wide fireboxes; the Camelback configura-
tion naturally limited communication
between engineer and fireman. The 2-8-0
wheel arrangement was seen as optimal,
and D&H strengthened bridges and track
structure to accommodate ever-heavier
Consolidations. Class E-5 engines were
57-inch-drivered machines, weighing al-
most 131 tons. The E-6 class made its debut
in 1916; it was a single-cab design weighing
296,000 pounds with 63-inch drivers. None
of the USRA standard locomotive designs
appeared on the D&H because of the ne-
cessity for D&H engines to have wide fire-
boxes to burn anthracite coal. Instead, the
2-8-0 held sway. The railroad was continu-
ally rebuilding and modernizing them with
superheaters, piston valves, Walschaerts
valve gear, tender truck boosters, even pop-
pet valves and roller bearings. Appearances
changed greatly — piping was concealed
beneath boiler jackets and headlights
were recessed into the smokeboxes. E-6a
No. 1219 bore the distinction of having
America’s first welded boiler.
D&H President L.F. Loree continually
pressed for greater efficiency, and between
1924 and 1933, three high-pressure 2-8-0s
were produced using water-tube fireboxes.
These were cross-compound locomotives;
the first used a boiler pressure of 350
pounds, the other two 400 and 500 pounds,
respectively. Special lubricants had to be
used due to the high temperature of the
steam. Cross-compound locomotives had
been tried earlier in the 20th century and
had been found unsatisfactory because it
was impossible to obtain equal work from
the two sides of the locomotive, resulting in
a racking of the machinery. A fourth Loree
machine is of interest — a high-pressure,
four-cylinder, triple-expansion 4-8-0. It
had a high-pressure cylinder on one side
and an intermediate pressure on the other
side under the firebox, and two low-pres-
sure cylinders in the conventional location.
All cylinders drove just two crankpins on
the main drivers.
Of the more than 21,000 Consolidations
built for use in North America, the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad in 1924 had 3,335. The rail-
road started with its own 20-inch-by-24-
inch 2-8-0s in 1875 (its class I, later H3) and,
like everywhere else, got larger as time went
on. The late 1890s saw the advent of a class
H6 engine, which, in various subclasses,
eventually numbered almost 2,000 locomo-
tives. The H6 used cylinders of 22-inch bore
and 28-inch stroke and PRR’s standard
205-pound boiler pressure. H6 subclasses
included engines with the Belpaire firebox
in both narrow and wide configurations, su-
perheaters, and piston-valve cylinders with
Walschaerts valve gear. The year 1907 saw
the advent of a barrel-chested 2-8-0 with
more than 55 square feet of grate area, 24-
inch cylinders with 28-inch stroke riding on
62-inch drivers. This H8 engine would un-
dergo several modifications including addi-
tion of superheaters. It paved the way for an
H9-class engine with 25-inch cylinders and
the top-of-the-line H10 class with 26-inch
cylinders, developing a starting drawbar pull
of more than 53,000 pounds.
Some other Consolidations of note:- The steam-era Western Maryland was
perhaps best known for fearsome-looking
plow pilots, immaculate Pacifics hauling
modest passenger trains, low-drivered
4-8-4s (called “Po-
tomacs” on WM),
brutish Baldwin
Challengers, and
impossibly burly
Decapods rivalling
Pennsy’s I1 class, all
with fireball emblems on their tenders. But
WM reached into crooked coal mining
country with steep grades and guard-rail
curves that demanded more compact power.
Several classes of 2-8-0s were put in service,
culminating in 50 class H-9 engines built by
Baldwin in 1921 and 1923. These engines
had cylinders of 27-inch bore and 32-inch
stroke (the same dimensions as the USRA
heavy Mikado and light 2-10-2), rode on 61-
inch drivers, weighed 286,600 pounds, and
developed a starting tractive effort of 71,500
pounds, more than a USRA light 2-10-2.
Being used on WM’s steep grades, H-9s
801-850 sported two cross-compound air
pumps under their left running boards.
They were used in multiples on coal trains
out of Elkins, W.Va.- Little Lehigh & Hudson River obtained
six monstrous Consolidations in 1925-1927
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