Lehigh & Hudson River 2-8-0 "Consolidation" Locomotives in the USA

Class 16 (Locobase 12713)

Data from DeGolyer, Volume 27, p. 35. Works numbers were 24128-24129 in April 1904.

These anthracite camelback Consolidations used the broad and shallow Wootten firebox in a camelback setup that put the engineer over the boiler and the fireman on a footplate behind the firebox. The large grate used both drop bars and water tubes.

They had 20-year careers on this North Jersey-New York bridge line before being scrapped in December 1925 and October 1927, respectively.

Class 28 (Locobase 12982)

Data from DeGolyer, Volume 29, p. 116; see also Railroad Age Gazette, Volume 45, No 25 (20 November 1908). Works numbers were 28787-28790 in August 1906; 33041-33042, 33044-33046, 33052 in November 1908; 33064-33065, 33071-33074 in December.

Special equipment on the 1908 batches included:

Axles hammered steel

Boiler lagging Asbestos mill board

Brakes Westlnghouse

Couplers Climax

Driving boxes cast steel

Injectors Sellers

Journal bearings Bronze

Piston and valve rod packings Jerome

Safety valve Crosby

Sanding devices Watters

Sprlngs cast steel

Steam gages Klinger

Tires cast steel

Class 90 (Locobase 416)

Data from table of specs in 1930 Locomotive Cyclopedia, p. 112. DeGolyer, Volume 76, pp. 364+ and Volume 77, pp. 264+. (Thanks to Chris Hohl for his 29 April 2015 email commenting on the engine weights and noting a lack of tender weight.) Works numbers were 58454-58457 in June 1925 and 59979-59980 in April 1927.

Drury (1993) comments that these were very large 2-8-0s with tractive effort nearly as great as the USRA's heavy Santa Fes. These Consolidations had 14" (356 mm) piston valves and rolled on 80 lb/ and 100 lb/yard (40-50 kg/metre) rail. Firebox heating surface area included 46 sq ft (4.27 sq m) in six arch tubes.

Note that their factor of adhesion was just about 4, which suggests they weren't unduly slippery.

The class saw steam out on the L & HR and retired in 1950.