Class 207/C-24 (Locobase 8771)

Data from Soo 1930 Steam Locomotive Diagrams supplied in August 2013 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. Works number was 1664 in 1890.

This engine underwent an unusual modification for a passenger engine. It was delivered to the WC as one of ten Ten-wheeler freight engines with 63" (1,600 mm) drivers . In 1903, the WC's shops removed one of the driving axles, converting the 207 to an Eight-wheeler. Each of the new drivers stood 10" (254 mm) higher than the old set. The engine had been converted to passenger-train service.

When it arrived on the Soo, it had considerably taller drivers than the other Soo Eight-wheelers of the day. Also, its boiler was pressed to a significantly higher pressure.

Class 60/C-21 (Locobase 8768)

Data from Soo 9 - 1943 Steam Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange; and Clark S. Matteson, The History of Wisconsin: From Prehistoric to Present Periods (Milwaukee: Wisconsin Historical Publishing Company, 1893), pp. 583-585. Works numbers were 2022-2035 in 1885.

This was the first group of several classes of Eight-wheelers that came from Schenectady to the WC and later the Soo system.

In May 1869, the Wisconsin legislature consented to allow the merger of the Portage & Superior Railroad and the Winnebago & Lake Superior Railroad to form the Portage, Winnebago & Superior Railroad Company. Almost two years later, the legislature granted permission for the PW&S to change its name to the Wisconsin Central Railroad Company. By 1879, the WC had had to work out a reorganization because of the collapse of value in all of its holdings.

That done, the railroad continued its road north. Reaching Stevens Point, which lay 66 miles north of Portage, the line continued northwest .Although it never reached Superior City, it came close when it met Lake Superior at Ashland. An eastern arm running west from Manitowoc on Lake Michigan to Appleton, where it blended with the southern lines coming up from Chicago, and linked up with the Portage section at Stevens Point.

In 1886, the WC was operated by the Northern Pacific under a 999-year lease. By 1893, when a court order severed the link with the NP, the WC's total mileage in Wisconsin had reached 758.81 miles (1,222 km).

Not long after the Minnneapolis, St Paul & Sault Ste Marie (Soo) took over operation of the WC, it began selling off these nearly 30-year-old locomotives. 2006 went to Peninsular Bark & Lumber in 1912.

The Waupaca & Green Bay bought the 2007 in 1913 and gave it road number 2. Perhaps surprisingly, the 2 still had years left in its boiler. In January 1922, it took road number 8 on the Green Bay & Western and ran for years before being scrapped in 1936.

2010 was sold in April 1921 to Stanley Merrill & Phillips. Four years later, the engine went to Park Falls, Wisc lumberer Flambeau Paper Company. It was scrapped in 1930.

The others remained on the WC roster until scrapped over the next two decades.

Class 82/C-22 (Locobase 8769)

Data from Soo 9 - 1943 Steam Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. Works numbers were 2189-2199 in 1886.

Continuing the line of Eight-wheelers begun by the C-21 class (Locobase 8768), Schenectady added a foot to the boiler tubes. The design was otherwise similar to the C-21s.

Unlike some of the C21s, however, none of this class went to have second careers for other owners. All were scrapped by the Wisconsin Central.

Class C-23 (Locobase 8770)

Data from Soo 9 - 1943 Steam Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. See also DeGolyer, Volume 13, p. 148. Works numbers were 8274, 8282 in December 1886; 8332, 8335 in January 1887; 8436-8440, 8444, 8446-8447 in March.

When Baldwin began building its version of Schenectady's C-22 (see Locobase 8769) a year later, it reduced the grate's length by 1/4" and delivered the C-23. The two locomotive designs were otherwise identical.

Most C-23s were scrapped or retired in the 'teens. 2029-2030, 2033 were scrapped in 1928; 2036 went in 1930.

Class C-4 / C-5s (Locobase 8767)

Data from Soo Miscellaneous Steam Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange.

Locobase does not know how many of the orginal group of Eight-wheelers (Locobase 8763) was superheated; the diagram book shows just one. Superheating so small a 4-4-0 represents a lot of effort for apparently modest results. On the other hand, the boiler was probably out of time anyway and the light axle-loading probably made this engine indispensable within its operating territory.

Class D, E/C-4, C-5 (Locobase 8763)

Data from Soo 9 - 1943 Steam Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. DeGolyer, Volume 13, p 235. Works numbers were

7635 in June 1885

1886

7974 and 7981 in June; 8063 in July; 8067, 8071 in August; 8148, 8157 in September; 8196-8197, 8200-8201 in October; and 8234-8236 in November.

1887

8503-8506, 8510, and 8512 in April; 8580, 8588, 8593-8596, 8641-8642, 8644-8645 in June; 8648-8652, 8685, 8687, 8691-8695 in July; and 8697-8698 in August.

This large class of Eight-wheelers came from Baldwin as C-4 and C-5 Eight-wheelers in 1886-1887 and were delivered to the Minneapolis & Pacific at first, which was reorganized as the Minneapolis, Sault Ste Marie & Atlantic in 1886.

The principal difference between the two classes appears to have been the size of the tender's water tank. C-4s trailed a 3,000-gallon tender; C-5s pulled the 3,500-gallon tank shown in the specs. Three --8063, 8200, and 8685-- operated on the Bismarck, Washburn & Great Falls for a while and were returned to the Soo in 1904.

By 1902, the D class road numbers were 3-4, 6, 42-43, 45-46; E class road numbers were 7-16, 37-40, 23-31, 34-36.

Some were later superheated; see Locobase 8767.

Class W D Washburn/A/C (Locobase 8766)

Data from Soo 9 - 1943 Steam Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. See also DeGolyer, Volume 13, p. 84. Works numbers were 8175-8177 in October 1886 and 8259-8260, 8262 in November.

Of the six class Cs that were originally bought in 1886, the names of the October engines were W D Washburn (5), R B Langdon (6), and Thomas Lowry (7) while the November batch was named John Martin (14), H E Fletcher (15), and C H Pettit (16). The engines' boilers were ordered with 161 tubes.

The MP soon was reorganized as the Minneapolis, Sault Ste Marie & Atlantic and ultimately Minneapolis, St Paul & Sault Ste Marie, the name changes implying considerable shrinkage in the scale of the project's ambition.