Chicago, Indianapolis & Louisville 2-8-2 "Mikado" Locomotives in the USA

The Chicago, Indianapolis & Louisville Railroad, known as the Monon, ran for 300-miles from Lake Michigan south to the Ohio River. The Monon connected to the Southern at New Albany; the Baltimore & Ohio at Mitchell; the Milwaukee at Bedford; the Illinois Central at Bloomington; the Pennsylvania at Gosport; the New York Central at Greencastle; the Wabash and the Nickel Plate at Lafayette; the Nickel Plate at Linden; the Erie at Wilders, plus the Chicago & Eastern Illinois, the Chesapeake & Ohio, the Chicago, South Shore & South Bend, the Peoria & Eastern, the Grand Trunk Western, and the Louisville & Nashville at other points.

A map of the Monon railroad would show it in the form of an "X", laid out over the state of Indiana. One leg ran from Dearborn Station in Chicago, Illinois to Union Station in Indianapolis, Indiana. The second leg ran from Michigan City, Indiana to Louisville, Kentucky. The "X" crosses at its namesake city of Monon, Indiana. The main line, ran from Chicago to Monon to Louisville, while the lines from Monon to Michigan City, and from Monon to Indianapolis, were operated as branch lines.

The first "Mikado" type locomotives on the Chicago, Indianapolis & Louisville were twenty five received in 1912 from the American Locomotive Company. These locomotives were designated as Class J-1 and were given road numbers 500 through 524. There were two add-on orders given to ALCO, one for five which were delivered in 1918 and assigned road numbers 525 through 529 and four more delivered in 1923 which were given road numbers 530 through 533. The Class J-1 locomotives had 63" diameter drivers, 28" x 30" cylinders, a 170 psi boiler pressure, they exerted 53,950 pounds of tractive effort and each weighed 286,000 pounds. The fire box was 245.5 square feet, the evaporative surface was 3,916 square feet and with the superheater the combined heating surface was 4,728 square feet. The piston valve had a 14" diameter.

In 1918, the USRA allocated five ALCO-built "Mikado-Light" to the CI&L. These five locomotives were designated as Class J-2 and assigned road numbers 550 through 554. They had 63" diameter drivers, 26" x 30" cylinders, a 200 psi boiler pressure, they exerted 58,724 pounds of tractive effort and each weighed 292,000 pounds. The fire box was 280 square feet, the evaporative surface was 3,777 square feet and with the superheater the combined heating surface was 4,659 square feet.

By 1923, most railroads were buying copies of the USRA for their 2-8-2 freight locomotives. The Monon reverted to its own design and ordered six from ALCO. They arrived in 1926 and were designated as class J-3 and given road numbers 560 through 565. The J-3 locomotives had 63" diameter drivers, 27" x 32" cylinders, a 200 psi boiler pressure, they exerted 62,950 pounds of tractive effort and each weighed 317,000 pounds. The fire box was 312 square feet, the evaporative surface was 4,302 square feet and with the superheater the combined heating surface was 5,292 square feet.

In 1929, ten more "Mikados" were delivered from ALCO. This group was classified as J-4 and road numbers 570 through 579 were assigned. The J-3s had 63" diameter drivers, 27" x 32" cylinders, a 220 psi boiler pressure, they exerted 69,243 pounds of tractive effort and each weighed 335,000 pounds. The fire box was 385 square feet, the evaporative surface was 4,319 square feet and with the superheater the combined heating surface was 5,485 square feet. The J-4 were rebuilt with a new firebox which had thermic siphons, a new boiler, a feedwater heater was installed and some of the locomotives had roller bearings installed. All ten of the J-4 received a trailing truck booster which increased the tractive effort by 11,500 pounds.

There is one surviving CI&L 2-8-2 "Mikado" type locomotives. It is number 504, which was sold to the Soo Line the early 1940s and became number 1024 on the Soo. This locomotive is on display at the depot in Thief River Falls, MN.