Classic Trains – September 2019

32 CLASSIC TRAINS FALL 2019

More Northerns

for the Rock

Rock Island 4-8-4 No. 5105 looks to have an eastbound reefer block well in hand near Lawrence, Kans., in February 1951. Robert Olmsted

IT MIGHT SURPRISE SOME TO

KNOW that the top U.S. 4-8-4 owner was

the Rock Island, with 85 class R-67B en-

gines built by Alco between 1929 and ’46.

The Rock’s original Northerns were big,

but they got bigger when the WPB al-

lowed the road to order 10 more in 1944.

These boasted a larger boiler capacity

than their sisters, with a grate area of 96.3

square feet, three Nicholson syphons in

the firebox and one in the combustion

chamber, boiler pressure of 270 psi, and

67,000 pounds of tractive force. Throw in

one-piece cast-steel frames, lateral-mo-

tion devices on the front driver axle, roll-

er bearings on all axles, and 74-inch Box-

pok drivers, and you have engines that

were nearly state of the art. The oil-burn-

ers spent most of their careers on the

Kansas City–Tucumcari district. They of-

ten worked in passenger service, hauling

troop trains as well as the Golden State

Limited and Californian. In 1945, the Rock

ordered 10 more it probably didn’t need.

Chicago, Rock Island &

Pacific R- 67 B 4-8-4