Fernwood & Gulf 2-8-0 "Consolidation" Locomotives in the USA

Class 11 (Locobase 13604)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Vol 36, p. 147. Works number was 36000 in January 1911.

Traffic increased steadily on the Fernwood Lumber Company's rails, if their purchases from Baldwin are any indication. This logging Consolidation had relatively modest power, but was a step up from the earlier Mogul shown in Locobase 13603. Its cost to Fernwood was $12,700.

The 4-trains-a-day passenger service over the 32 miles of the Pine Leaf Route between Fernwood and Kokomo was probably provided by the #10 2-6-0

For almost 4 decades, the 11 worked for the FLC on the F & G and its successor, the Fernwood, Columbia & Gulf before being scrapped in 1947.

Class 12 (Locobase 13605)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Volume 39, p. 82. Works number was 37578 in March 1912.

Similar in many ways to the logging Consolidation that Baldwin produced for the Fernwood Lumber Company in the previous year (Locobase 13604), this engine had slightly longer tubes in a boiler that was otherwise essentially identical to that of the 11. A key detail difference was the deletion of two rows of sling stays in favor of 200 Tate flexible stay bolts in the breaking zone of the firebox.

Grate area increased slightly and both enlargements served a greater cylinder volume achieved by lengthening the stroke by 2 inches. Drivers now stood a lofty 56" tall. Its price of $13,100 represented a mere $400 increase over the other engine's cost.

Unlike the earlier Baldwins, however, this engine left the F & G at some point. It took #19 for the J. J. White Lumber Co. in Columbia, Miss. As its number didn't change when it worked for Kentucky Lumber Co. in the same town, Locobase suspects the latter was a name change of the former. KLC sold the #19 to locomotive rebuilder/reseller Birmingham Rail & Locomotive, which sold it to the Fernwood, Columbia & Gulf on the last day of 1937. After another decade in service, the 12 was scrapped in 1947.