2-2-4 Steam Locomotives in the USA

Class Transit (Locobase 11154)

Data from Schenectady Locomotive Works, Illustrated Catalogue of Simple and Compound Locomotives (Philadelphia: J B Lippincott, 1897), pp. 200-201. See also D&H 1 - 1927 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange; and Railroad and Engineering Journal, Volume LXIII [63], No 7 (July 1889), pp. 326-327. (Thanks to Chris Hohl for his 21 June 2017 email providing the link to the R&EJ article and for noting the correct fuel and water capacities.) Works number was 2806 in March 1889.

As small as this locomotive is, Locobase wondered if it was intended for street railways. But the illustration shows it lettered for a mainline railroad. In any case, the occupants did not ride in Spartan conditions. "The inspector's room ...is fitted with toilet-room complete, writing desk, three drawing-room car seats, one sofa, lamps, books, etc. The inside wood work is of mahogany, and the room is furnished in regular drawing-room-car style."

Yet there was a functional intent to this conveyance and Schenectady provided for that as well, installing heavy plate-glass windows in the door and to either side of the door that extended down to a foot off the floor, "...affording an unobstructed view of the track." And a large window separating the engineer from the inspectors allowed the former to see past their comfy chairs when the locomotive was running inspection-room forward.

Schenectady's 1889 catalogue said the water capacity was 800 US gallons. The R&EJ gave the figure as 500 gallons (1,893 litres). Locobase uses the builder's number.

R&EJ reported that the engine had "frequently made 45 miles an hour and has been run up to 60 miles an hour; the provision of coal and water is sufficient for a long run, and everything thing necessary for a protracted trip over the road can be carried." In short, it had given "excellent satisfaction."

See Locobase 15920 for the rebuild that increased capacity.

Class Transit - rebuilt (Locobase 15920)

Data from D&H 1 - 1927 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange.

Locobase 11154 shows the Transit as it was delivered by Schenectady in 1899. As might have been guessed, this little inspection engine with the single set of drivers must have faltered when challenged by any kind of grade.

So the D&H updated the design more than twenty years later with a bigger firebox that included water tubes providing 7.94 sq ft (0.74 sq m) of additional heating surface area. Its drivers also gained two inches in diameter.

After another eleven years, the Transit was scrapped in September 1933.