What was the first 2-8-4 steam locomotive?
418362#5
The Northern Pacific Railway was the first railroad to order a 2-8-8-4. The first was built in 1928 by American Locomotive Company; at the time, it was the largest locomotive ever built. It had the largest firebox ever applied to a steam locomotive, some in area, to burn Rosebud coal, a cheap low-quality coal. But the firebed was too large for the available draft and the fire burned poorly. The problem was mitigated by blocking off the first few feet of the grates. Baldwin Locomotive Works built 11 more for the Northern Pacific in 1930. None were saved.
2-8-8-4
25537194#0
The Class A-1 Berkshire locomotive is a 2-8-4 steam locomotive first built in 1925 by the Lima Locomotive Works. The design was initially intended to improve on the company's USRA Mikado design (2-8-2), which was deemed to lack sufficient speed and horsepower. This was addressed by the inclusion of a larger, firebox that required an extra trailing axle, giving the locomotive its distinctive 2-8-4 wheel arrangement.
Berkshire locomotive
1115867#1
The first American 2-8-4s were built for the Boston and Albany Railroad in 1925 by Lima Locomotive Works. The railroad's route across the Berkshire mountains was a substantial test for the new locomotives and, as a result, the name "Berkshire" was adopted for the locomotive type.
2-8-4
1115867#51
Six years after the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway experimented with the first 2-10-4, the first 2-8-4s were built for the Boston & Albany (B&A) by Lima Locomotive Works in 1925. The railroad's route over the Berkshires was a substantial test for the new locomotives, but the type proved its worth, outpacing the 2-8-2 Mikados already in use there. This mountain range lent its name to the locomotive type, though the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway preferred the name "Kanawha" for their 2-8-4s. Buoyed by the success of the demonstrations on the B&A, Lima and ALCO both sold a few hundred of the new locomotive type.
The Berkshire type's big boost came in 1934, when the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (Nickel Plate Road or NKP) received its first 2-8-4s, built to a new design from the Advisory Mechanical Committee (AMC) of the Van Sweringen empire. Under the Van Sweringen umbrella were the Nickel Plate Road, Erie Railroad, Chesapeake and Ohio Railway and Pere Marquette Railway. The AMC's design generated of tractive effort and became the standard design for subsequent Berkshires. The Erie Railroad purchased the largest number of 2-8-4s, rostering 105.
2-8-4
1115867#54
Many larger American railroads rostered Berkshires. The table lists data on the American locomotives as they were built.
In the motion picture "The Polar Express", the "know-it-all" boy identifies the train's locomotive as a Baldwin 2-8-4 built in 1931, although the actual prototype for the film's locomotive was the Pere Marquette no. 1225, a Berkshire built by the Lima Locomotive Works in 1941.
2-8-4
390777#33
Baldwin built many 4-4-0 "American" type locomotives (the locomotive that built America). Surviving examples of which include the 1872 "Countess of Dufferin" and 1875's Virginia and Truckee Railroad No.22 "Inyo", but it was perhaps best known for the 2-8-2 "Mikado" and 2-8-0 "Consolidation" types. It was also well known for the unique cab-forward 4-8-8-2 articulateds built for the Southern Pacific Company and massive 2-10-2 for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Baldwin also produced their most powerful steam engines in history, the 2-8-8-4 "Yellowstone" for the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway. The Yellowstone could put down over of Tractive force. They routinely hauled 180 car trains weighing over . The Yellowstones were so good that the DM&IR refused to part with them; they hauled ore trains well into the diesel era, and the last one retired in 1963. Three have been preserved. One of Baldwin's last new and improved locomotive designs were the 4-8-4 "Northern" locomotives. Baldwin's last domestic steam locomotives were 2-6-6-2s built for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway in 1949. Baldwin 60000, the company's 1926 demonstration steam locomotive, is on display at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. On a separate note, the restored and running 2-6-2 steam locomotive at Fort Edmonton Park was built by Baldwin in 1919.
Baldwin Locomotive Works
260799#74
The CNR acquired its first 4-8-4 "Confederation" locomotives in 1927. Over the next 20 years, it ordered over 200 for passenger and heavy freight service. The CNR also used several 4-8-2 "Mountain" locomotives, almost exclusively for passenger service. No. 6060, a streamlined 4-8-2, was the last CN steam locomotive, running in excursion service in the 1970s. CNR also used several 2-8-2 "Mikado" locomotives.
Canadian National Railway
2007518#0
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe 3751 is a 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotive built in 1927 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Built as the first Northern type steam locomotive for the Santa Fe, the 3751 served in passenger duties until being retired in 1953. The locomotive was then placed on display in San Bernardino, California until it was restored to operating condition in 1986. The 3751 is currently located in the Central City East neighborhood of Los Angeles and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Today, Santa Fe 3751 holds the distinction of being the oldest surviving 4-8-4 type steam locomotive in the world. The locomotive is currently owned and operated by the San Bernardino Railroad Historical Society who use the locomotive to haul occasional mainline excursion trains. However, a 15-year inspection was expected to put it out of service for three to four years.
Santa Fe 3751
370703#8
Though the dual-service 4-8-4 steam locomotive had shown great promise, 1948 was the last year that steam locomotives were manufactured in Schenectady. These were the seven A-2a class 9400-series Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad 2-8-4 "Berkshires." Their tenders had to be subcontracted to Lima Locomotive Works, as Alco's tender shop had been closed. The building was converted to diesel locomotive manufacture, to compete with locomotives manufactured by the automobile industry.
American Locomotive Company
2007518#1
Built in 1927 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works, 3751 was Baldwin's and the Santa Fe railway's first 4-8-4. It had a Santa Fe 5-chime freight whistle mounted on it. Tests showed that 3751 was 20% more efficient and powerful than the Santa Fe's 3700 class 4-8-2 steamers, which at the time were Santa Fe's most advanced steam locomotives. In 1936, the engine was converted to burn oil. Two years later, the locomotive was given a larger tender able to hold 20,000 gallons of water and 7,107 gallons of fuel oil. 3751 was also present at the grand opening of Union Station in Los Angeles on May 7, 1939 pulling the Scout, one of Santa Fe's crack passenger trains as it arrived from Chicago. It was the first steam locomotive to bring a passenger train into LAUPT. In 1941, along with other 4-8-4s, 3751 received major upgrades including: 80-inch drive wheels, a new frame, roller bearings all around, and more. That same year, it achieved its highest recorded speed at 103 mph. It continued to be a very reliable working locomotive until 1953, when it pulled the last regularly scheduled steam powered passenger train on the Santa Fe to run between Los Angeles and San Diego on August 25, this was its last run in revenue service. After that, it was stored at the Redondo Junction, California roundhouse in Los Angeles for four years before it was officially retired from the roster by the railroad in 1957, and in 1958 it was placed on display in San Bernardino.
Santa Fe 3751
1044116#8
The construction of the first 2-8-4 locomotive is documented in David Weitzman's book, Superpower: Making of a steam locomotive. David also explains some of the innovations it made at the time.
Lima Locomotive Works
16068756#27
The first RB standard gauge locomotive was an 0-6-0 built in the 1860s for the CF de l'Ouest. Several were in use until the end of the Second World War. There were also five 0-10-0T locomotives ex Saxony Railways class XI, built by Hartman between 1913 and 1918. In 1939, some 2-6-2T locomotives were acquired. They were in service until 1953. After the war, some 2-8-0 locomotives by Baldwin and Alco were acquired. In 1956, some 4-6-0 locomotive are acquired from the CF PO, and in 1958, some 2-8-2 locomotives by Fives-Lille are leased. These are used until the end of steam in 1971.
Réseau Breton
1587496#5
Jervis' first steam locomotive design was the "DeWitt Clinton" while working as chief engineer for the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad in 1831. The following year he built the first steam locomotive with a leading bogie, a four-wheel leading truck that guides the locomotive into curves. This 4-2-0 locomotive, which had two powered driving wheels on a rear axle underneath the locomotive's firebox, became known as the Jervis type. The Mohawk & Hudson Rail Road began operating the 4-2-0 in 1832.
John B. Jervis