Belt Rwy of State Harbor Commission 0-4-2 Locomotives in the USA

Class 2 (Locobase 11490)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines, 1903, as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Volume 23, p. 224 and Volume 26, p. 282. Works numbers were 18618 in January 1901 and 23897 in March 1904. See also San Francisco Trains at [] for the Belt's history.

This saddle tank's tank was quite large, its bases resting on the running boards and considerable depth throughout. A view of the running gear and the weight distribution suggests this was an 0-4-0ST design modified to include a trailing truck to improve reverse tracking. The two taller sand domes flanked a shorter steam dome along the top of the tank; apparently the steam was led up to the domes through trunks in the tank.

This shortline handled transfer traffic from the ships in San Francisco's port to the yards of such railroads as the Santa Fe, Southern Pacific, and Western Pacific. As the web history points out, its nicknames of Toonerville Trolley and the Wooden Axle Line hid an operation that included such amenities as a 5-stall roundhouse, a 1,500-ft tunnel bored under Fort Mason in time for the 1915 Golden Gate Exposition, and plenty of traffic.

As the tunnel was completed and traffic continued to grow, F A Stevens recommended in the Commissioners' Biennial Report for the period 1 July 1912 to 30 June 1914 (Sacramento: 1914), p. 71 recommended that engines 2 and 3 (the subject of this entry) be sold, their stalls being filled by new, heavier locomotives. The 2 went to the California Western Railroad & Navigation, but was scrapped in 1920. 3 went to Columbia Steel in Pittsburg, Calif and later to Judson Manufacturing of San Francisco County.

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Class 5 (Locobase 14079)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Volume 45, p. 232. See also Locobase 11490. Works number was 38036 in July 1912.

The biggest differences between this 1912 saddle tank and the two that preceded it on the Belt Railway (Locobase 11490) were increases in cylinder volume and adhesion weight and slightly larger drivers. Curiously, this package included dropping the boiler pressure to a surprisingly low setting.

The 5 used the standard Southern Pacific oil-burning setup in which the burner was "placed through the front end of the fire pan." All future Belt Railway locomotives (including their Alco diesels) would be all-adhesion engines.

The 5 was sold to Columbia Steel in 1928.