2-8-0 "Consolidation" Steam Locomotives in the USA

Class 103 (Locobase 12087)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University, Volume 19, p.38. (Thanks to Ivo Rutishauser for his 25 October 2026 correcting the DeGolyer page cite." Works numbers were 14011-14012 in May 1894.

The B&S was a logging-heavy road owned by the Goodyear Lumber Company and originally established as the Sinnemahoning Valley. This moderately sized pair of Consolidations answered a spec that reflected the hilly terrain in a requirement that the boiler's water level should "suit 132 feet [per mile or 2.5%] grade."

Of special interest is the detailed specs for the cab: "In fireman's side 2 short sliding seats hung on rods to run whole length of cab each seat about 20" long to and have iron standards to be covered with leather & stuffed with hair.Top of seat 12" [305 mm] below window ...Cab roof to project about 36" (914 mm) back over tender." Locobase notes these requests because a later admonition insisted that Baldwin pay "Better attention in Erecting Shop in fitting up details in cab."

They served the B&S for 22 years before both were sold in 1916. Locomotive rebuilder/reseller Southern Iron & Equipment bought the 103 and sold it to Bollinger Franklin Lumber of Kosciusko, Miss, from whom it returned almost immediately to be sold to West Lumber of Houston, Texas.

Class 106 (Locobase 12137)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Volume 19, p.197. Works number was 14209 in January 1895.

Very similar to the 103 and 105 described in Locobase 12087, this Consolidation had a shorter, shallower, wider firebox that set on the frame rails, not between them; this permitted a larger grate.

The requirements in the specs included the ability to maintain a water level "...to suit 132 ft [2 1/2%] grade." This engine's cab also the sliding seats installed on the fireman's side in the earlier two. An insistence on Baldwin paying "Better attention ...to cab fittings" in Locobase 12087 does not appear in 106's order.

Gene Connelly notes that the B&S sold 106 in September 1916 to a scrap dealer.

Class 107 (Locobase 12151)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Volume 19, p 251. Works numbers were 14324-14325, 14350-14351 in June 1895.

As with the other B&S Consolidations of the 1890s (Locobase 12087 and Locobase 12137), the small drivers and high boiler pressure in this quartet meant high tractive effort. The only difference from the previous pair shown in Locobase 12137 was three fewer boiler tubes. Like the earlier engines, the specification included requiring the boiler to maintain a water level "...to suit 132 ft [2 1/2%] grade."

All four were sold to second owners after 15-20 years of service. 107 went in July 1915 to Canadian company Maritime Coal Railway & Power Company.

108 and 109 were sold in 1911 to Colfax & Northern. The C&N sold 109 in 1917 to locomotive rebuilder/reseller Southern Iron & Equipment. 108 was sold to Pyramid Portland Cement in 1925,, but SI & E to Central Steel Company of Massilon, Ohio.

110 had the shortest career: sold to the Wellsville & Buffalo in December 1915, it was scrapped 9 months later in September 1916.

Class 112 (Locobase 12155)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Volume 19, p.274. Works number was 14411 in September 1895.

Originally ordered as 101, this Consolidation came to the B & S as 112. And it brought a different mixture of cylinder volume (more) and boiler pressure (less) than previous B & S 2-8-0s. The boiler also grew.

20 years of service were followed by a sale to locomotive rebuilder/reseller Birmingham Rail & Locomotive in February 1917. BR & L sold the engine to the Evansville & Indianapolis as #501. In September 1920, the E & I sold the locomotive back to the BR & L, which sold it in June 1922 to Marathon Lumber Company of Laurel, Miss as their #260.

Class 113 (Locobase 12494)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Volume 23, p.263. Works numbers wer 18892-18893 in April 1901.

After a 5-year lull in orders from Baldwin, the B & S went back to the Philadelphia builder for 2 Consolidations that featured a slightly larger boiler pressed to a higher degree but composed of several dozen more tubes of a smaller diameter than the most recent 112 (Locobase 12155). In addition, the company accepted a taller locomotive with a muchg wider grate in a shallower firebox.

114 was shown at Buffalo's 1901 Pan-American Exposition before its delivery to the B&S in November. The Expostion was a World's Fair that would become much better known as the site at which anarchist Leon Czolgolz shot President William McKinley.

Procured as a pair, the two engines were sold as a pair in June 1917 to locomotive rebuilder/reseller Southern Iron & Equipment (which assigned consecutive equipment numbers 1163-1164). SI & E dealt them to American Smelting & Refining where they were numbered 184-185.

Class 2 (Locobase 11666)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines, 1888, as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Vol 14, p.101. Works number was 9121 in March 1888.

The SVRR is perhaps best known for the oddball Meyer Vauclain 0-6-6-0T built for the railroad in 1892 (see Locobase 5310) . But not all of the railroad had 10% grades and for more typical segments, this Consolidation served well enough. When the SV was merged into the Buffalo & Susequehanna in 1893, this engine was first renumbered 102, then 10 years later to 124.

In 1906, the newly organized Canadian Northern bought the engine as their #100.

Class 200 (Locobase 16632)

Data from American Locomotive Company data card Class, 280 141, supplied in October 2022 by Ellis Tammelleo's Locomotive Dossier on Google Drive.Works number was 65188 in November 1923.

(Note on provenance: This engine and four more originally entered the production line in Paterson, NJ as a quintet destined for the EF de Dourado in Brazil. When the class was almost ready for shipment, the railway cancelled the order and Cooke listed them as stock. Although the data is the same throughout, Locobase offers entries for all five because of their varied histories. See Locobase 16603, 16632, 16633, 16634, 16635]

After this light Consolidation languished on the back track for three years, the B&SE bought it, renumbered it 200 and put it in service. Its retirement came in 1953 and the 200 again lay dormant, this time for ten years. Stephen P Bogan of Hartford, CT bought the 200 in 1963. After operations on the Vermont Railway and fan trips on the New Haven, this Paterson product settled into its second, even longer career in 1973 hauling excursion trains on the Valley Road/Essex Steam Train and Steamboat. Overhauled most recently between 2010-2018, the 97 was an active member of the roster well into the 21st Century.

Class 54, 7 (Locobase 11971)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Volume 27, p. 195

Works numbers were 25141, 25169, 25183 in February 1905; 29265-29266 in October 1906.

The Bullfrog Syndicate bought locomotives for several railroads in Nevada. In this 2 December 1904 order, the 3 Consolidations produced in 1905 were ticketed for the Tonopah Railroad; by the time of their delivery, the road had been renamed Tonopah & Goldfield. The 2 in 1906 went to the Bullfrog & Goldfield

The 3 on the T & G served that railroad until they were scrapped; 7 & 9 went to the ferro-knacker in 1940, 8 saw the end of the road in 1948, shortly after the T & G was abandoned..

54-55 both were sold to The American Smelting & Refining Company (ASARCO) and renumbered 1923-1924. ASARCO was nationalized by the Nacional de Mexico in 1927 and the two locomotives were placed in class G-30 and renumbered (in 1930) 1365-1366.

By then the boiler and firebox layout was quite different; see Locobase 11972