Woodward Iron Company 2-8-2 "Mikado" Locomotives in the USA

Class 14 (Locobase 12693)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University, Volume 27, p. 14. See also the Oklahoma Historical Society's biography of Joshua Seney Cosden at Larry O'Dell, "Cosden, Joshua Seney," The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, [] (accessed July 12, 2018); and "Oregon & Northwestern Railroad

Edward Hines Lumber Company" at [], last accessed 12 July 2018. Works number was 24134 in April 1904..

Alabama's WIC continued its growth, adding a third blast furnace in 1905 and soon increasing its capacity to 250,000 tons annually. This early Mikado represented a jump in power on the WIC's rails.

After years on the WIC's line, the company sold the 14 in 1916 to locomotive rebuilder/reseller Birmingham Rail & Car, which found a buyer in Cosden & Company of West Tulsa, Okla in Febraury 1917. At that moment, according to Larry O' Dell's biography, Joshua Cosden had just incorporated his oil and gas holdings in Delaware, marking the foundation of Cosden's first of two big fortunes (and the first of two he would lose).

Cosden & Co sold the engine to Equitable Equipment of New Orleans,who may have ordered a new boiler (XO-9650) in 1929 before selling the 14 along to Edward Hines Yellow Pine Trustees. They put the Mike in service under their name as a private carrier in 1930

Edward Hines' 51 miles of line linking Hines, Burns, and Seneca, Oregon was incorporated as a common carrier and dubbed the Oregon & Northwestern on 16 January 1934. The only difference for the 27 was a change of heralds on the tender. It served the O&NW throughout World War Two before being scrapped in January 1946.

Class 19 (Locobase 12694)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University, Volume 30, p. 143 and Volume 35, p. 313. Works numbers were 29383 in November 1906 and 35263 in September 1910.

Steady increases in tonnage demands along the network of roads leading to the blast furnaces from the coal fields eight miles to the south and the iron mines eight miles toward the north. Thus, even the 2-8-2 described in Locobase 12693 wasn't enough Mikado for the new demands.

Eveything about the new engines was bigger--cylinder volume, driver diameter, evaporative heating surface area, grate--except the firebox area, which actually shrank a little. Adhesive weight increased by 29,000 lb (13,154 kg) and calculated starting tractive effort grew by 9,970 lb (44.35 kN).

Further analysis of other engines of the period with the same power dimensions (cylinder volume, boiler pressure, and driver diameter) reveals that most were Baldwin 2-8-0s. Locobase suspects that Baldwin tinkered with a successful Consolidation design to allow for a significantly larger grate by using a trailing axle to carry it while staying within WIC's stringent height limitations.

Class 28 (Locobase 12696)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University, Volume 47, p. 224. Works number was 38308 in September 1912.

28's boiler almost certainly had the greatest evaporative heating surface area of any saturated-steam Mikado supplied to a US road and consequently the largest of any 2-8-2. In fact, this vessel seems to have contained the greatest EHS of any rigid-wheelbase engine other than four 2-10-4 classes that also had considerable amounts of superheat. A 1920s photo reproduced in the University of Alabama Libraries Digital Collection's holding of Woodward Iron images shows the slide valves, massive construction, and two oversized sandboxes flanking the steam dome.

The Baldwin specification entry is explicit about the destination of this engine. WIC was described as having 80 lb/yard (40 kg/metre) rail and some sections of poor track. This behemoth served the WIC for just over 30 years before being scrapped in 1943.

Class 29 (Locobase 12695)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University, Volume 47, p. 222. See also Southern Railway's 75th anniversary salute to the WIC in 1959 , archived at [] . (Thanks to Steve Low for his 28 December 2017 email giving information about the post-WI service of this order's locomotives.) Works numbers 38438 in October 1912 and 38812-38813 in November.

By 1912, buying Mikados in North America without superheaters was quite rare. But Woodward Iron seems to have happy with its middle-sized, low-drivered, saturated-boiler 2-8-2s (see Locobases 12694-12695) and settled for a slightly higher pressure boiler, more weight on the drivers, and a tweak of the firebox area.

According to the Southern's account, the WIC had recently added complex new capabilities to its traditional mix: "In 1911, another of the company's giant forward steps resulted, upon completion of its first battery of 60 by-product coke ovens (an additional 80 ovens were built the following year) .Where before only coke had been obtained from the old-fashioned beehive ovens, the company could with the new ovens extract and sell coal chemicals such as coke oven tar, ammonium sulphate, toluene, xylene, napthalene, pyridine, benzol and crude heavy solvent. Later, coke oven gas not used in company operations was sold to neighboring industries."

Its 1912 acquisition of Birmingham Coal & Iron opened access to the BC&I's sizable coal reserves.

29 never left the WIC's rails, serving the company until it was scrapped in March 1955.

Steve Low sent some details about the later careers of the 30 and 31: "30 ...was sold as Campbell Creek's RR 12. []

31 ... was sold to Rockton & Rion RR as 31 on January 24, 1962. It was sold in 1973 and is on diplay in Waycross, GA [] . Further photo :[]