4-6-0 "Ten-Wheeler" Steam Locomotives in the USA

Class 101/300 (Locobase 6286)

Data from table supplied by Allen Stanley in March 2004 and diagrams from M&O 7 -1925 Locomotive Diagrams supplied by Stanley in May 2005; and Degolyer, Volume 26, p. 253. See also DeGolyer, Volume 26, p. 253. (Thanks to Ivo Rutishauser for his May 2026 email spotlighting source and works number inaccuracies in Locobase 6286 and 6288. Locobase's research led to an overhaul of M&O entries in Locobases 6283-6286, 6288 as well as drafting new entries Locobases 16717-16719.) Works numbers were 23991, 24038-24039, 24103-24104 in March 1904; 24146, 24169 in April.

See Locobase 6283 for comments on the Ten-wheelers as a group.

This subclass used the same boiler, grate, and cylinders as the 93 (Locobase 6283), but had smaller drivers. They were the last M&O 4-6-0s with 57" drivers.

Road numbers first ranged from 101-103, 210-211, 104-107; a later renumbering resulted in 300-306.

It's not clear when these were retired, but they seem to have averaged about 30 years before scrapping.

Class 121 (Locobase 6284)

Data from table supplied by Allen Stanley in March 2004 and diagrams from M&O 7 -1925 Locomotive Diagrams supplied by Stanley in May 2005. (Thanks to Ivo Rutishauser for his May 2026 email spotlighting source and works number inaccuracies in Locobase 6286 and 6288. Locobase's research led to an overhaul of M&O entries in Locobases 6283-6286, 6288 as well as drafting new entries Locobases 16717-16719.)

Rogers actually delivered two versions that seem to have differed only in driver diameter. This, the more-numerous variant, was probably the freight hauler.

Works #: 5124-5129 (June 1896, road 50-55, later 123-128),

5160-5163 (January 1897, road 48-49 & 56-59, later 121-122 & 129-132),

5194-5208 (June 1897, road 116-130, later 133-147),

5268-5272 (March 1898, road 131-135, later 148-152),

5339-5348 (December 1898, road 153-162),

5440-5444 (October 1899, road 163-167),

5457-5471 (November 1899, road 168-177), and

5604-5614 (August 1900, road 178-182).

Class 136/200 (Locobase 6285)

Data from table supplied by Allen Stanley in March 2004 and diagrams from M&O 7 -1925 Locomotive Diagrams supplied by Stanley in May 2005. See also "Rogers Ten Wheeler for Mobile & Ohio," Locomotive Engineering, Volume 12, No 2 (February 1899), p. 66; and DeGolyer, Volume 26, p. 252. (Thanks to Ivo Rutishauser for his May 2026 email spotlighting source and works number inaccuracies in Locobase 6286 and 6288. Locobase's research led to an overhaul of M&O entries in Locobases 6283-6286, 6288 as well as drafting new entries Locobases 16717-16719.)

Rogers actually delivered two versions that seem to have differed only in driver diameter. Out of the 90, only these 20 had mixed-traffic driver dimensions.

Works numbers were 5247-5251 in March 1898 (road 136-140 and later 200-204),

5329-5338 in November 1898 (road 143-152, later 205-214), and 5474-5478 in November 1899 (road 178-182, later 215-219).

The handsome lines of this mixed-traffic Ten-wheeler were spoiled to some extent by a clerestory "mohawk" in the center of the cab roof.

Most of the class was withdrawn and scrapped in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

Class 200/310 (Locobase 16719)

Data from table supplied by Allen Stanley in March 2004 and diagrams from M&O 7 -1925 Locomotive Diagrams supplied by Stanley in May 2005; and Degolyer, Volume 26, p. 253. See also DeGolyer, Volume 26, p. 253. (Thanks to Ivo Rutishauser for his May 2026 email spotlighting source and works number inaccuracies in Locobase 6286 and 6288. Locobase's research led to an overhaul of M&O entries in Locobases 6283-6286, 6288 as well as drafting new entries Locobases 16717-16719.) Works numbers were 23835, 23853-23857, 23902, 23909, 23928, 23938, 24044, 24076 in March 1904.

See Locobase 6283 for comments on the Ten-wheelers as a group. As Baldwin delivered the last batch of eight locomotives with a boiler holding 312 tubes (Locobase 6286), they simultaneously produced these dozen engines that rolled on the same diameter drivers and offered the same grate area, but under a boiler holding 49 more small tubes. The class also adopted more cylinder volume by increasing cylinder diameter by 1 inch (25.4 mm).

A year later, the 212 class (Locobase 6288) completed the design upgrade by adding 6" (152 mm) to the driver diameter.

Class 212 (Locobase 6288)

Data from table supplied by Allen Stanley in March 2004 and diagrams from M&O 7 -1925 Locomotive Diagrams supplied by Stanley in May 2005. See also DeGolyer, Volume 28, p. 67 and Volume 30, p. 98. (Thanks to Ivo Rutishauser for his May 2026 email spotlighting source and works number inaccuracies in Locobase 6286 and 6288. Locobase's research led to an overhaul of M&O entries in Locobases 6283-6286, 6288 as well as drafting new entries Locobases 16717-16719.)

Works numbers were:

1905

August 26128-26132, 26146, 26181, 26189, 26208, 26238, 26361-26363; 26376, 26398

September 26406-26407, 26493

October 26577, 26607

1906

May 28242-28258-28260, 28272

June 28300-28301, 28404-28406

At the same time Baldwin was building the 57" version of the 20 x 26" class of Ten-wheelers (see Locobase 6286), the works began turning out the definitive larger-boilered design. First came the 200 class (Locobase 16719), which featured more heating surface area and cylinders 1" larger in diameter. The 212s added cylinder volume by increasing cylinder stroke by 2" (50.8 mm) longer in stroke. Thicker tires increased driver diameter to 63" (1,600 mm), thus slightly reducing the calculated tractive effort.

Seven months later, Baldwin produced another 30 built to the same specs. Works numbers were 29925-29928, 29952-29953, 29965-29967, 30002 in January 1907; 31980-31981, 32020-32021, 32048-32051, 32077-32078, 32087, 32095 in October; and 32116-32117, 32144-32145, 32163, 32174, 32204-32205 in November.

All 60 were later renumbered 325-384. The class didn't enjoy an especially long career and apparently were never upgraded or superheated. Most had been sold by 1940.

Class 230-superheated (Locobase 16718)

Data from Mobile & Ohio Locomotive Classification sheet dated 30 July 1907 and the Mobile & Ohio 1925-7 Locomotive Diagram supplied by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange collection. (Thanks to Ivo Rutishauser for his May 2026 email spotlighting source and works number inaccuracies in Locobase 6286 and 6288. Locobase's research led to an overhaul of M&O entries in Locobases 6283-6286, 6288 as well as drafting new entries Locobases 16717-16719.)

Locobase 16717 describes the original saturated-boiler version of this set of ten passenger engines delivered from Eddystone in 1906; the 300s repeated the mixed-traffic design described in Locobase 6288. Over the years, the M&O shops superheated four of the class (now renumbered in the 230s) and 266 (renumbered 240) of the 212 class.

All five saw their Stephenson link gear replaced by an outside radial valve motions. The 240 retained its slide valves while three others used piston valves housed in Universal steam chests bolted to the existing steam chest. M&O fitted the 237 with new cylinders measuring 22" (559 mm) in diameter fed by 12" (305 mm) piston valves. Starting tractive effort increased to 33,390 lb (15,545 kg or 148.5 kN).

Class 300/230 (Locobase 16717)

Data from DeGolyer, Volume 29, p. 227. Allen Stanley supplied the Mobile & Ohio Locomotive Classification sheet dated 30 July 1907 and the Mobile & Ohio 1925-7 Locomotive Diagram from his extensive Rail Data Exchange collection. (Thanks to Ivo Rutishauser for his May 2026 email spotlighting source and works number inaccuracies in Locobase 6286 and 6288. Locobase's research led to an overhaul of M&O entries in Locobases 6283-6286, 6288 as well as drafting new entries Locobases 16717-16719.) See Locobase 6283 for comments on the Ten-wheelers as a group. Works numbers were 29771-29772, 29814-29818, 29827, and 29844-29845 in December 1906.

Locobase 6288 describes the five dozen Ten-wheelers procured by the GM&O in 1904-1905 from which this set of passenger engines derived all of its specifications except for driver diameter. Baldwin's specs seem to have repeated the details so faithfully that the order originally showed 62" (1,575 mm), the diameter of the previous 212 class. The 68" diameter was inked in next to the 62.

Other notes in the specs led Locobase to look for a contemporaneous M&O document, which he found in the 1907 listing cited above. This source confirmed at least the intention to roll all ten engines on 68" drivers.

The M&O 1925 diagram book states that the shops fitted two of the engines with Baker radial valve gear. 240 apparently was otherwise unchanged. 233 received a superheater and a Universal steam chest which replaced the slide valve in upper section of the original valve chest with a bolt-on assembly housing a piston valve.

Class 52 (Locobase 6903)

Data from 1928 NOGN Locomotive Diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. See also Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University, Volume 29, p. 196. Baldwin supplied some of the class (works numbers 29551, 29581-29582 in November 1906) and Alco-Brooks the others.

NB: The tractive power given in the diagram is 24,000 lb, which doesn't come close to the figure derived from calculations using the dimensions and pressures shown in the diagram, particularly when noting that the wheel centers in the diagram stated to be 50".

James H Lemly's Gulf, Mobile and Ohio online history ([], accessed 1 September 2005) observes that the big difference between the "Nogan" and most Mississippi railroads was its big plans and mainline engineering standards. The NOGN was drawn up by "a group of Yankee lumbermen" and incorporated in August 1906. It was to run between the Crescent City and Jackson, Mississippi by way of the new port city of Bogalusa. The promoters acquired the 50-mile East Louisiana Railroad along the way.

Construction of the 200-mile main line took about 3 years, the road opening in 1906 between Slidell, La and Bogalusa with the rest being added by 1909. During that time, the railway required that its locomotive cabs carry the legend "Ozone Route". A website devoted to New Orleans history []) explains:"The (Ozone Routeÿ of the New Orleans Great Northern railroad offered $1 excursions [on New Year's Day, in particular] to Covington, Claiborne, Abita Springs, Ozone Park, Mandeville, Oaklawn, Bon Fouca, and North Slidell." At the time, ozone-laden air was credited with great health benefits.

The NOGN operated independently for a little over 20 years. Early traffic included lumber and gradually expanded to include agricultural and dairy products. After World War I, tonnage per train rose dramatically from 336 in 1920 to 587 in 1924. But unbalanced traffic and, especially the downturn in business brought on by the Depression.

The Gulf, Mobile & Northern saw that the NOGN line to New Orleans would be valuable to its North-South service and in 1929 negotiated to assume operating control through a stock exchange. As the Depression deepened, the NO-GN proved unable to meet its bonded indebtedness and by 1933, GM&N had concluded a 99-year lease that effectively ended the NO-GN's independent existence.

Class 61 (Locobase 6904)

Data from 1928 NOGN Locomotive Diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange.

The GM&N books do not show this pair of locomotives and Drury (1993) shows 60 as part of the 52-60 class. This is clearly a later design of modest proportions.

The 61 was retired in 1934. For some reason, the 60 evaded the torch for years and came under the Gulf,. Mobile & Ohio control in 1940, by whome it was renumbered 160. After serving throughout World War Two, the 160 later left the roster by 1948.

Class 70 (Locobase 6906)

Data from 1928 NOGN Locomotive Diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange.

When the NOGN superheated its Alco Ten-wheelers (Locobase 6904), it drafted a new and somewhat more informative diagram. The GM&O 5 -1945 diagram book, also supplied by Allen Stanley, fills in more data about the superheater.

The makeover included larger cylinders with 11" piston valves and a higher-pressure boiler. The latter were supplied by Baldwin as Extra Orders XO8270 and XO14350.

Locobase assumes that the figure of 641 sq ft for the superheater area represents an "equivalent heating surface", a value used by some railroads, and for a time the Railway Age Gazette, to represent the more powerful steam superheating created. To bring that value in line with the straightforward calculation used by most railroads, Locobase deducts 1/3 from the GM&O figure.

Class 71 (Locobase 6905)

Data from 1928 NOGN Locomotive Diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange.

Three Alco locomotives came in 1912 and 1914 (Richmond supplying those in the former year, Brooks the engine(s) in the latter year). By 1928, each had a different set of specs. This is the saturated variant; see Locobase 6906 for the makeover wrought by the NOGN shops in 1925.

Class 93/220 (Locobase 6283)

Data from table supplied by Allen Stanley in March 2004; diagrams from M&O 7 -1925 Locomotive Diagrams supplied by Stanley in May 2005; and DeGolyer, Volume 25, pp. 143+. (Thanks to Ivo Rutishauser for his May 2026 email spotlighting source and works number inaccuracies in Locobase 6286 and 6288. Locobase's research led to an overhaul of M&O entries in Locobases 6283-6286, 6288 as well as drafting new entries Locobases 16717-16719.) Works numbers were 22342, 22351, 22354, 22366, 22379, 22454, 22457 in June-July 1903.

Baldwin's Ten-wheelers, like the Rogers engines of a few years earlier, came in two driver diameters. All the significant dimensions had grown, however, and would continue to do so. This batch represents the smallest segment of the Baldwin flood - seven locomotives with 63" drivers and 20 x 26" cylinders and none in consecutive building order with any other. The original order shown in the Baldwin specifications book apparently envisioned fifteen locomotives, but was cut to eight.

At first numbered 93-96, and 98-100, they were later renumbered 220-223, 225-227.

The eighth engine-- 22378 / road 97/224 -- rolled on 57" (1,448 mm) drivers, but was otherwise identical. Its tractive effort calculated to be 31,015 lb (137.96 kN or 14,068 kg). It later received the 63" drivers fitted to the other seven.

The entire class was withdrawn in the 1930s after no significant changes to the locomotives save a 1" reduction in driver diameter to 62" (1,575 mm).