Lehigh Valley 2-10-2 "Santa Fe" Locomotives in the USA

The Lehigh Valley Railroad needed more motive power to handle the surge during World War I and bought Seventy-six "Santa Fe" type locomotives from the Baldwin Locomotive Works. Forty were delivered in 1917 and the other thirty-six came in 1919. These locomotives were designated as Class R-1 and given road numbers 4000 through 4075. They had 63" diameter drivers, 29" x 32" cylinders, a 200 psi boiler pressure, exerted 72,620 pounds of tractive effort and each weighed 370,000 pounds. The firebox with its 100 square foot grate area was designed to burn a combination of anthracite and soft coal.

These locomotives were bought for slow-freight services between Manchester, NY and Sayre, Pa, a distance of 88 miles with a ruling grade of .4%. Each of these R-1s replaced two "Consolidations". In this service they were rated at 4,000 tons and 6 1/2 hours.

After the war, as traffic diminished and the needed for fast freight returned the 2-10-2s proved too slow for main line traffic and the LV sold eleven of them to the Hocking Valley in 1920 and then another five in 1923. It rebuilt twenty of them to be 2-8-2s. These remaining forty, numbers 4000 through 4039 were used until the end of steam.

There are no surviving LV 2-10-2 "Santa Fe" type locomotives.


Roster

ClassQty.Road NumbersYear BuiltBuilderNotes
R-1404000-40391917BaldwinNumbers 4000-4039 scrapped between 1948 and 1951.
R-1364040-40751919BaldwinNumbers 4040-4059 rebuilt as 2-8-2s in 1928-1929 and reclassified as Class N-6 and renumbered 275-294. Numbers 275-294 scrapped between 1939 and 1949. Numbers 4060-4075 sold to the Hocking Valley in 1920 and became HV numbers 130-145. The HV numbers 130-139 became C&O numbers 2950-2959. HV numbers 140, 142 & 144 sold to the Lake Superior & Ishpeming in 1930 and became LS&I numbers 36, 37 & 38. HV numbers 141 & 143 sold to the Pere Marquette in 1930 and became PM numbers 1198 & 1199, which became C&O numbers 2960 & 2961. HV number 145 sold to Birmingham Rail & Locomotive in 1930.

Class Details by Steve Llanso of Sweat House Media

Class R-1 (Locobase 459)

Data from"Heavy Locomotives for the Lehigh Valley", Railway Age Gazette, Volume 62, No 17 (27 April 1917), pp. 897-900. See also DeGolyer, Volume 59, pp. 235+. Works numbers were

1917

February 45088, 45112

March 45267-45268, 45314-45323, 45373

April 45450-45454, 45467-45469, 45513-45516, 45528-45530

May 45574-45576, 45627-45629, 45643-45645, 45680

1919

August 52188, 52225, 52249

September 52282-52284, 52306-52312, 52332-52335, 52354, 52373, 52426

November 52448-52449, 52491-52492, 52577-52578

December 52631, 52668, 52670-52675, 52705-52706

Firebox burned combination of anthracite and soft coal. Wagon-top boiler had a firebox with a combustion chamber that added 116 sq ft (10.8 sq m) to the heating surface area and 59 sq ft (5.5 sq m) of arch tubes. Fourteen-inch (356 mm) piston valves supplied steam to the cylinders. Thirty of the first forty engines had Walschaert valve gear, the other ten had Baker. Ragonnet power reverse. Economy front truck, Rushton inside-journal rear truck. The last forty locomotives saw an increase in permitted adhesion weight to 294,000 lb (133,356 kg); all of this set used Walschaert gear.

Bought for slow-freight services between Manchester, NY and Sayre, Pa (88 miles) where each engine replaced two Consolidations. On this service they were rated at 4,000 tons and 6 1/2 hours on a ruling grade of 0.4%.

This class changed teams as often as a journeyman ballplayer. Peace-time traffic demanded higher speeds and the LV sold off the last sixteen of these low-drivered Santa Fes to the Hocking Valley in Ohio in April 1920 and 1922 (see Locobase 477 for the post-LV configuration.)

Chris Hohl also noted that when the HV's stud was folded into the Chesapeake & Ohio in 1930, F-1s 140, 142, and 144 were sold to the Lake Superior & Ishpeming as their 36-38. The trio continued to serve the LS&I until they were scrapped in 1953.

141 and 143 went to the Pere Marquette and took numbers 1198-1199; upon the PM's merger with the C&O in 1947, 1198 was renumbered 2960, 1199 was not and both were withdrawn in 1949.

The HV sold the 145 to locomotive rebuilder/reseller Birmingham Rail & Locomotive, who found a buyer in Woodward Iron Company. As the WIC's 37, the locomotive ran until 1953.

The LV converted 20 more R-1s to N-6 class 2-8-2s in 1928-1929.

Principal Dimensions by Steve Llanso of Middle Run Media
ClassR-1
Locobase ID459
RailroadLehigh Valley (LV)
CountryUSA
Whyte2-10-2
Number in Class76
Road Numbers4000-4075
GaugeStd
Number Built76
BuilderBaldwin
Year1917
Valve GearBaker or Walschaert
Locomotive Length and Weight
Driver Wheelbase (ft / m)22.50 / 6.86
Engine Wheelbase (ft / m)41.67 / 12.70
Ratio of driving wheelbase to overall engine wheelbase 0.54
Overall Wheelbase (engine & tender) (ft / m)74.50 / 22.71
Axle Loading (Maximum Weight per Axle) (lbs / kg)
Weight on Drivers (lbs / kg)289,000 / 131,088
Engine Weight (lbs / kg)370,000 / 167,829
Tender Loaded Weight (lbs / kg)173,220 / 78,571
Total Engine and Tender Weight (lbs / kg)543,220 / 246,400
Tender Water Capacity (gals / ML)9000 / 34.09
Tender Fuel Capacity (oil/coal) (gals/tons / Liters/MT)15 / 14
Minimum weight of rail (calculated) (lb/yd / kg/m)96 / 48
Geometry Relating to Tractive Effort
Driver Diameter (in / mm)63 / 1600
Boiler Pressure (psi / kPa)200 / 1380
High Pressure Cylinders (dia x stroke) (in / mm)29" x 32" / 737x813
Tractive Effort (lbs / kg)72,620 / 32939.92
Factor of Adhesion (Weight on Drivers/Tractive Effort) 3.98
Heating Ability
Tubes (number - dia) (in / mm)254 - 2.25" / 57
Flues (number - dia) (in / mm)45 - 5.5" / 140
Flue/Tube length (ft / m)21 / 6.40
Firebox Area (sq ft / m2)438 / 40.69
Grate Area (sq ft / m2)100 / 9.29
Evaporative Heating Surface (sq ft / m2)4923 / 457.36
Superheating Surface (sq ft / m2)1179 / 109.53
Combined Heating Surface (sq ft / m2)6102 / 566.89
Evaporative Heating Surface/Cylinder Volume201.27
Computations Relating to Power Output (More Information)
Robert LeMassena's Power Computation20,000
Same as above plus superheater percentage23,800
Same as above but substitute firebox area for grate area104,244
Power L115,217
Power MT580.41

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