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

Class 1311/M-37 (Locobase 5375)

Data from"A Tabular Comparison of Notable Examples of Recent Locomotives", American Engineeering and Railroad Journal (June 1906), pp 224-225. See also Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University, Vol 22, p. 200. Works numbers were 17439 in February 1900 and 17440, 17539-17540, 17574 in March.

This were huge Camelback Consolidations that repeated the 677s of 1898-1899 (Locobase 5338), but had slightly longer tubes for even more heating surface area.

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Class 16/M-30 1/2 (Locobase 12080)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Volume 19, p.14. Works number was 13783 in October 1893.

This single camelback for the DS & S had a similar-sized boiler to those of the Vauclain compounds delivered to the Lehigh Valley in 1892 and described in Locobase 12030. This was a simple-expansion locomotive from the start, however, and had a small grate and firebox.

It served the DS & S and successor Lehigh Valley for more than 30 years before being scrapped in June 1918.

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Class 22/M-21 1/2 (Locobase 12113)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Volume 19, p.124. Works numbers were 14038-14042, 14045-14047 in July 1894.

Although small in the boiler, these Consolidations had relatively large grates. They were taken into the Lehigh Valley as part of the amalgamation of the two railroads and classed M-21 1/2.

611-614 had their trucks removed in September 1920, thus becoming 0-8-0 switchers, and renumbered 3000-3003. They were scrapped in November 1923 (3) and June 1924 (3000, ex-613). 615 was scrapped in 1925.

609 ended its career at the New River Company and 610 wound up at Dunn Loop Coal.

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Class 634/M-29 (Locobase 12030)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Volume 17, p. 261. Works number was 12643 in April 1892; 12650-12651, 12655.

This Vauclain compound Consolidation camelback had 10 1/2" diameter piston valves. Later, the LV rebuilt this quartet as simple-expansion engines with 22" x 28" cylinders. 674-675 were scrapped in October 1928, 650 went in January 1930, and 651 closed out the class in March 1930.

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Class Consolidation (Locobase 2556)

See also "The first Consolidation engine ever built ...", Railroad Gazette, Volume XVIII [18] (11 June 1886), p. 407.

This was the engine that gave its name to the wheel arrangement used for more locomotives than any other type. It was originally proposed by the LV's master mechanic Alexander Mitchell for the Mahanoy division and built by Baldwin after some initial reluctance. (see [] and [], a history of the LV's Delano shops, seen on the web in December 2002, for an account of the jawboning Mitchell applied to persuade Baldwin. His clincher was that the Grant Works in Paterson might be able to handle the work.)

Mitchell's reasoning for adopting a 2-8-0 layout was to ease wear and tear on the track while more effectively distributing weight than an 0-8-0 could manage. Once Baldwin accepted the contract, Mitchell and Baldwin's William P. Henszey worked out the final details. Final cost was $19,000 plus 5% war tax. (In 1878, a Baldwin quote for a Consolidation was $9,700 -- obviously a deflation had hit the market.) The engine (with the satisfying round works number of 1500) was delivered in August 1866.

Among Consolidation's design features were the relatively wide anthracite-burning grate with water bars, a variable exhaust, poppet throttle valve, water injector, and a combustion chamber. [Bruce (1952) notes that combustion chambers were seldom used until butt-welding techniques were perfected in the 1920s.]

The engine experienced overnight success by managing loads up 2.5% grades equal to the 0-8-0s (100 empty coal cars totalling 340 trailing tons), but with less chance of derailment or damage to the tracks and at a higher speed. White (1968) says that little is known about Consolidation's service history except that she ran 377,000 miles before her retirement in 1886.

The 1886 RG account gives some details about her service in a review. Its maximum train load over a 96 ft/mile (1.8%) grade consisted of 130 empty coal cars weighing 442 tons (402 metric tons). RG's calculations of the probable resistance of such a load worked out a factor of adhesion close to the FofA shown in the specs.

The Consolidation remained in service for 19 years 10 months and averaged 19,000 miles (30,590 km). Its boiler life was shortened by the "unavoidable use of sulphur water". Its first boiler was replaced in May 1875. Deterioration of the second boiler and "weakness of frame and pedestals" led to its abandonment in May 1886.

NB: The direct heating surface (including the firebox heating surface) is an estimate calculated by subtracting the calculated tube heating surface from the reported total evaporative heating surface.

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Class Enterprise/M-17 (Locobase 16133)

Data from DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Specifictions for Engines, Volume 14, p. 9. Works numbers were 9056-9062 in February 1888, 9119-9132 in March; 12278-12282, 12284-, 12285, 12287, 12293, 12298 in October 1891; and 12621, 12626, 12628-12630, 12634 in April 1892.

450-460 were named when they first arrived on the LV. In road number order they were Enterprise, Mill Creek, Warrior Run, Espy Run, Slocum, Glen Summit, Penobscot, Bear Creek, Moose Head, Beauplana. Later locomotives bore numbers only: 603-607, 593-596, 628-633.

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Class M-35 (Locobase 4896)

Data from DeGolyer, Volume 22, p. 110; and Volume 24, p. 30.

Described in an 1899 Pictorial History of the Locomotive (as reproduced on []) as capable of pulling 2,000 tons on the level. Works numbers were

1899

16588-16589 in March, 17090-17095 in September; 17139-17141, 17201-17214 in October.

1900

17789-17791 in May; 17821-17822, 17835-17836, 17877-17880, 17898 in June; 17915-17917, 17962-17963 in July

1901

18755-18758, 18791-18792, 18854-18856 in March

These Vauclain compound engines had relatively tall drivers for Consolidations of the time and served on the Buffalo Division where the grades averaged 20 ft to the mile (<0.5%) and were 35 miles long. The first fifty trailed tenders that carried 4,500 US gallons (17,033 litres) of water and weighed 100,000 lb (45,359 kg) loaded.

Soon after delivery of the final batch of compounds, the LV began converting the class to simple expansion. See Locobase 7304 for the result when these engines were also superheated later on.

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Class M-35 (Locobase 12609)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University, Volume 24, p. 230. Works numbers were 20350-20351 in April 1902; 20406-20407, 20424, 20443-20444, 20461-20463 in May; 20524-20527, 20562, 20564-20565, 20605-20607, 20627-20628 in June; 20663-20665 in July.

Very similar to other camelback Consolidations delivered to the Lehigh Valley at the turen of the century, this set had longer boiler tubes and a slightly smaller grate. All of therm were rebuilt by Baldwin, who installed simple-expansion cylinders and superheaters, in 1915; see Locobase 7304.

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Class M-35 (Locobase 16159)

Data from DeGolyer, Volume 23, pp. 50+.

18889-18890, 18933-18935 in April; 18987-18992 in May; 19282-19286 in July; 19320-19322 in August

These Vauclain compound engines were identical to the Consolidations described in Locobase 4896 except for the smaller drivers, which suited them for the steeper grades in the anthracite region.

Soon after delivery of the final batch of compounds, the LV began converting the class to simple expansion. See Locobase 7304 for the result when these engines were also superheated later on.

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Class M-35 - superheated (Locobase 7304)

Data from LV 3 -1934 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange.

102 camelback Consolidations comprised this large class that was originally delivered as Vauclain compounds in 1899 to 1902 (see Locobases 4896 and 16159). Only three years later they were converted to simple expansion and, beginning in 1914, fitted with superheaters and piston valves.

As one might guess of one of the most numerous classes on the LV, retirements covered a long period. The first went in 1916 (possibly an accident victim?) and the last held out until 1951.

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Class M-36 (Locobase 7305)

Data from LV 3 -1934 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange.

Five years after Baldwin delivered its big batch of camelback Consolidations (Locobase 7304), Alco followed with twenty more simple-expansion engines in 1907 with the same-size grate but a bigger boiler. Beginning in 1916, some were fitted with superheaters and piston valves.

Retirements of this class began in 1928 and were completed 17 years later in 1945.

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Class M-37 (Locobase 5338)

Data from table in AERJ July 1903, supplemented by Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University, Volume 21, p. 272. Works numbers were 16690-16694 in April 1899, 16775-16778 in May.

Gene Connelly's list shows this set of Consolidations with simple-expansion 23" cylinders, but the Baldwin specs documented above show that all were ordered with the same Vauclain compound arrangement first installed on the 681 (Locobase 9934). 13" piston valve fed steam to the HP/LP combination on each side.

If they were delivered as compounds, the M-37s adopted the 23" x 30" simple-expansion layout. They were all renumbered twice, ending up with 950-964.

All but one retained their 2-8-0 configuration. 950 was converted to a large 0-8-0 switcher in 1906 and given number 3199 and class ID L-6.

953 and 959 were scrapped in September 1925, 958 in February 1930, and the rest in 1932.

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Class M-37 - 30" LP cylinders (Locobase 9934)

Data from "Lehigh Valley's Latest Consolidation Engine", Locomotive Engineering, Vol XI, No 12 (December 1898), p. 539. See also Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University, Vol 21, p. 272. Works number was 16224 in September 1898.

One of the Vauclain compound Consolidation locomotives supplied to the LV by Baldwin in 1898 (Locobase 5338) experimented with increasing the low-pressure cylinder diameter to 30". It offered considerable power. It was guaranteed by Baldwin to pull a 1,000-ton train up a 1.6% (1 in 61) grade at 17 mph.

The production variant of this class, shown in Locobase 5338, had the same power dimensions, but reduced the number of tubes by nine.

Like the other Vauclain camelbacks, this engine was later rebuilt in a simple-expansion configuration; the shops fitted 681 with 23" x 30" cylinders. It was scrapped in September 1925.

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Class Mogul (Locobase 9678)

Data from George L Vose, Manual for Railroad Engineers and Engineering Students (Boston: Lee & Shepard, 1883), pp. 402-403. See also DeGolyer, Volume 5, p. 269. Baldwin works numbers were 2587, 2588 in October 1871; 2679, 2682 in January 1872; 2699, 2701 in February; 2733, 2742 in March.

With the success of the original Consolidation assured (Locobase 2556), the Lehigh Valley bought a few more of the same with slightly larger dimensions. This pair - named Mogul and Tycoon -- had slightly less heating surface area but more tubes. Six more followed with state names: Maryland, Virginia, Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Alabama.

In its catalogue, Baldwin reprinted an 8 May 1878 letter from James I Blakeslee, Division Superintendent, in which he wrote: "Engine No. 169 ...came on this road March 1872, and in the first five years made a mileage of 112,008 miles [181,610 km]. The cost of repairs during the five years was $3,739.50, equal to 0.3 1/3 cents per mile.

"Works done by the engine was as follows:

Average number of empty cars on a grade of 96 feet/mile [1.8% grade] 100 [3.8 short tons each or a total of 380 tons].

Average number of loaded cars on a grade of 130 feet/mile [2.5% grade] 30 [loaded 10.5 short tons each or a total of 315 tons]."

Vose quoted in great detail the results of several trips by this class (p. 403). Two worth quoting are:

"An engine of this class.. has drawn 17 cars, 8 tons each, or 136 tons, exclusive of engine and tender, over a 133 feet grade [2.5%], at about 8 miles an hour [13 km/h], with 120 pounds of steam, cut off at the fifth notch, using no sand, and in a snow-storm, on a bad rail."

Pause to imagine the cold and poor visibility the crew encountered on that run and reflect on the fact that some of the men were outside on the cars.

Now imagine the strong-man feat of the following:

"With a dead pull at the bottom of a 77 feet grade [1.45%], [the engine] took 504 tons up the grade and around a 90 [not sure if degree or foot radius]curve, with 125 pounds of steam, cut off at 20 inches."

They were rebuilt in 1882. 165-167 were scrapped by 1905. 170 was fitted with Wootten firebox in 1889 and scrapped in April 1912. 168-169 were designated class M-25 and carried on until 168 was broken up in May 1913 and 169 dismantled in September 1915.

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Class United States (Locobase 11179)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works, International Exhibition 1876, Exhibit of Locomotives by Burnham Parry Williams & Co (Philadelphia: J P Lippincott & Co, 1876), pp. 8-12. See also DeGolyer, Volume 7, p. 333. See also Jason Lamontagne, Ed Lecuyer, and Stephen Piwowarsk, "A Boiler Jacket for WW&F Locomotive No.9, Final Report, Prepared for the NRHS - February 2016 at [], last accessed 3 December 2022. Works number was 3862.

Locobase 2256 describes the very first "Consolidation" and Locobase 9678 shows the confusingly named "Mogul", an 1871-1872 variant; this entry describes the exhibit specimen built for the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. 310 had a larger firebox for burning anthracite coal, but was otherwise similar to the Mogul.

Baldwin took care to acknowledge many of its suppliers in a list worth duplicating as a snapshot of the network:

Boiler, ]. L. Bailey & Co.'s "Pine" Iron [Pine Iron Works, Pa];

Fire-Box, Bay State Iron Co.'s Homogeneous Cast Steel [Boston, Mass];

Tires, Standard Steel Works' Crucible Steel [Philadelphia, Pa];

Truck Wheels, A. Whitney & Sons' Double-plate Chilled Wheels [Philadelphia, Pa];

Flues, Morris, Tasker & Co.'s Lap-welded Charcoal Iron Boiler Tubes [Philadelphia, Pa];

Injector, Rue Manufacturing Co.'s "Little Giant" Injector;

Steam-Gauge, H. Belfield & Co. [Philadelphia, Pa];

Brass and Copper Piping, Bridgewater Iron Co .[Bridgewater, Mass];

Jacket Iron, W. D. Wood & Co.'s Patent Planished Sheet Iron ;

Headlight, Kelly Lamp Works [Rochester, NY].

A note about "Russia iron". Lamontagne, Lecuyer, and Stephen Piwowarski's report offers a concise explanation of how it was made: "The basic manufacturing process involved stacking more than 100 iron sheets together, interspersed with wood charcoal, heating to forge temperature, and hammering the stack with a steam hammer. The stacks were then broken apart, the sheets inspected, and the process repeated until the desired results were achieved (high polish, consistent finish.) " They note that there were several grades, the highest reserved for the gleaming boiler jackets.

Another little tidbit from Baldwin's recitation of the Consolidation's power that spotlights average freight weights: In describing the 35-car train of loaded coal cars, the builder notes that the tare weight of each car is 3 tons 8 cwt (7,616 lb) and a coal capacity of 6 tons (13,440 lb). Taken together, that's a loaded weight per car of 10 1/2 short tons or 9.4 long tons.

The LV rebuilt the 310 with a Wootten firebox in January 1892 and classified it M-18. It was scrapped in March 1928.