Tonopah & Goldfield 2-8-0 "Consolidation" Locomotives in the USA


Class Details by Steve Llanso of Sweat House Media

Class 100 (Locobase 11414)

Data from "2-8-0 for the Tonopah & Goldfield," Railway and Locomotive Engineering, Vol XLIII, No 10 (September 1907), pp. 405-406. See also DeGolyer, Volume 29, p. 283. Works numbers were 30671, 30686, and 30734 in April 1907.

The T&G was brand new when this order was placed, having arisen from a consolidation of the Tonopah Railroad and the Goldfield Railroad on 1 Noavember 1905.

This was the bigger of the two Consolidation designs that served this Nevada desert railroad and considered suitable for both passenger and freight service. They were each rated at 360 tons up a 3% grade. They used cylindrical Vanderbilt tenders. (Later that year, the T&G would order 4 chair, 1 smoking, and 1 baggage car from the Pullman Company.)

Apparently this trio was just not right (too big, perhaps, with drivers too tall for the low-speed slogging required) beause in 1914, all of them were sold to the Red River Lumber Company in California. 100 was scrapped by Red River in 1937, and 101-102 were sold to the Fruit Growers Supply Company, where they worked until scrapped in 1956.


Class 56 (Locobase 11413)

Data from "Locomotive Building," The Railroad Gazette, Vol XLIII, No 10 (6 September 1907), p. 276. See also Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University, Volume 30, p. 276. Works numbers were 31690, 31728 in September 1907.

See the Bullfrog Syndicate entry (Locobase 11971) for earlier, identical locomotives that eventually wound up on this road. Baldwin sold 2-8-0s of almost identical dimensions to the Denver & Rio Grande in 1900 (Locobase 1460) and to the Louisiana & North Arkansas in 1907 (Locobase 11409). There may have been others as this could easily have come from a catalogue.

Of the 8 Consolidations that were ordered by the T & G in 1907, only the first 2 were delivered to that road. Locobase suspects that the sharp economic downturn provoked by the Panic of 1907 hit the T & G hard enough that it had to reduce its outlays.

Both of the original T & Gs operated until the railroad reached the end of its operating life in 1948, at which time they were scrapped.

The next two -- works 31750 and 31791 also in September -- were destined for nearby Tonopah & Tidewater and arrived there as 7 and 8. When the T & T was abandoned in July 1942, these two were idled, then sold in 1944. 7 went to the T & G as 53 and was scrapped like 56-57 at that road's closing. 8 was purchased by Kaiser Steel in Fontana, Calif and rebuilt as an 0-8-0 switcher.

The last 4 were diverted to L J Smith Construction Company as their road numbers 650-653 (works numbers were 31975-31976, 32101-32102 in October 1907). 650 was sold to Minnesota Transfer as their 21 and, later, 15.

Principal Dimensions by Steve Llanso of Middle Run Media
Class10056
Locobase ID11414 11413
RailroadTonopah & GoldfieldTonopah & Goldfield
CountryUSAUSA
Whyte2-8-02-8-0
Number in Class32
Road Numbers100-10256-57
GaugeStdStd
Number Built32
BuilderBurnham, Williams & CoBurnham, Williams & Co
Year19071907
Valve GearStephensonStephenson
Locomotive Length and Weight
Driver Wheelbase (ft / m)17 / 5.1814.67 / 4.47
Engine Wheelbase (ft / m)25.60 / 7.8023.42 / 7.14
Ratio of driving wheelbase to overall engine wheelbase 0.66 0.63
Overall Wheelbase (engine & tender) (ft / m)58.92 / 17.96
Axle Loading (Maximum Weight per Axle) (lbs / kg)
Weight on Drivers (lbs / kg)185,900 / 84,323165,000 / 74,843
Engine Weight (lbs / kg)207,450 / 94,098183,800 / 83,370
Tender Loaded Weight (lbs / kg)132,550 / 60,124140,000 / 63,503
Total Engine and Tender Weight (lbs / kg)340,000 / 154,222323,800 / 146,873
Tender Water Capacity (gals / ML)7000 / 26.527000 / 26.52
Tender Fuel Capacity (oil/coal) (gals/tons / Liters/MT)13 / 1213 / 12
Minimum weight of rail (calculated) (lb/yd / kg/m)77 / 38.5069 / 34.50
Geometry Relating to Tractive Effort
Driver Diameter (in / mm)63 / 160055 / 1397
Boiler Pressure (psi / kPa)180 / 1240180 / 1240
High Pressure Cylinders (dia x stroke) (in / mm)24" x 28" / 610x71122" x 28" / 559x711
Tractive Effort (lbs / kg)39,168 / 17766.3337,699 / 17100.00
Factor of Adhesion (Weight on Drivers/Tractive Effort) 4.75 4.38
Heating Ability
Tubes (number - dia) (in / mm)391 - 2" / 51344 - 2" / 51
Flues (number - dia) (in / mm)
Flue/Tube length (ft / m)15.75 / 4.8014.50 / 4.42
Firebox Area (sq ft / m2)181 / 16.82195.40 / 18.16
Grate Area (sq ft / m2)49.50 / 4.6034.97 / 3.25
Evaporative Heating Surface (sq ft / m2)3388 / 314.752792 / 259.48
Superheating Surface (sq ft / m2)
Combined Heating Surface (sq ft / m2)3388 / 314.752792 / 259.48
Evaporative Heating Surface/Cylinder Volume231.11226.62
Computations Relating to Power Output (More Information)
Robert LeMassena's Power Computation89106295
Same as above plus superheater percentage89106295
Same as above but substitute firebox area for grate area32,58035,172
Power L155355048
Power MT262.56269.79

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