Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe 4-4-2 "Atlantic" Locomotives in the USA

Class 1400, 1550 (Locobase 6547)

Data from 1920 AT & SF locomotive diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. See also DeGolyer, Volume 29, pp. 2+, and "Baldwin Balanced Compound for AT&SF Ry.", The Railway and Engineering Review, Volume 47, ( 15 June 1907), pp. 528-529. (Thanks to Chris Hohl for noting the tender capacities.). Works numbers were:

1905

July 26009, 26015, 26030, 26049, 26089, 26099, 26104 (numbered 1450-1456 when delivered, renumbered 1550-1556 in 1907).

26110, 26118, 26120-26121; August 26153, 26180, 26194, 26202

1906

February 27593-27594, 27622-27625; March 27664, 27689, 27690, 27704

27754, 27767, 27797-27798, 27819, 27820, 27837; April 27842-27844, 27918, 27963, 28011

(Note: 27625, 27664, 27689, 27690, 27704 were numbered 1457-1461 when delivered and renumbered 1557-1561 in 1907).

1907

March 30385-30386, 30399, 30423, 30430, 30439, 30462-30466; April 30579, 30598-30599, 30652-30653, 30731-30732, 30743, 30746-30747; May 30784, 30794, 30814-30815.

This class was the most numerous group of Atlantics on the Santa Fe. Like virtually of the rest, these were four-cylinder balanced compounds with 15" (381 mm) piston valves supplying the steam. They were delivered with the tenders shown in the specs, which had Barber roller bearings in the trucks. Firebox heating surface included 30 sq ft (2.79 sq m) of arch tubes. 1408 to 1426 burned "Gallup New Mexico coal, which closely resembles lignite." 1450-1461 (later renumbered 1550-1561) differed only in having 73" drivers.)

The two driving axles were equalized with the trailing axle in system that used a "traction

increaser" air cylinder fitted between the frames and behind the rear drivers. When triggered by a lever, the cylinder pulled down on the rear driver's spring links to shift about 12,000 lb (5,443 kg) off the trailing axle and on the drivers. An air-powered signal sounded continually to remind the engineer that the device was in use.

Of these, most of the early engines were never simpled and were scrapped in the late 1920s. Those that were -- 1413, 1415-1417, 1420, 1425, 1428, 1440, 1442, 1444, and 1446-1447 -- were rebuilt as simple-expansion 22"x 26"locomotives in 1926-1929. The renovation extended their service into the late 1930s at the least with at least one being scrapped as late as 1948.

The later locomotives - 1462-1478 -- were delivered in 1909 to essentially the same design. Their works numbers were:33861-33866, 33881-33882, 33899-33906, 33946-33947 in October; 34084-34087 in November; 34106-34109, 34138 in December.

Perhaps because of their slightly later vintage, more of the class was rebuilt as simple-expansion engines with 22" x 26" cylinders. Those engines were 1453, 1456-1458, 1460, 1462, 1466, 1468, 1470, 1472-1473, 1475, 1477-1478.

As Chris Hohl noted in a June 2014 email, later tenders were larger and bunkered either 14 tons (15.4 metric tons) of coal or 3,138 US gallons (11,877 litres) of fuel oil. Those weighing 164,500 lb (74,616 kg) carried the same amount of water as the original tenders, but the 175,000 lb (79,379 kg) tenders had 9,000 US gallons (34,065 litres) of water when loaded.

A further 12 were delivered with 73" drivers; see Locobase 6548. One was superheated; see Locobase 8994.

Class 1400-superheated - 73" drivers (Locobase 16384)

The 1920 AT & SF locomotive diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange shows that the firebox heating surface included 30 sq ft of arch tubes. (Many thanks to Chris Hohl for his extensive research and his 3 December 2018 email and spreadsheet.)

Among the large class of saturated Atlantics produced by Baldwin for the Santa Fe (see Locobase 6548), about half were converted to simple-expansion and superheated; their two cylinders were supplied through 13" (330 mm) piston valves. Three of the conversions--those using 79" driivers--appear in Locobase 8994. The rest appear here, now rolling on 73" drivers. Their road numbers were 1415, 1417, 1420, 1425, 1428, 1431, 1444, 1446-1447, 1456, 1458, 1460, 1462, 1466, 1470, 1472, 1478, 1550, 1554, and 1556.

Converted in Santa Fe shops from 1926-1928, these eleven engines gained more than a decade of additional service until most were scrapped in 1940. 1478 was scrapped in Albuquerque in 1943 with 1472 following a year later.

Class 1413 - superheated (Locobase 8994)

The 1920 AT & SF locomotive diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange shows that the firebox heating surface included 30 sq ft of arch tubes.

Among the large class of saturated Atlantics produced by Baldwin for the Santa Fe (see Locobase 6547-6548), about half were converted to simple-expansion and superheated; their two cylinders were supplied through 13" (330 mm) piston valves. The large-diameter tubes and flues allowed for a nearly identical heating surface to that of the earlier design, but almost 1/5 of that amount was now superheated. These seven engines retained their 79" drivers.

The other 20 were fitted with 73" drivers and are shown in Locobase 16384.

Class 1452 (Locobase 6548)

The 1920 AT & SF locomotive diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. See also DeGolyer, Volume 33, pp. 197+. (Thanks to Chris Hohl for his 9 November 2014 email that supplied the tender's water and coal capacities and a correction in the grate area and for a 3 December 2018 email and spreadsheet noting the superheater and reheater.) Works numbers were33861-33881- 33882, 33899-33906, 33946-33947 in October; 34084-34087 in November; and 34106-34109, 34138 in December.

The larger portion of this balanced compound Atlantic class is described in Locobase 6547, and these engines repeated many of the key specs such as the 15" (381 mm) piston valves. But they had several significant differences. The most visible was a 6" (152 mm) smaller driver diameter and the outside radial valve gear.

A shorter boiler revealed tubes that had been trimmed by 40" (1,016 mm) to make room for a Santa Fe-designed superheater for the HP cylinders. Moreover, as the exhausted HP steam headed for the LP cylinders, a reheater--also supplied by the Santa Fe-- comprising 433 sq ft (40.23 sq m) of surface area tried to boost its power. Both used 2 1/4" (57 mm) tubes, but together they added little.

Another change was the deletion of the traction increaser. Firebox heating surface area included 25 sq ft (2.32 sq m) of arch tubes.

The original tender weighed 168,000 lb (76,204 kg) and carried 12,000 US gallons (45,420 liters) of water in addition to the 9 tons of coal. The tender also had a feed water heater that ran the air pump's exhaust through several coiled 130-ft (39.62 metre) sections of 1 1/2" (32 mm) pipe. 1479 was delivered with Baker-Pilliod valve gear.

Class 1480 (Locobase 15301)

Data from the Kansas Historical Society's collection of Santa Fe locomotive diagrams archived at Kansas Memory ([], last accessed 14 July 2013).

Locobase 450 describes the strange Bull Moose class, known for its Jacobs-Shupert firebox. In the 1920s, the Santa Fe simpled and superheated some of all the classes of Atlantics and included about half of this class. Although the grate area didn't change and the firebox heating surface area wasn't substantially different, the engine's wheelbase shrank considerably even as combined heating surface area grew.

They proved a very handy size for branch-line local passenger service and served the Santa Fe until the early 1950s.

Class 1480/Bull Moosers (Locobase 450)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive, Record of Recent Construction #37 (1911), p. 27; and DeGolyer, Volume 37, pp. 248+. See also "Heaviest Atlantic Type Locomotive - Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Ry.", American Engineer and Railroad Journal, Volume 85, #2 (February 1911), p. 44. Works numbers were 35353-35364 in October 1910; 35528-35538 in November.

These odd Atlantics (23 in all) had an unusual profile with three domes -- the two steam domes flanked the sand dome. Nicknamed "Bull Moosers," their tapered boilers with 30" (762 mm) combustion chambers mounted ahead of a Jacobs-Shupert firebox were long enough that there was room for a third driving axle. The stayless Jacobs-Shupert firebox is discussed in Locobase 463. Its promise was compromised by its inability to avoid leaking. A Booth patent burner ignited the oil fuel at the front of the fire box.

The Walschaert valve gear operated 15" (381 mm) piston valves and was spread out along the driving set and had intermediate links. The main rod drove the front axle.

AERJ's report commented on the novel steam circuit:"A somewhat startling arrangement of steam pipes is a prominent feature in the design, and is clearly indicated in the accompanying illustration. The steam is taken from the boiler at the rear dome and through two 5 in. pipes carried to the forward dome in which the throttle valve is located."

Locobase also notes a result that of the three equal-sized domes on the boiler, the central one was the sand dome and the two flanking domes held steam, the reverse of the usual layout.

AERJ continues" The peculiarity of outside pipes begins at this point with an outside dry pipe running on the center line of the boiler. A T-head at the extremity of the dry pipe, immediately behind the stack, provides for the disposition of the steam to the high pressure cylinders. It is said that this arrangement was desired by the railroad, and it became possible through the construction of the reheater. Greater accessibility is of course secured, and this becomes a matter of some importance in connection with the re-grinding of steam pipe joints, but it is quite evident that the symmetrical appearance of the engine has been largely sacrificed for this advantage."

Exhaust steam from the HP cylinders entered a 48" (1,219 mm) long Santa Fe-type smokebox reheater drum that measured 1,147 sq ft (106.56 sq m) in area. The 417 reheater tubes, each 2 5/8" (67 mm) in diameter, were arranged "exactly opposite the tubes in the boiler."

Another steam pipe emerged near the smokebox on either side after passing through this pipe entered the outside low-pressure cylinders.

AERJ's editors (either E A Averill or R M Rogers), ever vigilant for innovation, comments on the design: "Outside steam pipes will, however, establish one thing, and that, immunity from any poor steaming condition which might result from impaired draft due to leaky joints. It was proposed for years in several quarters to place steam pipes outside to overcome this very trouble, but the prevailing construction of the period made this impossible."

In the 1920s, fourteen of these engines were converted to simple-expansion operation; see Locobase 15301.

The other engines were retired beginning in 1926. The last of the simple-expansion upgrades went in 1953.

Class 256 (Locobase 5330)

Data from "Compound Passenger Locomotive, 4-4-2 Type", American Engineer & Railroad Journal, Volume 77, No 6 (June 1903), pp. 210-215; as corrected by AT&SF Asstd Diagrams by Class supplied in August 2021 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. See also DeGolyer, Volume 25, pp. 200+. See also E D Worley, Iron Horses of the Santa Fe (Dallas: Southwest Railroad Historical Society, 1976) , pp. 233, 237. .(Thanks to Chris Hohl for his 24 November 2023 email supplying new figures for locomotive weights and correcting the valve gear.) Works numbers were 22339 in June 1903 and 22456, 22511, 22543 in July.

These Atlantics were the first competent examples of more than 160 4-4-2s purchased by the Santa Fe. They had the Vauclain balanced compound arrangement in which a single 15" (381 mm) balanced piston valve served each side's set of one HP and one LP cylinder.

According to the revised 8 December 1903 diagram, this class could use a traction increaser to shift 10,500 lb (4,763 kg) of the weight bearing on the trailing truck to the drivers. The resulting adhesive weight rose to 111,920 lb (50,766 kg).

In the "oops!" department, Baldwin's specification page included a note about a problem: "Reading Iron Co[mpany] to furnihs flues for #107 to replace a similar number of defective flues in engines already delivered." #107 was the Jacobs-Shupert design.

It's not clear whether they were ever superheated or simpled, but it seems unlikely. By 1920, however, the class operated its valves with Baker gear, which replaced the Stephenson gear originally employed.

.256 had the riveted Jacobs-Shupert firebox. (See Locobase 463 for a description of this unusual firebox design. ). In the Santa Fe's separate diagram, the boiler used 19 fewer boiler tubes (254 vs 273). The diagram also shows the engine fitted with Baker valve gear, suggesting the diagram was drawn up much later. By then the engine burned oil and the tender weighed 175,000 lb (79,399 kg) when filled with 9,000 US gallons (34,065 litres) of water and 3,200 gallons (12,112 litres) of fuel oil and 72,000 lb (32,659 kg) when "MTY".

E D Worley described the 4-4-2 arrangement as "among the handsomest steam locomotives steam locomotives ever to be constructed ...[showing]...a blistering turn of speed with the comparatively short and light wooden passenger trains they were designed to haul." He noted that this "excellent road engine" used a four-wheel leading truck "that gave great tracking stability" especially in those designs that drove the rear adhesive axle and enhanced by a trailing truck that used outside bearings. Moreover, the arrangement, which moved the firebox behind the last driving axle, "made it possible to provide a boiler with generous steaming capacity."

The 256 class, Worley wrote, "gave the Santa Fe, for the first time, a capable, high-speed 4-4-2."

With passenger-train weights increasing every year, this inherently limited arrangement enjoyed only short-term success and the class operated only until 1925-1927.

Class 507 (Locobase 4091)

Data from AT&SF 9 - 1920 Loco Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. See also 1906 Baldwin catalogue, which is reproduced on [] (last accessed 19 October 2015); and DeGolyer, Volume 27, pp. 70+.

Works numbers were 24000 in March 1903; 24089, 24091, 24154-24158, 24167 in April; 24180-24182, 24213, 24217, 24220-24221, 24236, 24242, 24247-24248, 24273, 24282, 24287-24288 in May; 24297-24298, 24312, 24349, 24352-24353, 24362, 24367, 24379, 24380, 24389 in June.

The AT&SF bought a couple of batches of Vauclain balanced-compound Atlantics from Baldwin in this year. When delivered, the design's firebox heating surface included 10 sq ft (0.93 sq m) of "firebrick" tubes, which was later enlarged to 30 sq ft (2.79 sq m) of arch tubes. Each of the two 15" (381 mm) diameter piston valves served a set of HP and LP cylinders.

A traction increaser could be adjusted by the engineer to add 12,000 lb (5,443 kg) to the adhesion weight. A cab notice reminded the engine to always start a 507 with the traction increaser on (a signal sounded to alert the operator) and to release it when the locomotive had reached 15 mph (24.2 km/h).

For the later group of Atlantics built to the same design in the same year, but heavier, see Locobase 8993.

The 1906 Baldwin catalogue shows one of the 35-engine class that also was displayed at the St Louis Exposition of 1904. See also the report of Tests of Locomotives at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition published in Transactions of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (Volume 27 - 1906), pp. 625-626.

In the late 1920s, the Santa Fe either scrapped the Atlantics it had or converted them to simple-expansion and superheaters.

Class 507+ (Locobase 15300)

Data from the Kansas Historical Society's collection of Santa Fe locomotive diagrams archived at Kansas Memory ([], last accessed 14 July 2013).

Over two dozen of the Santa Fe's large number of Atlantics of the 507 and 1400 classes (Locobases 4091 and 6547) were simpled and superheated in the late 1920s. Both coal-fired and oil-fired locomotives benefited, the latter's tenders holding either 3,129 or 3,170 US gallons (11,843 or 11,998 litres) of oil.

The simpled Atlantics rolling on 79" drivers were 512, 537, 1413,1416, 1440, 1442, 1452, 1457, 1473, 1475, 1477.

Others had 73"(1,854 mm) drivers and generated a tractive effort of 29,400 lb (13,336 kg). These were 1415, 1417, 1420, 1425, 1428, 1431, 1444, 1446, 1447, 1456, 1458, 1460, 1462, 1466, 1470, 1472, 1478.

Class 542 (Locobase 8993)

Data from AT&SF 9 -1920 locomotive diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. See also DeGolyer, Volume 27, pp. 70+. Information about how many, when, and by whom this class was supplied from [] (accessed 6 Feb 2006), the Santa Fe All-Time Steam Roster maintained by Evan Werkema. Works numbers were 24663-24665, 24673, 24678-24679, 24684, 24694-24695, 24702-24704, 24706, 24712-24714, 24725 in September 1904 and 24757 in October.

The AT&SF bought a couple of batches of Vauclain balanced-compound Atlantics from Baldwin in this year. Locobase 4091 tells about the first set. This latter group of eighteen (Works #24663-24665, 24673, 24678-24679, 24684, 24694-24695, 24702-24704, 24706, 24712-24714, 24725, 24757) came in September 1904 and had a firebox heating surface that included 20 sq ft of arch tubes (. Other than that and an increase in weights, the two classes were essentially identical. These too had two 15" (381 mm) piston valves, each serving a set of HP and LP cylinders.

In the late 1920s, the Santa Fe either scrapped the Atlantics it had or converted them to simple-expansion. The latter ran into the 1940s.

Class 824/454 (Locobase 16086)

Data from AT&SF 9 - 1920 Loco Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. See also E D Worley, Iron Horses of the Santa Fe (Dallas: Southwest Railroad Historical Society, 1976), p. 235. Works numbers were 1057-1058 in August 1899 and 1059-1066 in September.

Worley claimed that the small locomotive builder from Scranton, Pa was entirely inappropriate for the task of "constructing a successful high speed locomotive." He added:"In short, and in vulgar parlance, the Santa Fe got a real lemon in the 454 class." Realizing this almost immediately, neither the manufacturer nor the railroad made anything of the class's introduction and apparently took no photos of the locomotives in service.

Comparing the data to other 4-4-2s of the time doesn't uncover any truly oddball ratios, although the boiler is huge compared to the firebox. The one diagram the Santa Fe produced doesn't clearly show the suspension arrangements, so perhaps the problem lay in how the locomotive moved on the rails.

Regardless of its suitability, all of the class were converted to Ten-wheelers in 1904; see Locobase 8990.