4-6-0 "Ten-Wheeler" Steam Locomotives in the USA

Class 105/D-19/MP-35D (Locobase 7198)

Data from RI 11 - 1903 Locomotive Class & Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange; additional help from rosters supplied by Stanley in August 2013. Works numbers were 1962-1971 in August 1891.

Many of the Ten-wheelers in the Rock Island book have the same road-class ID, which can complicate the compiler's effort to follow the trail from an originating railroad (in this case, the BCR&N) to the absorbing railroad (the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific).

The Rock's motive power class for this ten-locomotive set was MP53D.

The 1129-1131 were sent to another Rock Island acquisition--the Saint Paul & Kansas City Short Line--after its lease by the RI in November 1913.

The class began heading toward the scrapyard in March 1922. Most were gone by March 1928 with only the 1130 remaining in service until 1934.

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Class 131 / D17 / T17 (Locobase 12375)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Vol 22, p. 188. Works numbers were 17159-17161 in October 1899, 17387 in January 1900, 19180, 19181 in July 1901, 20306

20307 in April 1902 and 20441-20442 in May.

The specs for this quartet of modestly scaled Ten-wheelers shows that they were ordered with 18"-diameter cylinders. Other sources show 16".

The CO & G renumbered the class in several series soon after the first engines arrived on the road, grouping the class as 107-116. When the Rock Island took over, they renumbered the set 1152-1161.

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Class 70/D-19 & 20 50A & B (Locobase 7204)

Data from RI 11 - 1903 Locomotive Class & Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. Works numbers were 2685-2687 in July 1896.

Most noticeable about these Brooks Ten-wheelers was the large firebox heating surface area for a narrow, but long firebox. They had arched cab windows. 1101 ran on 69" drivers, which reduced calculated tractive effort to 18,680 lb (8,473 kg or 83.09 kN).

The Rock Island sold the 1102 for scrap in July 1924 and cut loose the 1101 two months later in September. 1103 closed the class in March 1925.

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Class 81 / D17 / T17 (Locobase 12502)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Volume 22, p. 188. Works numbers were 19180, 19181 in July 1901, 20306-20307 in April 1902 and 20441-20442 in May.

Two years after the Choctaw & Memphis ordered the quartet shown in Locobase 12375, its sister road bought six for itself. The specs for this quartet of modestly scaled Ten-wheelers shows that they were ordered with 18"-diameter cylinders. Other sources show 16" (406 mm).

The CO&G renumbered the class in several series soon after the first engines arrived on the road, grouping the class as 111-116.

When the Rock Island took over, they renumbered the set of C&M and CO&G engines in a single series from 1152-1161. All were scrapped in the mid-1920s.

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Class D-17/52-A (Locobase 7195)

Data from RI 11 - 1903 Locomotive Class & Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. Works numbers were 699-600 in December 1883, 726-728 in April 1884, 743-747 in September 1884.

The profile of this freight Ten-wheeler class shows a slender boiler with no significant taper at the crown of the firebox. Indeed, the shallow firebox rode above the very small drivers. The class had a short wheelbases as well as being quite low-slung.

See Locobase 7196 for the 57" (1,448 mm) driver variant.

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Class D-17/52-B (Locobase 7196)

Data from RI 11 - 1903 Locomotive Class & Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. Works numbers 747-748 in September 1884.

As noted in Locobase 7194, this design had a very low profile with a shallow firebox riding above the driving axles. In two instances, the railroad increased the driver diameter and the 52-B was the result.

After a long career with the BCR&N and the Rock Island, the latter railroad sold the pair to the Canadian Northern at their 146-147.

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Class D-17/53-B (Locobase 7194)

Data from RI 11 - 1903 Locomotive Class & Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. Works numbers were 1040-1042 and 1047-1048.

Possibly the larger diameter of this set of 5 D-17s (see the 57"/1,448 mm version in Locobase 7193) was to enable the locomotives to handle mixed-traffic trains more readily.

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Class D-17/53A (Locobase 7193)

Data from RI 11 - 1903 Locomotive Class & Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. Works numbers were 1078-1082 in September 1885.

The one difference between this quintet and the D-17/53-B is driver diameter; see Locobase 7194. After service with the B, CR & N and the Rock Island, #1112-1113 were sold to the Canadian Northern in October 1907 as the 143-144; the 1116 followed in 1912 as 145.

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Class D-18-25-B (Locobase 7202)

Data from RI 11 - 1903 Locomotive Class & Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange and DeGolyer, Volume 17, p. 256. Works numbers were 12795-12797, 12808 in July 1892.

After the 25-engine class shown in Locobase 7203, Baldwin added four more with slightly larger cylinders and a 2"(50.8 mm)-longer wheelbase. Adhesion weight also grew by 2 1/2" tons (2.27 metric tons) as the driver diameter increased by 4" (102 mm).

The Rock Island built two more to this design, but with smaller grates; See Locobase 7201.

See Locobase 7200 for the later modification to the 899.

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Class D-18/53-C (Locobase 7197)

Data from RI 11 - 1903 Locomotive Class & Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. Works numbers were 1078-1082.

Yet a third set of Ten-wheelers (the others being shown in Locobase 7193-7194) for which the only difference is driver diameter. In this particular case, the result is a pure drag-freight engine. They were later renumbered 150-154 before being taken into the Rock Island.

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Class D-19 (Locobase 2979)

Data from Catalogue Descriptive of Simple and Compound Locomotives built by Brooks Locomotive Works, Dunkirk, NY (Buffalo, NY: Matthew-Northrup Company, 1899). Also from RI 22 - 1904 Locomotive Class and Locomotive Diagrams book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. Works numbers were 2027-2032 in February 1892 and 2084-2090 in May.

Firebox had 18 sq ft of arch pipes.

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Class D-19 (Locobase 7203)

Data from RI 11 - 1903 Locomotive Class & Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. See also DeGolyer, Volume 16, p. 124. Works numbers were 11418-11419, 11422-11423, 11429-11430, 11442, 11449, 11452-11453, 11459-11460 in December 1890.

Baldwin delivered the first of these Ten-wheelers in 1891. Compared to many other Ten-wheelers of the time, the profile showed a fuller boiler supplying larger cylinders. Placing the firebox over the rear two driving axles rather than between them allowed a shortening of the driving wheelbase.

This twelve-engine set was the first of the designs to go into service; the Brooks locomotives of a year later appear in Locobase 2979. The Rock Island's 1903 book showed some changes including weight on the drivers and engine weight, two fewer tubes in the boiler, 1" thicker tires. The firebox area was reduced to 142 sq ft (13.2 sq m), but an additional 21.7 sq ft (2 sq m) of "Cir F" (i.e. arch "pipes") increased direct heating surface area to 163.7 sq ft (15.2 sq m).

As with many of its engines, the railroad got more than 30 years out of each locomotive, with the 1212 and 1214 lasting until June and April 1934, respectively.

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Class D-20-25-E (Locobase 7200)

Data from RI 11 - 1903 Locomotive Class & Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange.

Locobase had orginally supposed that this engine was delivered with longer-stroke cylinders than the other four in the class shown in Locobae 7202. But the original Baldwin specs referenced in 7202 show that all five of the class was delivered with the same cylinder volume.

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Class D-21-25-B (Locobase 7201)

Data from RI 11 - 1903 Locomotive Class & Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange.

When the Rock Island built two of its own Ten-wheelers using the boiler and grate dimensions of the earlier Baldwin engine (Locobase 7200), it shortened the piston stroke and raised the boiler pressure.

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Class D-21-53-F (Locobase 7199)

Data from RI 11 - 1903 Locomotive Class & Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. Works numbers were 2558-2562 in August 1895 and 2575-2579 in September.

These followed by four years another set of Brooks Ten-wheelers (Locobase 2979). Differences lay in the increased boiler pressure, a slightly larger grate, and taller drivers.

After serving the BCR&M, BCR&N, and CRI&P for 30-35 years, the Rock sent the class to the scrapper in 1920s. The class leader closed the books by falling to the ferro-knacker in December 1929.

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Class D-22-24-A (Locobase 7205)

Data from RI 11 - 1903 Locomotive Class & Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. See also DeGolyer, Volume 18, p. 145. Works numbers were 13321-13323, 13325, 13336, 13340 in March 1893.

Baldwin continued producing its run of Ten-wheelers for the Rock Island with this set of smaller freight locomotives. The cylinder volume stayed the same as the earlier (Locobase 7202) D-18s but the layout was more compact

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Class D-23-25-D/T-22 (Locobase 7206)

Data from RI 11 - 1903 Locomotive Class & Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange.

Using the same design as its passenger pair of 1897 (Locobase 7201), the Rock Island ran off a dozen mixed-traffic locomotives. The combination of smaller drivers and longer piston stroke raised the tractive effort. The railroad later traded back some of that power by reducing the class's boiler pressure setting to 175 psi(12.07bar) and adding 1/4" (3.65 mm) to the drivers' tire thicknesses. The resulting tractive effort calculated as 21,562 lb (95.9 kN)

All but two of the twelve left the roster in the 1920s; 2361 and 1263 both fell to the ferro-knacker in May 1934.

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Class D-24-14-D (Locobase 7207)

Data from RI 11 - 1903 Locomotive Class & Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange.

A true express passenger engine with a big boiler, tall drivers, and 11" (279 mm) piston valves for steam admission. These Ten-wheelers were the simple-expansion conversions of the Vauclain compounds described in Locobase 7208. Obviously, the maintenance headache of adjusting the valves quickly overcame the reputed economy advantages of compound operation.

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Class D-25-25-C (Locobase 7209)

Data from RI 11 - 1903 Locomotive Class & Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. Works numbers were 2688-2692 in August 1896.

In same year as the mixed-traffic engines came these freight locomotives. As the end of the century loomed, cylinder volume, boiler capacity both began to burgeon. Grate area followed but the great jump was still to come.

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Class D-28-14-C (Locobase 7211)

Data from RI 11 - 1903 Locomotive Class & Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange.

Brooks delivered over 120 Ten-wheelers of the same design to the Rock Island beginning in 1902. Sturdy Ten-wheelers for passenger service, these locomotives had a curiously outdated set of domes on the boiler. From the start, however, they used Walschaert radial valve gear outside that actuated 11"piston valves. Like the 68"-drivered 14-B (Locobase 7213) and 14-A (Locobase 7216), the 14-Cs had 22 sq ft of circulating tubes that supplemented the firebox heating surface

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Class D-28-54-B (Locobase 7210)

Data from RI 11 - 1903 Locomotive Class & Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange.

At the same time Brooks was supplying the 57" freight engines (Locobase 7212), it delivered these 5 mixed-traffic locomotives. Like the freighters, the 54-Bs had 10" piston valves actuated by outside Walschaerts gear and Belpaire fireboxes.

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Class D-29-14-B / T-27 (Locobase 7213)

Data from RI 11 - 1903 Locomotive Class & Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange.

As Brooks was supplying over 120 Ten-wheelers including fifteen for fast passenger service (Locobase 7211), it was also delivering this local passenger variant. Like the 14-C, the 14-Bs had 22 sq ft of circulating tubes that supplemented the firebox heating surface; they also had 11" piston valves.

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Class D-29-54-A (Locobase 7212)

Data from RI 11 - 1903 Locomotive Class & Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange.

At the turn into the 20th century, Brooks enlarged its Ten-wheeler designs for the Rock Island and delivered this quintet. The five had a larger, shallower grate within a Belapaire firebox and larger cylinders with a boiler that was not quite outsized. The radial valve gear operated 10" piston valves. The cab windows were oddly placed low in the cab wall and had a continuous arch over two panes. See Locobase 7209 for the mixed-traffic variant.

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Class D-30-14-A (Locobase 7216)

Data from RI 11 - 1903 Locomotive Class & Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange.

Sturdy Ten-wheelers for passenger service, these locomotives had a curiously outdated set of domes on the boiler. From the start, however, they used Walschaert radial valve gear outside that actuated 11" (279 mm) piston valves. Like the 68"-drivered 14-B (Locobase 7213), and the 73" 14-C, the 14-As had 22 sq ft (2.04 sq m) of circulating tubes that supplemented the firebox heating surface.

1454 had a slight variation in its firebox layout in which 27 sq ft (2.51 sq m) of circulating flues combined with 183.1 sq ft (17.01 sq m) of firebox heating surface to produce 210.1 sq ft (19.52 sq m) of direct heating surface.

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Class D-30-14-E, 14H/T-28 (Locobase 7215)

Data from RI 11 - 1903 Locomotive Class & Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. Works numbers were 17743 and 17782 in May 1900.

As noted in Locobase 7214, Vauclain compounds had only a short vogue on the Rock Island. By 1904, 1473-1474, 1478-1480, 1482-1483, and 1487 had been converted to the D-30 simple-expansion configuration. Each cylinder was now supplied by an 11" (279 mm) piston valve. By 1912, all seventeen engines had been converted.

The class now consisted of two motive power subclasses:

14-E applied to 1474, 1478-1480, 1482-1483, and 1487, which applied to the early conversions, and

14-H referred to 1472-1473, 1475-1477, 1481, 1484-1486, 1488, which described the later set. (1473's place is inconsistently shown in the Rock Island rosters.)

By 1924, boiler pressure had decreased to 190 psi and the class was redesignated T-28 (Ten-wheeler producing approximately 28,000 lb tractive effort).

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Class D-9/46-A (Locobase 7192)

Data from RI 11 - 1903 Locomotive Class & Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange.

Locobase enters this one Ten-wheeler because of its small size and early entry. He knows nothing about the original railroad (possibly the Iron Mountain & Southern) nor about the engine's subsequent career. He observes, however, that for the locomotive to appear in the 1904 book is testament enough to a certain value.

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Class F-24-28-A (Locobase 7208)

Data from RI 11 - 1903 Locomotive Class & Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. See also DeGolyer, Volume 23, pp. 160-161. Works numbers were 17718-17719 in May 1900 and 18314 and 18345 in October.

Baldwin delivered a slew of Ten-wheelers in 1900, most to a Vauclain compound design. This set was the high-wheeler express passenger trio, its cylinders filled through 13" (335 mm). See Locobase 7207 for the simple-expansion conversions and 7214 for the mixed-traffic Vauclain compound variant.

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Class F-29-28-B (Locobase 7214)

Data from RI 11 - 1903 Locomotive Class & Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. See also DeGolyer, Volume 23, p. 7. Works numbers 17720

17721 , 17743-17744, 17780-17783 in May 1900; 17802, 17818-17820, 17846, 17870 in June; and 18293-18294, 18313 in October.

The Baldwin express passenger Vauclain compounds shown in Locobase 7207 were joined by these seventeen mixed-traffic brothers. Like those others, these used a 13" (330 mm) piston valve to supply steam to each set of one HP and one LP cylinder.

As often happened with North American compounds, these were rebuilt as simple-expansion (20"x 28") engines.

They were scrapped in the mid-1930s.

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Class T-31 - 1521 (Locobase 7228)

Data from RI to 1951 Locomotive Diagrams Combined supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. Works numbers were 37693-37707 in June 1905

This freight Ten-wheeler class is essentially identical to the T-31s of the 1550 class (Locobase 5361), except for their builder and a slightly lower number of boiler tubes.

All remained in service for over 30 years before being scrapped in 1936-1938.

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Class T-31 - 1550 (Locobase 5361)

Data from table in June 1906 American Engineer and Railroad Journal (AERJ). See also "Report of Committee on Power ...Descriptions of Standard Types of Locomotives", AERJ, Vol (March 1905), pp. 84-85. Data also from RI to 1951 Combined Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange collection; and dDeGolyer, Volume 27, 284+.

These mixed-traffic Ten-wheelers fulfilled the Rock Island Committee on Power's recommendations for a standard Ten-wheeler almost to the last digit. As proposed, the 4-6-0 would have one of two driver diameters: 69" (1,753 mm) for passenger service and 63" (1,600 mm) for fast freight. This class filled the latter bill. (The Rock did not built the taller-drivered variant after it issued this report in 1905.)

One small change from the first engine reduced tube count by two to the 329 shown in the specs. According to Baldwin's specs, the entire class was delivered with Walschaert outside constant-lead radial valve gear. Some later trailed "semi-Vanderbilt" tenders carrying 10,000 US gallons (37,850 litres) of water and either 16 short tons of coal or 3,200 gallons (12,112 litres) of fuel oil.

Nine of the class were fitted with superheaters and 12" (305 mm) piston valves; see Locobase 14463.

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Class T-31 - 1550 - superheated (Locobase 14463)

Data from RI to 1951 Combined Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange.

The original design followed the recommendations of the Rock Island Committee on Power

for a standard fast-freight Ten-wheeler.; see Locobase 5361.

Beginning in 1927, Nine of Baldwin's class were later fitted with superheaters, Walschaert gear, and 12" (305 mm) piston valves. Road numbers of these superheated engines included 1557, 1560, 1565-66, 1569, 1574, 1581, 1586-87.

These freight Tenwheelers were highly satisfactory. Fifteen remained in service throughout World War II and half of those were only retired in the early 1950s..

NB: The Rock Island does not give a superheater area for the installation in the 1550s. But they do supply a figure for the 32 5 1/2" flues for a similar makeover of the 1630-class Consolidations. Taking account of the 5 fewer flues (and 4-element superheater units) and the 16" shorter flues, Locobase arrives at the figure given as an estimate.