Cornwall Ore Bank 2-6-0 "Mogul" Locomotives in the USA

Class 8 (Locobase 14939)

Data from DeGolyer, Vol 65, pp. 80+. See also [], last accessed 17 February 2013. Works numbers were 53764-53765 in September 1920.

This design represents one of the largest Moguls ever built, which befitted the largest iron ore deposit to be mined east of Lake Superior. They worked the Spiral Railroad, which wound around the open pit, using a series of switchbacks to remain close to the shelf of ore that was then being worked. From 1737 to 1973, the Bank, located about 15 miles (24 km) east of Harrisburg, Pa, yielded 106-110 million tons of ore.

At the same time the COB company bought these engines, Bethlehem Steel Company had completed the process to wholly own the firm. The 8 and 9 were conservative (saturated boiler, slide valves, no superheater) and had 439 tubes stuffed into the pressure vessel, one of the biggest tube counts for any locomotive in the post World War One era. One concession to modernity was the fitting of Ragonnet power reverse gear.

The Cornwall Ore Bank railway, which was the only one of the three in the area that didn't serve passengers, wasn't long, but it had ruling 4.2% grades and curves with radii as tight as 150 feet (45.7 metres) on rails that weighed 80 lb/yard (40 kg/metre). Over that profile, the 8 was to pull six "20 yard" steel cars weighing 50,000 lb (22,680 kg) each at an average speed of 15 mph (24 km/h). The tight curves may have determined the use of a leading truck, the first for a Cornwall Ore engine. It swung 5 1/2" (140 mm) to each side.