Central of Georgia 2-8-2 "Mikado" Locomotives in the USA

The Central of Georgia Railway received it first "Mikado" type locomotives in 1912. These locomotives were designed by the Motive Power Department of its parent, the Illinois Central and were built by the Baldwin Locomotives Works. The fifteen 2-8-2s were numbered 1801-1815, had 63" diameter drivers, 27" x 30" cylinders, a 185 psi boiler pressure and a tractive effort of 54,588 pounds. The firebox was 267 square feet including 27 square feet of arch tubes. The evaporative heating surface was 4,100 square feet and with the superheater the combined heating surface was 5,193 square feet. The piston valve had a 15' diameter.

In 1915, the Lima Locomotive Works delivered five more "Mikados" that were heavier by 4,400 pounds than the 1912 Baldwin locomotives, but otherwise were very similar. These Lima- built locomotives were numbered 1816-1820.

In 1921, the Illinois Central sold ten of its 2-8-2s to the Central of Georgia, which were built by Lima in 1916 and were almost identical to the 1816-1820 series. The C of G numbered these locomotives 1821-1837. In 1923, twenty more C of G basic design "Mikados" were ordered from Lima and were delivered in 1923 and 1924. These locomotives were numbered 1838-1857 and were similar to the rest of the 1800 series except the weight of the locomotive was 300,500 pounds. A final order for 2-8-2s went to Baldwin and in 1925 the last ten new "Mikados" arrived and were numbered 1858-1867. They resembled the Lima built 1800s except they were about 2,500 pounds lighter.

There were ten other "Mikados" on the C of G and these were converted from "Consolidations" beginning in 1919. The company shop in Macon, Georgia did the work and completed two conversions by 1921. The "Consolidations" used were C of G Class C-4s numbered in the 570 series. In 1923 eight Consolidations were shipped off to ALCO's Richmond Works and they were reworked into 2-8-2s similar to the shop built locomotives built in Macon. The resulting 2-8-2s were assigned road numbers 1751-1760 and in 1925 they were renumbered back to the 570 series.

Many of the Central of Georgia "Mikados" underwent a firebox and boiler rebuild. The firebox heating surface was increased to 314 square feet by removing two of the arch tubes and installing 64 square feet of thermic syphons. The superheater was reduced to 886 square feet with the number of flues and their lengths were not changed.

During World War II with Japan being our enemy a number of American railroads including the Central of Georgia renamed the "Mikado" type to the Mac Arthur type. The Central's name was changed in 1971 to Central of Georgia Railroad.

There are no surviving Central of Georgia 2-8-2 "Mikados".


Roster

ClassQty.Road NumbersLater NumbersFrom Other RRYear AcquiredYear BuiltBuilderNotes
MK151801-1815601-6151912Baldwin1
MK 51816-1820616-6201915Lima2
MK101821-1837621-637IC19211916Lima3
MK 21771-1772571-5721921C of GA4
MK 81773-1780573-5801923ALCO5
MK101838-1847638-6471923Lima6
MK101848-1857648-6571924Lima7
MK101858-1867658-6671925Baldwin8
Notes:
  1. Numbers 1801-1851 renumbered 601-615 in 1925. All scrapped between 1939 and 1952
  2. Numbers 1816-1820 renumbered 616-620 in 1925. All scrapped between 1948 and 1952
  3. Numbers 1828-1837 came from the Illinois Central in 1921. Numbers 1821-1837 renumbered 621-637 in 1925. All scrapped between 1948 and 1952.
  4. Built from C of GA 2-8-0 locomotives numbers 1751 and 1752 in the C of GA shops in Macon, GA and completed in 1921. Numbers 1771 and 1772 renumbered 571 and 572 in 1925. Both scrapped by 1952.
  5. Built from C of GA 2-8-0 locomotives numbers 1753-1760 in ALCO's Richmond Works and delivered in 1923. Numbers 1773-1780 renumbered 573-580 in 1925. All scrapped by 1952.
  6. Numbers 1838-1847 renumbered 638-647 in 1925. All scrapped between 1948 and 1952.
  7. Numbers 1848-1857 renumbered 648-657 in 1925. All scrapped between 1948 and 1952.
  8. Numbers 1858-1867 renumbered 658-667 in 1925. All scrapped between 1952 and 1953.

Class Details by Steve Llanso of Sweat House Media

Class 1751 (Locobase 7940)

Data from CofGa 12-1925 locomotive diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange.

This is an interesting and relatively rare example of upgrading a locomotive class by changing the wheel arrangement. The Central of Georgia bought 10 1903-built Consolidations from its parent Illinois Central (Locobase 16580) in 1912. Their 63" drivers suggested fast freight so the railroad converted one engine in 1919, a second in 1921 and contracted with Alco's Richmond Works for conversions of the other 8 in 1923.


Class MK (Locobase 75)

Briefly described in Railway Age Gazette of 20 March 1926. Data from CofGa 12-1925 locomotive diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange and from DeGolyer, Volume 75, pp. 330+. But see also Cof Ga 10 - 1951 updated to 1-1953 Locomotive Diagrams. (Many thanks to Chris Hohl for his 22 September 2017 email reporting unlikely boiler pressure values for 177 entries. The errors arose from a Locobase operator error that came from briefly in running the wrong macro.)

These were "Harriman Mikes", Mikados built to an EH Harriman design. The firebox heating surface was modestly augmented by 27 sq ft (2.5 sq m) of arch tubes. 15" (381 mm) piston valves supplied the cylinders.

They entered service in batches as follows:

601-615 Baldwin 1912 (works numbers were 38782-38791 and 38860-38864 in November-December 1912.

616-637 Lima 1915-1916 (works numbers 5056-5059, 5209-5216, 5170, 5172, 5174, 5176, 5198, 5201-5206

638-657 Lima 1923 (works numbers 6490-6499, 6625-6634)

658-667 Baldwin 1925 (works numbers 58118-58120, 58165-58166 in December 1924 and 58172-58176 in January 1925.

Many of these locomotives underwent a boiler and firebox rebuild in which the firebox heating surface grew to 314 sq ft through the deletion of a couple of arch tubes and the addition of 64 sq ft of thermic syphons. In fact the last ten from Baldwin were delivered in 1925 with 72 sq ft (6.7 sq m) of Nicholson thermic syphons and 15 sq ft (1.4 sq m) of arch tubes.

At the same time, the superheater area somehow shrank by over 200 sq ft to 886 sq ft even though the flue count and length remained the same.

Principal Dimensions by Steve Llanso of Middle Run Media
Class1751MK
Locobase ID7940 75
RailroadCentral of Georgia (CofGa)Central of Georgia (CofGa)
CountryUSAUSA
Whyte2-8-22-8-2
Number in Class1067
Road Numbers1771-17801801-1867/601-667
GaugeStdStd
Number Built67
BuilderAlco-Richmondseveral
Year19191925
Valve GearWalschaertWalschaert
Locomotive Length and Weight
Driver Wheelbase (ft / m)17 / 5.1816.50 / 5.03
Engine Wheelbase (ft / m)34.50 / 10.5235.17 / 10.72
Ratio of driving wheelbase to overall engine wheelbase 0.49 0.47
Overall Wheelbase (engine & tender) (ft / m)63.77 / 19.4465.62 / 20
Axle Loading (Maximum Weight per Axle) (lbs / kg)50,000 / 22,680
Weight on Drivers (lbs / kg)198,100 / 89,857217,000 / 98,430
Engine Weight (lbs / kg)255,000 / 115,666280,000 / 127,006
Tender Loaded Weight (lbs / kg)141,810 / 64,324167,245 / 75,861
Total Engine and Tender Weight (lbs / kg)396,810 / 179,990447,245 / 202,867
Tender Water Capacity (gals / ML)7000 / 26.529000 / 34.09
Tender Fuel Capacity (oil/coal) (gals/tons / Liters/MT)15 / 1415 / 14
Minimum weight of rail (calculated) (lb/yd / kg/m)83 / 41.5090 / 45
Geometry Relating to Tractive Effort
Driver Diameter (in / mm)63 / 160063 / 1600
Boiler Pressure (psi / kPa)200 / 1380190 / 1300
High Pressure Cylinders (dia x stroke) (in / mm)24" x 30" / 610x76227" x 30" / 686x762
Tractive Effort (lbs / kg)46,629 / 21150.5856,064 / 25430.23
Factor of Adhesion (Weight on Drivers/Tractive Effort) 4.25 3.87
Heating Ability
Tubes (number - dia) (in / mm)169 - 2.25" / 57262 - 2" / 51
Flues (number - dia) (in / mm)35 - 5.5" / 14036 - 5.375" / 137
Flue/Tube length (ft / m)21 / 6.4020.50 / 6.25
Firebox Area (sq ft / m2)192 / 17.84267.23 / 24.83
Grate Area (sq ft / m2)50 / 4.6570 / 6.51
Evaporative Heating Surface (sq ft / m2)3340 / 310.414100 / 381.04
Superheating Surface (sq ft / m2)905 / 84.111093 / 101.58
Combined Heating Surface (sq ft / m2)4245 / 394.525193 / 482.62
Evaporative Heating Surface/Cylinder Volume212.60206.24
Computations Relating to Power Output (More Information)
Robert LeMassena's Power Computation10,00013,300
Same as above plus superheater percentage12,10016,093
Same as above but substitute firebox area for grate area46,46461,436
Power L116,63615,327
Power MT740.56622.86

Photos

  • 607 (R. H. Kennedy photo)
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