0-8-2 Steam Locomotives in the USA

Class 3650 (Locobase 16708)

Data from Illinois Central 1955 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in July 2025 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange collection. (Thanks to Chris Hohl for his 29 January 2026 email that finally persuaded Locobase to add this large switcher to the database.)

Once Locobase finally examined the question closely, he found that IC's Paducah shops used a variety of 2-8-2s originally delivered in 1911-1914 to create an enormously powerful heavy switcher.

All of the mods went through earlier updates to the Harriman Lines design. The boiler's basics remained essentially as did for the originals. Cylinder volume increased slightly while piston valve diameters had decreased by 1" (25.4 mm) to 14". Depending on which update of what batch created the earlier variant, some 3650s' boilers held 244 2 1/4" (57.15 mm) tubes, increasing evaporative heating surface areas to 3,984 sq ft (370.13 sq m). Others retained the 73 sq ft in syphons and 16 sq ft of arch tubes but reduced small-tube count by 6 to 256. and EHS to 3,785 sq ft (351.55 sq m).

Their specialized roles as yard switchers suited for long lengths of rail cars meant the class remained intact into the 1950s. All had been sent to the scrapper by the time 3685 and 3867 met the torch in January 1957. 3658 and 3690 earned reprieves through their 1955 sales to Bell & Zoller (or Bell & Ziegler) Coal Company.