22 CLASSIC TRAINS FALL 2019
An engine with
everything
Baltimore & Ohio EM-1 2-8-8-4
BALTIMORE & OHIO WANTED DIESELS to meet its
wartime challenges, but the WPB sent the railroad in the di-
rection of the EM-1 2-8-8-4. B&O ordered 20 from Baldwin
in 1944 and 10 more in 1945. The EM-1 was by far the larg-
est locomotive on the B&O, although its total engine weight
of 628,700 pounds made it the lightest of all 2-8-8-4s by a
good margin. Matched with 16 64-inch drivers, the boiler
could produce 115,000 pounds of tractive force. Nothingbigger would have fit B&O’s tight clearances. They were also
technically advanced, with roller bearings on all axles — en-
gine and tender — plus lateral-motion devices on the front
pairs of both sets of drivers and the front wheels of the trail-
ing truck, leading B&O President Roy B. White to remark at
one point, “Well, I must say, they have everything!” The
EM-1s ruled the Cumberland Division before diesels pushed
them into running coal to Fairport Harbor on Lake Erie.EM-1 No. 7619, last of the 1944-built 2-8-8-4s, works west up Sand Patch Grade near Fairhope, Pa., in October 1955. William P. Price