Virginian 2-6-6-6 "Allegheny" Locomotives in the USA

The Virginian and the Chesapeake & Ohio were the only two railroads to have bought the 2-6-6-6. The Virginian needed more power during World War II and ordered eight 2-6-6-6s. They took delivery of them from the Lima Locomotive Works between March and June of 1945. These locomotives were designated as Class AG and assigned road numbers 900 through 907. On the Virginian these copies of the C&O "Alleghenies" were called "Blue Ridge" type locomotives. They used them for hauling coal trains well into the 1950s. All of the "Blue Ridge" locomotives were retired by 1955 and were scrapped by 1960.

Class Details by Steve Llanso of Sweat House Media

Class AG (Locobase 421)

Data from 1951 Virginian locomotive diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. (Many thanks to Barry Adico for his 30 September 2021 email commenting persuasively on the rear truck's bearings; and Chris Hohl for his 1 February 2022 email supplying a Lima builder's card that showed Locobase he hadn't accounted for the thermic syphons' heating surface area.) Works numbers were 8859 in March 1945, 8860-8863 in April, 8864-8865 in May, and 8866 in June.

Similar to C&O's H-8 class Alleghenies, but not as well known. Arrangement name on the VGN was "Blue Ridge". They had smaller sand domes than the H-8s and raised tender decks. The firebox was simply huge and its combustion chamber long. Thermic syphons in both sections contributed 162 sq ft (15.05 sq m) to the heating surface area.

Locobase understood that all engine and tender axles turned inside Timken roller bearings. Barry Adico's question (and Wes Barris's hunting down a photo that homed in on the rear truck) led Locobase to examine the two C&O diagrams. Both showed the driving and front truck axles using Timkens and specified diameters only. The specs for the rear truck's three axles used the standard friction bearing notation (diameter x length). The wheels in the front and center axles in the truck were smaller and had 7" x 14" (179 x 356 mm) bearings. The larger rear axle's wheels used 9" x 14" (229 x 356 mm) bearings.

Bob Quehl (EMail:rquehl@adelphia.net) from Pittsburgh, PA writing in the Worldrailfans group in 2000 ([link] Feb 4 2000, 4:06), tells us this about the Virginian's view of the AGs they were about to get in 1945:

"Apparently it became known by some senior managers at the C&O that the engines were considerably overweight. They did not start to raise questions as there was a cover-up attempt by C&O and Lima, until the neighboring Virginian Rail Road ordered their own Alleghenies. The president of the Virginian, one Frank Beale, was a former high level person in the C&O and knew what the H-8 was supposed to weigh. When he got the specifications from Lima for the Virginian's engines, he could not understand why they weighed considerably more and one thing led to another. The Virginian had a lot of trouble getting their eight Alleghenies delivered as the surrounding rail roads did not want that much weight on their rails."

Note that total engine weight on the 1942 Alleghenies was more than 18,000 pounds higher than on the AGs. The C & O's 1948 Alleghenies (Locobase 11065) were copies of these VGN 2-6-6-6s.

Like the C&O engines,

Scrapped in 1960.

Principal Dimensions by Steve Llanso of Middle Run Media
ClassAG
Locobase ID421
RailroadVirginian (VGN)
CountryUSA
Whyte2-6-6-6
Number in Class8
Road Numbers900-907
GaugeStd
Number Built8
BuilderLima
Year1945
Valve GearBaker
Locomotive Length and Weight
Driver Wheelbase (ft / m)23.67 / 7.21
Engine Wheelbase (ft / m)62.50 / 19.05
Ratio of driving wheelbase to overall engine wheelbase 0.38
Overall Wheelbase (engine & tender) (ft / m)112.92 / 34.42
Axle Loading (Maximum Weight per Axle) (lbs / kg)82,500 / 37,421
Weight on Drivers (lbs / kg)495,000 / 224,528
Engine Weight (lbs / kg)753,000 / 341,555
Tender Loaded Weight (lbs / kg)442,000 / 200,488
Total Engine and Tender Weight (lbs / kg)1,195,000 / 542,043
Tender Water Capacity (gals / ML)26,500 / 100.38
Tender Fuel Capacity (oil/coal) (gals/tons / Liters/MT)25 / 23
Minimum weight of rail (calculated) (lb/yd / kg/m)138 / 69
Geometry Relating to Tractive Effort
Driver Diameter (in / mm)67 / 1702
Boiler Pressure (psi / kPa)260 / 1790
High Pressure Cylinders (dia x stroke) (in / mm)22.5" x 33" / 572x838 (4)
Tractive Effort (lbs / kg)110,211 / 49990.93
Factor of Adhesion (Weight on Drivers/Tractive Effort) 4.49
Heating Ability
Tubes (number - dia) (in / mm)58 - 2.25" / 57
Flues (number - dia) (in / mm)219 - 4" / 102
Flue/Tube length (ft / m)23 / 7.01
Firebox Area (sq ft / m2)762 / 55.74
Grate Area (sq ft / m2)135.30 / 12.57
Evaporative Heating Surface (sq ft / m2)6795 / 631.51
Superheating Surface (sq ft / m2)2922 / 271.56
Combined Heating Surface (sq ft / m2)9717 / 903.07
Evaporative Heating Surface/Cylinder Volume223.74
Computations Relating to Power Output (More Information)
Robert LeMassena's Power Computation35,178
Same as above plus superheater percentage45,731
Same as above but substitute firebox area for grate area257,556
Power L135,279
Power MT942.75

Photos

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Wes Barris