Ever since the Santa Fe Railway develop the 2-10-2 wheel arrangement (hence the Railroad's namesake) in 1903, the Southern Railway (SOU) began placing a new order of their own 2-10-2s; the Ss class were built with 57 in (1,448 mm) driving wheels, duplex stokers, 71,000 lb (32.2 tonnes) of tractive effort, and an operating boiler pressure of 190 psi (1.31 MPa).[1][2] The first batches of fifty-five locomotives (Nos. 5000-5054) were built in 1917 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[1] In 1918, the second batches of twenty-five 2-10-2s (Nos. 6350-6374) were built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) of Richmond, Virginia for SOU's Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific (CNO&TP) division, but were later renumbered to 5055-5079 when being moved to Southern's main division.[1]
These locomotives were designed to haul heavy freight trains, but were proven too slow to work on the Southern Railway's Washington, D.C. to Atlantamain line and too big for the CNO&TP tunnels' tight clearances.[1][3] However, the Ss locomotives were very efficient on handling the mountain grades in North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee.[3] Eventually, they were moved to Southern's Asheville and Knoxville divisions to bank and haul heavy freight trains, especially on Saluda Grade between Asheville, North Carolina and Spartanburg, South Carolina and the Old Fort Loops between Asheville and Salisbury, North Carolina in the Blue Ridge Mountains.[1][3]
To work on the Asheville division, the Ss locomotives were modified with two water gauges made longer for the engineer and fireman to safely measure the water level in the boiler while going up and down the railway grades.[2] Additionally, the Ss locomotives were equipped with a second air pump due to the excessive use of air brakes.[2] While they were used to bank the head end passenger trains, the Ss locomotives were given cab signals and steam brake connection; and the water pipes were added to cool down the driving wheels' tires while descending the mountains.[2]
By the late 1940s, the Southern Railway began to dieselize with the Ss steam locomotives' duties taken over by the EMD F7diesel locomotives.[3] All of the Ss steam locomotives were retired and scrapped by the early 1950s, with none surviving into preservation.[2]
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The Southern Railway Ss was a class of 2 10 2 Santa Fe type steam locomotives built in 1917 and 1918 for the Southern Railway SOU They were assigned to haul and bank heavy freight trains over the Saluda Grade and Old Fort Loops in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina Southern Railway Ss classSouthern Railway No 5016 constructed new in 1917Type and originReferences 1 Power typeSteamBuilderBaldwin Locomotive WorksALCO s Richmond WorksBuild date1917 1918Total produced80SpecificationsConfiguration Whyte2 10 2Gauge4 ft 8 1 2 in 1 435 mm standard gaugeLeading dia 33 in 838 mm Driver dia 57 in 1 448 mm Trailing dia 42 in 1 067 mm Wheelbase20 ft 7 in 6 274 m Length84 ft 3 5 in 25 69 m Loco weight378 000 lb 171 000 kg Tender weight176 000 lb 80 000 kg Tender type2 axle bogieFuel typeCoalFuel capacity16 t 16 long tons 18 short tons formerly 12 t 12 long tons 13 short tons Water cap 9 000 US gal 34 000 L 7 500 imp gal Firebox Grate area88 sq ft 8 2 m2 Boiler pressure200 psi 1 38 MPa formerly 190 psi 1 31 MPa Feedwater heaterWorthington added in the 1940s CylindersTwo outsideCylinder size28 in 32 in 711 mm 813 mm Valve gearSouthernValve type14 inch 356 mm piston valvesPerformance figuresTractive effort74 000 lbf 329 2 kN formerly 71 000 lbf 315 8 kN CareerOperatorsSouthern RailwayCincinnati New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway 1918 only ClassSsNumbersSOU No 5000 5054CNO amp TP No 6350 6374 SOU No 5055 5079Withdrawn1951 1952DispositionAll scrapped Contents 1 History 2 See also 3 References 4 Bibliography 5 Further reading 6 External linksHistory editEver since the Santa Fe Railway develop the 2 10 2 wheel arrangement hence the Railroad s namesake in 1903 the Southern Railway SOU began placing a new order of their own 2 10 2s the Ss class were built with 57 in 1 448 mm driving wheels duplex stokers 71 000 lb 32 2 tonnes of tractive effort and an operating boiler pressure of 190 psi 1 31 MPa 1 2 The first batches of fifty five locomotives Nos 5000 5054 were built in 1917 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia Pennsylvania 1 In 1918 the second batches of twenty five 2 10 2s Nos 6350 6374 were built by the American Locomotive Company ALCO of Richmond Virginia for SOU s Cincinnati New Orleans and Texas Pacific CNO amp TP division but were later renumbered to 5055 5079 when being moved to Southern s main division 1 These locomotives were designed to haul heavy freight trains but were proven too slow to work on the Southern Railway s Washington D C to Atlanta main line and too big for the CNO amp TP tunnels tight clearances 1 3 However the Ss locomotives were very efficient on handling the mountain grades in North and South Carolina Georgia and Tennessee 3 Eventually they were moved to Southern s Asheville and Knoxville divisions to bank and haul heavy freight trains especially on Saluda Grade between Asheville North Carolina and Spartanburg South Carolina and the Old Fort Loops between Asheville and Salisbury North Carolina in the Blue Ridge Mountains 1 3 To work on the Asheville division the Ss locomotives were modified with two water gauges made longer for the engineer and fireman to safely measure the water level in the boiler while going up and down the railway grades 2 Additionally the Ss locomotives were equipped with a second air pump due to the excessive use of air brakes 2 While they were used to bank the head end passenger trains the Ss locomotives were given cab signals and steam brake connection and the water pipes were added to cool down the driving wheels tires while descending the mountains 2 By the late 1940s the Southern Railway began to dieselize with the Ss steam locomotives duties taken over by the EMD F7 diesel locomotives 3 All of the Ss steam locomotives were retired and scrapped by the early 1950s with none surviving into preservation 2 See also edit nbsp Trains portal USRA Light Santa FeReferences edit a b c d e f Prince 1970 pp 122 124 a b c d e Clodfelter Frank November 1984 Saluda PDF Trains Kalmbach Publishing p 33 Retrieved June 14 2022 a b c d Tillotson Jr 2000 p 24 Bibliography editPrince Richard E 1970 Steam Locomotives and Boats Southern Railway System 2nd ed Wheelwright Lithographing Company ISBN 0 9600088 4 5 Tillotson Jr Curt 2000 Classic Steam Trains of the South 1st ed TLC Publishing ISBN 1 883089 55 7 Further reading editSchafer Bill ed 2019 First Quarter 2019 TIES Vol 33 no 1 White River Productions Tillotson Jr Curt 2005 Southern Railway Steam Trains Volume 2 Freight 1st ed TLC Publishing ISBN 0 9766201 5 4 External links editSouthern 2 10 2 Santa Fe Locomotives in the USA Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Southern Railway Ss class amp oldid 1151751928, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
