USRA 0-6-0

USRA 0-6-0
New York Central (Chicago Junction) 221
Type and origin Power type Steam Builder ALCO Build date 1918–1919 (originals) Total produced 255 originals plus copies
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 0-6-0  • UIC C h2 Gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge Driver dia. 51 in (1,295 mm) Wheelbase Locomotive: 11 ft 0 in (3.35 m) Loco & tender: 48 ft 10+1⁄2 in (14.90 m) Length 62 ft 10 in (19.15 m) including tender Width 10 ft 0 in (3.05 m) Height 14 ft 0+1⁄2 in (4.28 m) Axle load 55,000 lb (25,000 kg) Adhesive weight 165,000 lb (75,000 kg) Loco weight 165,000 lb (75,000 kg) Tender weight 144,000 lb (65,000 kg) Total weight 309,000 lb (140,000 kg) Fuel type Coal Fuel capacity 32,000 lb (15,000 kg) Water cap. 8,000 US gal (30,000 L; 6,700 imp gal) Firebox: ​  • Grate area 33 sq ft (3.07 m2) Boiler pressure 190 psi (1.31 MPa) Heating surface: ​  • Firebox 138 sq ft (12.8 m2)  • Tubes 1,233 sq ft (114.5 m2)  • Flues 515 sq ft (47.8 m2)  • Total surface 1,886 sq ft (175.2 m2) Superheater: ​  • Heating area 442 sq ft (41.1 m2) Cylinders Two Cylinder size 21 in × 28 in (533 mm × 711 mm) Valve type 10-inch (250 mm) piston valves
Performance figures Tractive effort 39,100 lbf (173.9 kN) Factor of adh. 4.22
Career Disposition All original locomotives scrapped, three copies and two derivatives preserved.

The USRA 0-6-0 was a USRA standard class of steam locomotive designed under the control of the United States Railroad Administration, the nationalized railroad system in the United States during World War I. This was the standard light switcher locomotive of the USRA types, and was of 0-6-0 wheel arrangement in the Whyte notation, or "C" in UIC classification.

A total of 255 locomotives were built under USRA control; these were sent to the following railroads:

Table of original USRA allocation

Railroad	Quantity	Class	Road numbers	Notes
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad	10	E-9-S	1136–1145
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad	40	D-30	350–389
Central Railroad of New Jersey	10	B6s	101–110
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad	10	G-5	500–509	Also 15 copies
Chicago Great Western Railway	5	B-6	480–484
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad	10	S-33	275–284
Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway	8		75-82
Chicago and North Western Railway	35	M-3	2601–2635
Grand Trunk Railway	5	F11	801–805	to GTW 1824–1828, renumbered 7527–7531, Canadian National class O-19-a
Grand Trunk Western Railroad	5	F11	1744–1748	Renumbered 7522–7526, Canadian National class O-19-a
Maine Central Railroad	2	K	175–176
Mobile and Ohio Railroad	10	40	40–49	Also 13 copies
New York Central Railroad subsidiary Chicago Junction	14	B-62	221–234
Pennsylvania Railroad	30	B28s	Random between 7007 and 9405
Pittsburgh and West Virginia Railway	2		20-21
Seaboard Air Line Railroad	10	F-5	1090–1099
St. Louis - San Francisco Railway	7	3800	3800–3806
Texas and Pacific Railway	14	B-8	457–470
Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis	10		157-166
Union Pacific Railroad	10	S-Spl	4451-4460
Union Pacific subsidiary Oregon Short Line Railroad	5	S-Spl	4753–4757
Washington Terminal Company	3		32-34
Total	255

After the dissolution of the USRA, the Atlantic Coast Line, Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway, Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad and Texas and Pacific Railway ordered additional copies of the USRA 0-6-0 design, while the Missouri Pacific Railroad and the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway ordered only copies.

Preservation

As of 2022, three USRA 0-6-0 copies are known to be preserved. Two are from the Wheeling and Lake Erie: 3960, which is awaiting a cosmetic restoration at the Age of Steam Roundhouse in Sugarcreek, Ohio, and 3984, which is undergoing an operational restoration at the Lorain and West Virginia Railway in Wellington, Ohio, and it is currently known as Nickel Plate Road 384. The third is 63, built by Alco in 1940 for the Alabama State Docks Commission. It has been on public display at the Kokosing Gap Trail in Mount Vernon, Ohio since 2002. 63 is currently in the best cosmetic shape of the three, but unfortunately, there are no plans to further restore it or make it operational.

There are also two operational 0-6-0s at Heritage Park in Calgary, Alberta, that are indirectly based on the USRA design. Although now known as Canadian Pacific 2023 and 2024, they were never actually owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway. They were built for the US Army in 1942 and 1944, intended for use overseas during World War II, and after the war, they were sold off as surplus and served as terminal switchers in Vancouver, British Columbia until 1965. Because they were intended for military service, they have several visible design changes from the other USRA copies. These changes include a shorter smokestack, a cowcatcher (standard USRA 0-6-0s had footboard pilots), a front-mounted air pump, and a much smaller (and vertically offset) smokebox door, among other minor differences.

References

• Barris, Wes (21 May 2005). "USRA Locomotives". SteamLocomotive.com. Retrieved 2006-01-17.
• Drury, George H. (1993), Guide to North American Steam Locomotives, Waukesha, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing Company, ISBN 0-89024-206-2, LCCN 93041472
• Edson, William D.; Corley, Raymond F. (Autumn 1982). "Locomotives of the Grand Trunk Railway". Railroad History. 147 (147). Boston, Mass.: Railway and Locomotive Historical Society: 42–183. JSTOR 43520915.
• Westcott, Linn H. (1960). Model Railroader Cyclopedia - Volume 1: Steam Locomotives. Kalmbach Books. ISBN 0-89024-001-9.
• Railroad Master Mechanics' Association (1922). Locomotive Cyclopedia of American Practice (6th ed.). Simmons-Boardman.