Appalachian 2-6-2 "Prairie" Locomotives in the USA

Class 2 (Locobase 13505)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University, Volume 33, p. 24 . Cary Franklin Poole, History of Railroading in Western North Carolina (Overmountain Press, 1995), p. 172-173. Works number was 33556 in July 1909.

Poole's entry on the Appalachian asserts that the railway "...was one of the more unusual of the logging lines due to the line's having been constructed through tribal lands of the Cherokee Nation." He describes the 1906 meetings that led to cautious approval of the railway project, whose 10-mile segment between Ela and Ravenford actually ran inside the boundaries of the reservation.

Parson Pulp & Lumber Company took over when the original management ran out of money in 1908 and completed the line. It was around this time that the line bought the saddle tank shown in this entry. The specs called for the locomotive to haul 225 short tons of "cars and lading" up 2 1/2% grades and around 16-deg compensated curves with a frictional resistance not to exceed 10 pound per ton. A 16 July 1909 note in ink recommends: "Hereafter, Redesign back engine truck to give better link bearing."

The A Rwy was a common carrier that carried passengers as a result of an agreement between that part of the tribe that wanted to encourage contacts with the outside world.

Assembly of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the 1930 included the takeover of the PP & LC lands through eminent domain. The saddle tanker shown in this entry went to work for nearby Champion Paper.