0-4-2 Steam Locomotives in the USA

Class 51 (Locobase 16681)

Data from "Class 042 T 87", Negative C-570, American Locomotive Company data card supplied by Chris Hohl in his 1 February 2025 email.. Works numbers were 60920-62921 in August 1919.

Locobase 16680 shows an 0-4-2ST delivered to the Medulla Phosphate Mining Company by Alco's Dickson Works of Scranton, PA. Nine years later, Alco's Cooke Works shipped a pair of similar but larger engines to another Florida phosphate mining company located in Bartow. Morris claimed in 1922 their pebble rock phosphate came from the "most modern Phosphate Mining Plant in the World"; Iron Age journal reported in their 29 May 1919 issue that the company had invested $1.2 million in its construction.

Cement, Mill & Quarry journal's 5 May 1921 issue described the "very complete" plant's system in detail:

"This company is doing its own stripping, by means of both hydraulic means and steam shovel, loading into Western dump cars. The general operation is similar to that previously described, except that instead of using bottom-dump cars for hauling phosphate rock from the washer to the wet bins at the drying plant, four Western 20-yd. automatic air dump cars have been installed for the purpose and are proving very practical. At the present time these dump cars are being operated at night in order that the locomotives may not be diverted from the important stripping work during the day. In connection with the crusher there is a long supplementary tunnel bin, which feeds into the crusher by belt conveyor." [make of that what you will.]

Like the Medulla quintet, the Morris pair used 14" x 22", but rolled on smaller drivers and set the boiler 30 psi higher (2 bar) and heated their water with oil.