Texas & Pacific 2-8-0 "Consolidation" Locomotives in the USA

Class F-1 (Locobase 8492)

Data from T&P 1 - 1922 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. See also DeGolyer, Volume 41, pp. 223+. Works numbers were 38064-38073 in July 1912.

When Baldwin delivered these Consolidations, they had saturated boilers about as big and as stuffed with 2" (50.8 mm) tubes as was possible, Richardson balanced valves, and they were pressed to about as high a pressure as would make useful amounts of wet steam. Perhaps surprisingly given their axle loads, these locomotives were intended to run on 75 lb/yard (37.5 kg/metre) rail.

By 1922, when this diagram was published, all but 3 had been redesignated F1s; see Locobase 8493.

Class F-1s (Locobase 8493)

Data from T&P 1 - 1950ca Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange.

Because the boiler was so big in this class when delivered in 1912 as saturated engines (see Locobase 8492), superheating didn't sacrifice quite as much heating surface as often was the case. Although the original tube count after the makeover came to 240-246, the railroad apparently decommissioned a few more (most likely because they were hard to keep clean).

More important, the rebuild led to a drop of 30 psi in working pressure but a greater amount of cylinder volume by increasing the diameter by 2". And 14" piston valves, albeit with a relatively short 5 1/2" travel, replaced the slide valves. So the design should have steamed freely up to boiler capacity. That probably suited the railroad just fine as these were low-drivered, drag-freight locomotives.