Wichita Falls & Southern 2-6-0 "Mogul" Locomotives in the USA

Class 12 /E (Locobase 13324)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Volume 32, p. 37. See also H. Allen Anderson, "WICHITA FALLS AND SOUTHERN RAILWAY," Handbook of Texas Online ([]), accessed October 29, 2011. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.. Works numbers were 33155 in January 1909, 33394 in August, 33632 in September.

The WF & S joined the Wichita Falls & Northwestern as part of the Wichita Falls Line. While the WF & NW was chartered in Oklahoma, the WF & S was a Texas-based railroad. Unlike the more ambitious Wichita Falls Route, the WF & S was a true short line, running 52 miles from Wichita Falls to Newcastle, Tex.

Although the Missouri-Kansas-Texas bought the WF & S in 1914, its entry into receivership presented the original investors Joseph A. Kemp and Frank Kell in 1920 with an opportunity to lease the railroad at the same time it incorporated the Wichita Falls & Southern Railroad to build the extension from Newcastle to Jimkurn. Once the Wichita Falls, Ranger and Fort Worth finished its line from Jimkurn south to Dublin, all three railroads came together in a merger in 1927. At that time, the railroad had a main line measuring 203 miles long in an arc that ran north-south west of Fort Worth.

Class 14 (Locobase 15212)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Vol 71, p. 191. Works numbers were 55519-55520 in July 1922.

Based on the saturated-boiler Moguls bought by the WF&S in 1909 (Locobase 13324), the second 14 and the 15 introduced superheating to the railroad. It can't be said that the design featured impressive amounts of superheater (although its presence led to the adoption of 9 1/2" (241 mm) piston valves), but the larger grate and higher boiler pressure meant more power for the cylinders.

After about 20 years on the WF&S, the two engines were leased in 1943 to the Missouri & North Arkansas, which bought the two in 1945. They were scrapped in 1949.