Class 1 / F (Locobase 11848)
Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University, Volume 13, p 76. See also "Consolidation Locomotive for the Norfolk & Western Railroad", Railroad Gazette, Volume 17, (15 May 1885), pp. 305-308. Baldwin works numbers were 8031, 8035, 8037, 8040, 8043 in July 1886; 8442-8443, 8455-8456, 8459 in March 1887; 8467 in April; 8578-8579, 8582-8583 in May; 8607-8608 in June.
A couple of points to notice about this relatively large batch of Consolidations: at the grate level, the firebox is wider than the frame. In this period, most locomotives retained the deep firebox between the frames, which meant an average width of 33-34 inches. This firebox measured 42" across, which meant it had to sit above the drivers, not between them. [Later N & W documents would describe the firebox as "narrow".] Also, the safety valves were sealed and set at 140 psi, a little higher than the usual as well.
Most of the class was retired in the mid-teens.
Class 2 / F (Locobase 12917)
Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Volume 28, p. 235. See also "Virginia-Carolina Railroad (Virginia Creeper)" on the Virginia Places website at [
], last accessed 10 November 2022. Works number was 27417 in February 1906 and 33025 in November 1908.
The V-CRwy covered 78 miles in Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina. It acquired the nickname of the "Virginia Creeper", a cheeky reference to low average speeds.(The two small Baldwin Consolidations had the drivers to haul, but not fly.) . Virginia Places's account explains: " The curves, steep 7% grade, and 108 bridges required trains to move slowly over the 77 miles of track."
Originally organized to exploit iron reserves, the railway would profit most from timber cutting (as well as copper ore to a lesser extent) and would acquire small branches like the Virginiia-Carolina & Southern to support that line of business. The railroad crept along into the 1960s.
Class B (Locobase 3197)
Data from 1929 Norfolk & Western locomotive diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. (McShane (1899) also has details on this class, but does not include the boiler pressure.) See also DeGolyer , Volume 21, p. 139 and Volume 22, p. 291; and "Baldwin Two-Cylinder Compound Locomotive; Norfolk & Western Ry.", Engineering News , Volume XXXIX [39], No 24 (16 June 1898), pp. 387-388 Works numbers were 15746-15748 in February 1898, 15773-15775 in March, 16215 in September, and 17593-17594 in March 1900.
The Baldwin specifications sheet had some exacting requirements for this set of cross-compounds: "Guaranteed to develop tractive power up to the limit of adhesion while working at full stroke on 2.2% grade and to render thoroughly satisfactory service. Working of intercepting valve [to admit live steam to the LP cylinder when needed] guaranteed to be entirely satisfactory and to be protected against any royalties therefor."
According to [] (visited April 2003), this class was later simpled to two 21" x 32" (533 x 813 mm) cylinders and given piston valves.
Except for 62, which was scrapped in October 1933, all were were scrapped in July 1934.
Class G (Locobase 3137)
Data from N & W 12 - 1929locomotive diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange.See also R P C Sanderson, Division Superintendent, Norfolk & Western Railway, "Contributions--The Illinois Central Belpaire Boiler", (4 December 1891), p. 851; and DeGolyer, Volume 20, p. 109.. Baldwin's works numbers were 11581, 11583, 11587, 11607, 11609-11613, 11646 in February 1891; 12132-12137, 12140, 12144, 12147, 12158, 12160 in August 1891.
This very large class of Consolidations first entered N & W service when Rogers delivered the first batch in January of 1889. Richmond and Baldwin also supplied Gs over the next few years, the last arriving in 1896. All were fitted with Belpaire fireboxes.
R P C Sanderson's critque of the staying in an Illinois Central Belpaire boiler included a somewhat unrelated comment on the value of large-diameter tubes such as was found in these Gs, which entered service at about the same time. Sanderson preferred larger ones than the 2" ones used in the IC engine. "Experience has shown us ...that even for a coal that is not noted for smoke or long flame, better results [come from] sacrificing some of the heating surface in the tubes and using 2 1/4" or 2 1/2" flues."
Why does this matter? "The flame is then not extinguished in the flue, as is the case with 2" flues, and the gases are burned in the flues instead of passing in a choked-out condition into the smokebox, losing a considerable portion of their heating efficiency."
Locobase wondered if the N&W walked Sanderson's talk. So he sampled his 42 entries and found that virtually all had the larger tubes. These included all of the most famous classes such as the Big Three Y class 2-8-8-2s, A class 2-6-6-4s, and J class 4-8-4s.
Class I (Locobase 16463)
Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engine as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Volume 12, p. 6; and Joseph H Sands, "Tests of Pocahontas and Cumberland Coals by Shenandoah Valley RR", The Virginias: A Mining, Industrial & Scientific Journal ..., Volume 5, No 5 (May 1884), pp. 88-89. Works numbers were 7059, 7061, 7054, 7071, 7096, 7278, 7285, 7291, and 7295.
The SVRR wanted to test two sources of coal. Sands commented on each beginning with the Pocahontas coal, which offered several positive values. It made a "very bright hot fire", "co*kes on the grate even when slack is used", and "but a small proportion is carried off the grate by the draught." So the fireman wasn't kept too busy.
"The trains never stalled for want of steam on the heaviest grades,", Sands added, "and the engines throw much less fire than with the B&O coal." Even on the heaviest grades with the injectors kept full on, steam pressure would not fail ...[it] could be kept at blowing off point when the engines were working their hardest particular difficulty."
B&O Hampshire coal, on the other hand, always had "a dull lurid appearance. It "burns into holes and requires constant hooking and leveling." Moreover, "the dust coal seemed to fly right off the shovel and out through the stack." A light fire set the coal "dancing on the grate, and would not co*ke as the Pocahontas coal did." All of the test engines "threw more fire ...and the front ends would generally be packed full of sparks at the end of the trip."
Results were the inverse of Pocahontas coal. Trains "frequently stalled for want of steam on the grades." So weak was the coal's heating power, the engineer had to stop on grades " to fill up the boiler and geet up the steam pressure."
Class W/W1 (Locobase 12314)
Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University, Volume 22, p. 20. (Thanks to Chris Hohl for his 4 December 2017 email noting the tender's coal capacity, later increase in water capacity, and an error in the builders field.) The class was divided between two builders. Baldwin supplied 800-829 and 845-854 (works numbers were 16350-16359 in November 1898, 16590-16594 in March 1899, 16673-16677 in April, 16771-16774 in May, 16823-16824, 16856-16859 in June.) Richmond supplied 855-864 (works number 3214-3223 and 870-879 (works number 3293-3302) in 1901. The N&W's own shops in Roanoke produced thd 830-844 (Works numbers were 153-167 in 1900-1901.)
All of this class of Consolidations were rebuilt as W1s. In the 1920s, the following engines were recast as 0-8-0T tank-engine switchers: 800, 802, 804, 806, 809, 821, 825. By then tender water capacity had increased to 5,000 US gallons (18,925 litres).
Most of the rest were scrapped in the late 1920s, but several enjoyed second careers on other Southern roads. 847 was sold in March 1924 to the Blackwood Coal & co*ke Company. 808 was sold in July 1925 to the High Point, Thomasville & Denton. Martin Iron & Steel Company bought the 814 in October 1926, the same month the 847 joined the Norton & Northern -- a shortline operating in Virginia's Yellow Creek Valley and connecting Norton to Wise -- and 849 went to HM Waugh. In August 1927, the N & W sold the 828 to the East Tennessee & Western North Carolina.
812 and 849 went to the Chesapeake Western as their #108 and 107 through dealer H M Waugh in 1929.
Class W2 (Locobase 7823)
Data from N & W 3-1955 locomotive diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. See also Angus Sinclair, Railway & Locomotive Engineer, May 1902, pp. 195-196. Baldwin works numbers for its share:
1902
August 20818-20819, 20845-20847, 20884-20886
September 20934-20935, 20951-20953
October 21060-21061
1903
February 21622-21623, 21683, 21704
April 22059, 22061
June 22305, 22314, 22338, 22341, 22343, 22356, 22374
August 22652, 22654, 22693, 22696, 22700, 22734, 22744, 22756
September 22787, 22790, 22803, 22827
November 23151-23152, 23192-23193, 23226, 23232, 23267-23268, 23278. 23283
December 23311-23312, 23330-23331, 23370, 23390, 23414, 23419, 23441
1904
January 23504
March 23908, 23999
June 24383, 24387. 24400, 24408-24409, 24423
July 24498
1905
July 25968, 25983, 25984, 26010, 26028, 26031, 26048, 26054, 26090
September 26507-26508
October 26562, 26604
November 26759-26760, 26846, 26856, 26899
Alco's Cooke and Richmond works, Baldwin, and the N&W's own modern facility at Roanoke contributed to this large class of Consolidations. They were quite representative of turn-of -the-century locomotives - saturated boiler, piston valves, long stroke, and a wide firebox.
R & LE reported that "These engines have given excellent service, and are good steamers ...They will pull 1,100 tons up a 61-ft foot grade (1.2%) with moderate curvature."
Most of the class remained essentially unchanged throughout their long careers. Their tenders grew to hold 9,000 US gallons of water and 14 tons of coal. Scrapping began in the 1920s and had encompassed most of the class by the middle 1930s, but a few persisted until the 1950s.
NB: The Baldwin Specification book Volume 27, pp. 210-211 and Volume 28 show orders for road numbers 722-728, 708-714, 948-949, 673-681 with smaller boilers. By reducing the tube count by 60 to 213, the tube heating surface dropped to 1,694 sq ft and total evaporative heating surface down to 1,824 sq ft. None of the later N & W books of diagrams or classification (1912, 1929, e.g.) show any such subclass.)
