USRA Heavy Pacific

The USRA Heavy Pacific 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 heavy passenger locomotive of the USRA types, and was 4-6-2 wheel arrangement in the Whyte notation, or 2′C1′ in UIC classification.

USRA Heavy Pacific
Type and origin Power type Steam Builder American Locomotive Company (10+0) Baldwin Locomotive Works (10+11) Lima Locomotive Works (0+6) Total produced Originals: 20 Copies: 17
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 4-6-2  • UIC 2′C1′ h2 Gauge 4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) Driver dia. 79 in (2,007 mm) Wheelbase Coupled: 14 ft 0 in (4.27 m) Locomotive: 36 ft 2 in (11.02 m) Loco & tender: 70 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in (21.55 m) Axle load 60,000 lb (27,000 kg) Adhesive weight 180,000 lb (82,000 kg) Loco weight 300,000 lb (140,000 kg) Tender weight 144,000 lb (65,000 kg) Total weight 444,000 lb (201,000 kg) Fuel capacity Coal Water cap 8,000 US gal (30,000 l; 6,700 imp gal) Tender cap. 32,000 lb (15,000 kg) Firebox:  • Firegrate area 70.8 sq ft (6.58 m^2) Boiler pressure 200 psi (1.38 MPa) Heating surface 3,808 sq ft (353.8 m^2)  • Tubes 2,407 sq ft (223.6 m^2)  • Flues 1,090 sq ft (101 m^2)  • Firebox 284 sq ft (26.4 m^2) Superheater: ​  • Heating area 882 sq ft (81.9 m^2) Cylinders Two, outside Cylinder size 27 in × 28 in (686 mm × 711 mm) Valve gear Baker Valve type 14-inch (356 mm) piston valves
Performance figures Tractive effort 43,800 lbf (194.83 kN) Factor of adh. 4.1

A total of 20 locomotives were built under USRA control, with the production split between the Baldwin Locomotive Works and the American Locomotive Company's Richmond plant. All 20 went to the Erie Railroad, who also ordered 11 copies from Baldwin, which were delivered between 1923 and 1926. Lima Locomotive Works also built six locomotives based on the USRA heavy 4-6-2 for the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad, who classified then as their K3 class. Other post-USRA derivatives include the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad P7s and the Southern Railway Ps-4 classes, the former having larger 80 inch drivers, higher tractive effort, and increased boiler pressure, and the latter with smaller 73 inch drivers, larger cabs, feedwater heaters, and later batches given larger tenders.[1] Several copies are preserved, such as Atlanta and West Point no. 290 built by Lima in 1926, which ran excursions from 1989 to 1992 and is now under cosmetic restoration at the Southeastern Railway Museum in Duluth Georgia, the B&O P7 5300 at the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, and Southern Railway Ps-4 1401 in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C..

References

1. Bryant, H. (October 1950). "Ps-4". Trains: 20–26.

• Drury, George H. (1993), Guide to North American Steam Locomotives, Waukesha, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing Company, ISBN 0-89024-206-2, LCCN 93041472
• Huddleston, Eugene L. (2002). Uncle Sam's Locomotives: The USRA and the Nation's Railroads. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-34086-1.
• Westcott, Linn H. (1960). Model Railroader Cyclopedia, Volume 1: Steam Locomotives. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing Co. ISBN 0-89024-001-9.
• "United States Railroad Administration 4-6-2 "Pacific" Locomotives". steamlocomotive.com. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
• "Chicago & Eastern Illinois 4-6-2 "Pacific" Locomotives". steamlocomotive.com. Retrieved 5 August 2015.