Atlanta, Birmingham & Atlantic 4-4-0 "American" Locomotives in the USA

Class 30 / D-5 (Locobase 7883)

Data from W&LE 8 - 1923 & 10 1924 Locomotive Diagram books supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange and DeGolyer, Volume 34, p. 161.. Works numbers were 34271, 34301, 34319-34320 in February 1910 and 34419-34420 in March.

This quartet of Eight-wheelers had the unusual combination of Walschaert gear and slide valves.

The AB&A retained most of these locomotives for only about a short time; 33 was the exception as it ran on AB&A and later successor Atlanta, Birmingham & Coast rails until it was scrapped in 1942.

30 and 32 went to American International Shipbuilding. AIS sold 32 to the Mexican railway Capilla a Chapala (from which it later moved into the Nacional de Mexico stud and still later to the Vera Cruz Terminal railway as its #4).

30-31 and 34-35 wound up on the Wheeling & Lake Erie in 1920 as their D-5 class (road numbers 2307-2310); they were scrapped in 1928-1930. By that time their firebox heating surface areas had increased substantially to 220 sq ft (20.44 sqm) and one, 2308, also included 13 sq ft of arch tubes for a total of 233 sq ft (21.65 sq m). Yet, Locobase's comparison of the firebox dimensions of the original spec with those in the W&LE's diagram shows no difference in length and width. Perhaps they were considerably deeper, but the boiler is apparently unchanged.

Class 500 (Locobase 13257)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Volume 27, p. 148. Works number was 32180 in November 1907.

The Midland Valley of Oklahoma had bought five Eight-wheelers over the previous few months (Locobase 12724), but surrendered a sixth to the requirements of the Atlanta & Birmingham Construction Company. After the railroad was completed, the 500 was a solo locomotive on the AB & A.

The 500 was sold to the Bristol Railroad of Addison, Vt in 1922 as their #11. The Bristol was a 6 1/2-mile long railroad in west central Vermont that connected the town of Bristol with the New Haven Junction with the Rutland at a point 26 miles south of Burlington. It was the product of Percival Wood Clement's desire to develop western Vermont. Clement would serve as Governor from 1902-1910 and 1918 et seq.

The railroad was open for about 40 years from 1892 to 1932, serving both as an important passenger service for Briston and surrounding small communities and to transport agricultural products (potatoes, oats, barley, apples, etc.) and woodworking products such as coffins.