60	5540.40
Same as above plus superheater percentage	1812.50	2043.75	6975	13313.79	4320	5637.60	5540.40
Same as above but substitute firebox area for grate area	11996.25	13908.75	36450	42698.70	27360	0	26352
Power L1	2831.98	2656.36	9076.83	14669.83	4335.92	0	6822.62
Power MT	316.39	282.91	435.02	545.08	283.93	0	400.92

The G5s class was used for both fast and slow freight and passanger service. They were never built by the hundreds as were most other Pennsy wheel arrangments. Most early models were freight haulers capable of out-pulling the standard American (4-4-0) type. Later designs matured into fast pasenger service.

None of the Pennsy 4-6-0 Standard Designs were built between the years 1901 and 1923. However, there were a few odds and ends scattered about. Two examples were operated by the Long Island Rail Road and Grand Rapids & Indiana.

In the year 1924, the Pennsy locomotive inventory listed 164 Ten-Wheelers for passenger service and four for freight service. This was a period of change for the 4-6-0 as the new G5s class was being built by Juniata. The 4-6-0 might have well been developed into larger, high speed machines for use along level sections, but the railroad preferred to build 4-4-2s instead. All were built with superheaters and power reverse gear, but never got stokers or feedwater heaters.