Baldwin 2-8-0 : how much did it pull& what was it used for?

[Anonymous]

what would a 2-8-0 be used for- i've got a model of one and don't know what to use it for. i was thinking of pulling 3 1970s pass. cars (i know it's not realistic but oh well) also how many freight cars might a real one pull ,thanks in advance.

[Anonymous]

The Consolidation was the Geep of its rail road career. Generally small diameter drivers gave it good muscle to lug small freights and mixed trains over the main and branch lines, possibly 15 to 20 cars depending on the topography, although in modeling terms probably 5 to 8 car trains is more likely. The 1970 passenger cars would be a promotional/fan triptype of application, since most of these steam locomotives would have been scrapped in the early to mid 50's and replaced by switchers and road switchers like the Alco RS and the EMD Geeps.
Will

[Anonymous]

Some of those 1970s passenger cars may have originated in the steam era, and may have been part of a mixed train, running on a branch, quite possibly pulled by a 2-8-0. Some variants of the 2-8-0 became quite powerful, matching the pulling power of larger engines like 2-8-2 and so on.

By the 1970s (your era??) they would have been scrapped or relegated to excursion service, which was actually quite popular.

Andrew

[Anonymous]

i model present day BNSF but i have one steamer(go fiqure) the pass. cars are amtrak 65' - i was thinking an excursion pulled by a 2-8-0 as you said masonjar, thanks

[TomDiehl]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dingoix

i model present day BNSF but i have one steamer(go fiqure) the pass. cars are amtrak 85' - i was thinking an excursion pulled by a 2-8-0 as you said masonjar, thanks

Maybe on your model, the BNSF has a historic fleet, like the UP.

It's YOUR railroad.

[Anonymous]

i agree 100% with you Tom , maybe my rr has a historical fleet ,heck maybe i'll add a Santa Fe F7 to pull the pass. trains also.

[route_rock]

I would bid on that job!!!!! Give us the SP&S 700 the 3751 and get the CB&Q 3006 up to snuff out of Galesburg and I will show Steve Lee a thing or two! (actually Steve would still show me a thing or two but hey it pays to be confident) I honestly think if the 5632 would have been kept the BN would have had a steam program to rival the UP.

[tstage]

The 2-8-0 was a passenger locomotive because it had larger drivers. I guess if you are going to be unprototypical using it to run Amtrak cars, you can use it to run freight.

Tom

[Anonymous]

while i'm at it why don't i just use the 2-8-0 and AC4400(modern diesel) and pull an intermodal train[(-D]-- seriously though the 2-8-0 will pull excursion trains -but i've though about pulling freights[xx(]

[Anonymous]

The 2-8-0 is and was a popular excursion locomotive becuase there are still quite a few out there. Grand Canyon uses two 2-8-0s and sometimes will doublehead them on a train. Tennessee Valley Railway Museum uses ex-Army 2-8-0 610 with about a 4 or 5 car train and is currently restoring Southern 630 (yet another 2-8-0) for use on their passenger excursions. Smokey Mountain Railway currently uses ex-Army and ex-Reader 2-8-0 (cannot remember the number) and is currently restoring ANOTHER Southern 2-8-0 number 722. Both Southern 722 and 630 were used in Southern's excursion program during the 70's and ran quite alot on the mainline.

Maybe your 2-8-0 can belong to a local museum that has trackage rights on your BNSF main. Then you can paint or decal your passenger cars for Burlington or Santa Fe (which ever matches your loco) or maybe your museum volunteers don't come out much so you can weather your Amtrak cars to look old and rusty (seen that plenty of times on museum trains). As for pulling freight... that's done often for photographer's specials but, it is usually done with equipment tha would match the locomotive's era. You MIGHT be able to pull of using the 2-8-0 pulling freight from today for reasons such as ferry moves or lack of diesels to pull the train.

One very important thing to note is that the engine has small drivers. This means you will need to keep the speed a little lower than your normal mainline speed as the engines were lucky to do 40mph in regular service.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Overdurff

The Consolidation was the Geep of its rail road career. Generally small diameter drivers gave it good muscle to lug small freights and mixed trains over the main and branch lines, possibly 15 to 20 cars depending on the topography, although in modeling terms probably 5 to 8 car trains is more likely. The 1970 passenger cars would be a promotional/fan triptype of application, since most of these steam locomotives would have been scrapped in the early to mid 50's and replaced by switchers and road switchers like the Alco RS and the EMD Geeps.
Will

The Illinois Central used the 2-8-0 's on branch line runs and I have watched them work trains of forty or more cars as a regular assignment in that service. The great thing about the consolidations was the fact they cold be used for almost any service. The PRR used to have two H10's at Effingham just for protection power to and from St Louis. This was up until 1950, but they were actually used as protection power for passenger trains at that time. It would have been a slow ride compared to the T1 or K4's that might need the protection power, but the consolidations were for that purpose.

On page 48 of the Pennsy Power book, there is a picture of an H8b with 100 loaded coal cars from altoona to Enola yards (127 miles) at an average spped of 12mph. These little engines were very capable since most of their weight was on the drivers and the driver size was very small. Speed was not a major factor in the early days of railroading and they were used for many years in secondary service.

.

[Anonymous]

my 2-8-0 is Union Pacific[xx(] but I thought about putting the BNSF logo on the tender
I saw a TV show on the Grand Canyon Railway. Their smaller 2-8-0 #18 could pull 6 of the heavyweight coaches up the 3.4% grade. The 2-8-0's top speed was around 40 m.p.h. The fast passenger locomotive was the 2-8-2. Grand Canyon's 2-8-2 #4960 (former Burlington excursion engine) is capable of speeds in excesss of 70 m.p.h.

[Anonymous]

i should mention the Canyon's #18 was designed to run at 25 m.p.h. for the L S & I -and when the Canyon rebuilt it they designed it to run at 40 m.p.h.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dingoix

but I thought about putting the BNSF logo on the tender

[:O] BLASPHAMY! My teeth are cringing just thinking of this. Somewhere.... Steve Lee is crying

[Anonymous]

i'm not gonna put that on the tender ... yet[}:)]

[route_rock]

Aww let him cry giggles. Better yet do the Powerbar logo that would be hillllllllarious! the joy of model railroading is the fact its your layout. I know Union museum has a 2-8-0 UP working jsut say its beingused for employee excursions or something.Or put on the BNSF logo ;)

[WSOR 3801]

The Crab Orchard & Egyptian (COER) was a short line in Illinois. They used a 2-8-0 in freight service into the late 1970s, after giving up on the tourist trade. There was an article in Sept. 1980 Trains mag. about it.

I've pulled 75 MDC ore cars on the flat with my Spectrum 2-8-0. Around the club layout I usually figure 15 cars is enough for one, 25-30 for two.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Better yet do the Powerbar logo

of course i'd put the powerbar on it, but i could put "illinois central" on it too or "grand canyon"- anything but stUPid

[tomikawaTT]

The former LS&I consolidations on the Grand Canyon Railroad can't handle the normal train tonnage unassisted, so they are doubleheaded with F-7B units painted the same scheme as the passenger consist. The Clinchfield did the same thing when they were in the excursion business some years ago.

Interesting bit of in-cab detail for a model steamer - the 'kitbashed' control stand for those diseisel (with apologies to the creator of Thomas) helpers.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: they are doubleheaded with F-7B units

GCRy. doesn't have F-units- they're ALCO FPA-4's and FPB-4's.

[David_Telesha]

QUOTE: The 2-8-0 was a passenger locomotive because it had larger drivers. I guess if you are going to be unprototypical using it to run Amtrak cars, you can use it to run freight.

Tom

That is misinformation.

2-8-0's had small drivers and were mostly freight engines.

On the NH they were F-5 class, and were used in local freight.

[fishplate]

Go ahead and use it for freight. If any body wonders why, just explain it as a test run
after a major over haul.[swg]

[M636C]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jcmark611

QUOTE: Originally posted by dingoix

but I thought about putting the BNSF logo on the tender

[:O] BLASPHEMY! My teeth are cringing just thinking of this. Somewhere.... Steve Lee is crying

The GS-4 4449 was painted black with the old "cross and circle" BN&SF logo (Yes there is an "and", check it out) some years ago to run "Employee Specials".

If it is good enough for them, it is good enough for you!

There is a prototype for almost anything if you look.

M636C

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Go ahead and use it for freight. If any body wonders why, just explain it as a test run after a major over haul[swg]

Good idea. I'd like to see how much it can pull anyway.

[tomikawaTT]

If your 2-8-0 has to be ferried from place to place in steam (alive, not dead with disconnected main rods), it can haul whatever needs moving.

I've seen a photo of UP's Challenger hauling double-stacks through Wyoming, solo, no diesels.

[Anonymous]

cool. A steamer hauling a double-stack. I guess it would make sense: a load needs to be moved and there is an engine that need to be moved to the same place.

[wjstix]

Couple quick comments:

As far as I know all North American 2-8-0's were designed to be freight engines, but some were used on occassion for passenger service - the Duluth Winnipeg and Pacific (CN) used 2-8-0's sometimes on their passenger trains in northern MN, I'm sure they worked well as there would be many grades that a lower-drivered engine could handle easily.

As far as I know, there never has been a year (at least thru the end of the 20th century) where there wasn't at least a tiny amount of freight moved by steam. UP often hooks freight cars up to their 4-8-4 or 4-6-6-4 & train when moving it to or from Cheyenne for a fantrip. So using your 2-8-0 on freight - although uncommon - is plausible.

Before I lettered it for BNSF I would maybe consider saying that BNSF or a local historical society bought it and restored to it's original livery for a predessor railroad like the Burlington or Northern Pacific. The Burlington (CB&Q) did run steam fantrips until about 1966.

[Anonymous]

It's going to be lettered for IC (if Bachmann ever sends it back)

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: The 2-8-0 was a passenger locomotive because it had larger drivers. I guess if you are going to be unprototypical using it to run Amtrak cars, you can use it to run freight.

Nope. 2-8-0's had small drivers and were normally freight engines. But they were used in passenger service from time to time.

[nobullchitbids]

Well, that depends on the era you are modeling:

Consolidations originally were purchased, most around the turn of the century, for general purpose, replacing smaller engines with lower speeds and less pulling potential. However, like most locomotives made during this time, 2-8-0s had a portion of the firebox slung between the rear drivers, and that limits the firebox size. With firebox size limited thus, steaming potential also is limited, and that really is why railroads went to locomotives with trailing trucks -- a Consolidation might make 40 mph for a short period of time, but 20-25 mph was much more like it, and in freight service maybe 15-20 mph..

Consolidations did haul passenger -- and still do. Anyone who has been to Essex, Connecticut, knows that. For a short time, they also were the premier freight hauler. Eventually, they became relegated to local, transfer, and special service, e.g. fire trains, or switching. They were rugged, reliable, easy to fix and (because of their short length) easy to store. U.P. had 2-8-0s in service almost to the end of steam (in 1962).

At least one Harriman 2-8-0 still works for a living, on the Heber Valley Railroad in Utah. Want my advice? If your 2-8-0 really is a U.P. Harriman (United or Sunset brass import), make up a tourist railroad, get it some vintage passenger cars (Athearn, Walthers), add a flat car with bench seats (for those riders willing to risk cinders), and you are in business.

But, don't insult us by lettering a Harriman for Santa Fe!