T
he 2-8-0 or Consolidation-
type steam locomotive was
the most numerous pro-
duced for North American
railroads — more than
21,000 were made for major
common-carrier railroads,
not to mention short lines
and industrial railroads.
During the Civil War, America’s railroads
were largely agrarian, with small locomo-
tives, usually of the 4-4-0 American Stan-
dard wheel arrangement, hauling light loads
over hastily built track. Railroad builders
wanted to connect population centers and
industry and planned to make roadway im-
provements out of future profits. There were
lines in the mountains of the East that
served rudimentary coal and iron mining
areas, and some used a slightly larger loco-
motive that had ten wheels — the 4-6-0
wheel arrangement. There were eight-cou-
pled locomotives (0-8-0) used for extremely
heavy traffic. The 0-8-0 was inherently un-
stable at anything much faster than a brisk
trot, but speed was not a requirement for the
service for which these locomotives were
used. There were also locomotives with a
2-6-0 wheel arrangement, but the leading
wheel was often rigidly mounted in the
engine frame and didn’t provide much help
in stabilizing the locomotive.
Railroading of this era was primitive
and hazardous. Freight cars had wooden
underframes and were coupled together by
link-and-pin arrangements, and braking
was accomplished by having brakemen,
riding the tops of cars throughout the
trains, who would apply hand brakes on
whistle signal from the locomotive engi-
neer. A brakeman earned his money in
those days, riding the tops of rough-riding
cars in all kinds of weather.
Technology seemed to move at a slow
pace. Track and structures didn’t need to be
heavily built; neither did cars. There didn’t
seem to be any incentive to have larger
locomotives, so things just stagnated. But a
year after war’s end, in 1866, Baldwin built
a new type of heavy freight locomotive for
the newly formed Lehigh Valley Railroad,
located in the anthracite coal regions of
northeastern Pennsylvania. This locomo-
tive had eight-coupled driving wheels, but
incorporated a leading wheel in front of the
cylinders, which was connected with the
springing of the leading driving wheels,
using a long equalizer bar that was pivoted
beneath the cylinder saddle. This leading
wheel could move laterally under the front
end, and was arranged so that a certain
amount of lateral force was necessary to
move it from center. It automatically re-
turned to center once displaced. This lead-
ing wheel in its radial truck stabilized the
locomotive so that higher speeds were
possible. The firebox of this new locomotive
rested atop the frame between the rear
drivers; the smokebox of its large boiler was
attached to the cylinder saddle.
WHY WE CALL IT WHAT WE DO
The new locomotive was named the
Consolidation type because of its first use
on the Lehigh Valley, which had been
“consolidated” from smaller roads.
In one move, locomotive designers had
22 SEPTEMBER 2019
Heber Valley Railroad of Utah runs Union
Pacific 2-8-0 No. 618 on a photo special in
February 2010. This is a July 1907 Baldwin
product that is under rebuild. TRAINS: Jim Wrinn
