Chicago & Eastern Illinois 2-6-6 Locomotives in the USA

Class 46 (Locobase 7120)

Data from C&EI 6 - 1904 locomotive diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. See also Schenectady Locomotive Works, Illustrated Catalogue of Simple and Compound Locomotives (Philadelphia: J B Lippincott, 1897), pp. 188-189; and "Schenectady Suburban Locomotive for the Chicago & Eastern Illinois", Railroad Gazette, Volume 24 (10 June 1891), p. 421. (Thanks to Chris Hohl for his 5 August 2018 email noting the incorrect driver diameter --a Locobase misread of the diagram--as well as reporting the original boiler pressure and firebox area. Hohl's 21 September 2019 email supplied the Railroad Gazette cite and the coal capacity shown in that article as well as a tentative class ID of F-1.) Works numbers were 3752-3753 in April 1892, 4017-4018 in February 1893.

Like other Chicago-area railroads of the time, the C&EI competed enthusiastically for the growing commuter traffic. And like the others, the railroad adopted an unusual wheel arrangement. Unlike the earlier 2-4-4Ts, this quartet had its firebox mounted over the last axle, with the sloping grate extending forward. A center pivot under the six-wheel trailing bogie guided the rear section through a curve.

To comply with the increasingly insistent regulations on locomotive smoke within Chicago's limits, the class used two devices--the "Wabash" and the "Hutchison", which were "intended to be used together." RG's description doesn't exactly say how, but notes that the engineer could control the placement of a diaphragm in the smokebox to regulate the draft. (Locobase can imagine the relatively short lifetime of such a device in such an environment. See Locobase 6546 for a summary of smoke prevention devices.)

A good feature "not usually seen on locomotives of this type", RG observed, was the sanding system. It allowed the engineer to operate any of the four valves that admitted sand to two front and two rear pipes. In either direction, pushing the lever in the direction of travel opened the proper pair of valves to place sand on the rail ahead of the leading drivers.

They were a little smaller than the contemporaneous New York Central 2-6-6Ts (Locobase 5424), but offered as much power. "Handsome and powerful locomotives", according to RG, they were "none too powerful for the suburban service on the Chicago roads, where the trains frequently consist of ten to fourteen fully loaded passenger cars."

The C&EI's suburban service ran from Chicago 30 miles (48.3 km/h) to Crete, Ill, making eight stops and averaging 27 mph (43.5 km/h). RG reported that the engines were in "regular service ...riding easy and steaming well."

Within a few years of their delivery, however, the C&EI drafted diagrams that showed a drop in firebox area to 124.3 sq ft ,(11.55 sq m) but a slightly higher grate area of 26.2 sq ft (2.43 sq m). In addition, service boiler pressure was set to 150 psi (10.34 bar), which reduced tractive effort to 15,737 lb (70 kN or 7,138 kg).

Like the NYC engines, however, the four were soon rebuilt as 2-6-0 tender engines (Locobase 7154).