Southern Railway 1380 was a streamlined 4-6-2 steam locomotive built in 1923 by American Locomotive Company (ALCO) of Schenectady, New York, for the Southern Railway (SOU) as a member of the Ps-4 class, which was based on the United States Railroad Administration (USRA) Heavy Pacific design with some minor differences. Redesigned in a Streamline Moderne style design by industrial designer Otto Kuhler in 1941, No. 1380 hauled SOU's streamlined Tennessean passenger train between Washington, D.C., and Monroe, Virginia, until it was removed from the train in the late 1940s and scrapped around 1953.
| Southern Railway 1380 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Southern Railway No. 1380 idling near North Avenue Roundhouse in Atlanta, Georgia, August 1947 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| References:[1][2][3][4] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
History
editBackground
editNo. 1380 was one of the first batch of 12 Ps-4 locomotives, Nos. 1375-1386, built by American Locomotive Company (ALCO) of Schenectady, New York in 1923.[2][4] They were originally painted black with gold linings and lettering.[5] The Ps-4s were based on the United States Railroad Administration (USRA) Heavy Pacific design, differing the smaller 73 in (1,854 mm) driving wheels, a slightly shorter boiler, an additional firebox combustion chamber, and a Worthington 3-B type feedwater heater.[6] They produced 47,535 lbf (211.45 kN) of tractive effort, allowing them to pull 14 passenger cars at 80 mph (129 km/h).[6]
The Ps-4s would serve as the primary mainline passenger locomotives on the SOU's Washington D.C. to Atlanta mainline, pulling their top-priority passenger trains, including the Crescent.[5][7] In 1925, SOU president Fairfax Harrison had all of the Ps-4s, including No. 1380, repainted in a new Virginian green and gold paint scheme after his visit in the United Kingdom where he admired the country's London and North Eastern Railway's (LNER) apple-green passenger locomotives.[8][9] By the mid-late 1930s, the Ps-4s, including No. 1380, had their original Baker valve gear replaced with Walschaerts type due to the former risking to reverse itself at high-speed, damaging the locomotives' wheels and the rails.[10][11]
Streamlining for the Tennessean
editOn May 17, 1941, SOU introduced their brand-new public streamlined Tennessean passenger train, which replaced the Memphis Special that ran between Washington, D.C. and Memphis, Tennessee.[12][13] It was frequently hauled behind SOU's new EMD E6 diesel locomotives,[14] but the Tennessean ran via Norfolk and Western (N&W) rails between Monroe, Virginia and Bristol, Tennessee, and N&W would not allow diesel locomotives running on their rails.[4][15] The SOU did not want get all tied up with their E6s pulling the Tennessean between Washington D.C. and Monroe.[4][15] They decided to streamline one of their Ps-4 locomotives to pull the Tennessean consist.[4][16] The result was No. 1380, which was scheduled for repairs at SOU's Spencer Shops in Spencer, North Carolina, and was given a streamlined design created by industrial designer Otto Kuhler.[4] Despite Kuhler being impressed with his design on No. 1380, SOU did not pay him at all.[4]
No. 1380 was painted green with a silver stripe, the "SR" symbol logo plastered on both sides of its the cylinders, and the Tennessean logo painted on both sides of its streamlined panels.[4] Additionally, it was given a larger streamlined tender, which holds 14,000 US gallons (53,000 L) of water and was originally from sister locomotive No. 1400, who now received No. 1380's original smaller 10,000 US gallons (38,000 L) tender.[11][15] The locomotive's original alligator crossheads were replaced with multiple-bearing types.[4][17] No. 1380 worked on the Washington Division, where it frequently pulled the Tennessean from Washington, D.C. to Monroe in exchange for the N&W steam locomotives taking the train down to Bristol, where the SOU diesels would complete the Tennessean's journey to Memphis.[4][17]
Twilight years
editHowever, when World War II ended in 1945, the Washington Division was completely dieselized with No. 1380 being retired from the Tennessean and relegated to haul Washington, D.C.-Atlanta local passenger trains and mail trains.[15] Additionally, No. 1380 was on motive power pool service, where it was used to protect passenger schedules in case of a diesel locomotive was unavailable to pull SOU's top-priority passenger trains such as the Birmingham Special, the Peach Queen, and the Piedmont Limited.[4][18] Despite being removed from the Tennessean, No. 1380 retained its streamlined design until it was retired from SOU and sold to the Baltimore Steel Company for scrap in Baltimore, Maryland, on July 29, 1953.[3][4][17]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Bryant Jr. (1950), p. 26.
- ^ a b Prince (1970), pp. 114–115.
- ^ a b Prince (1970), p. 186.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Tillotson Jr. (2004), pp. 62–63.
- ^ a b Tillotson Jr. (2004), p. iv.
- ^ a b Bryant Jr. (1950), p. 22.
- ^ Tillotson Jr. (2004), p. 11.
- ^ Bryant Jr. (1962), p. 4.
- ^ Ranks & Lowe (1966), p. 211.
- ^ Drury (2015), p. 294.
- ^ a b Roberts, Dale (March–April 1994). "Fairfax Harrison's Aristocrats: A Photo Study of the Most Elegant Group of Ps-4 Pacifics". TIES Magazine. Vol. 8, no. 2. Southern Railway Historical Association. pp. 6–7.
- ^ "The Month". Trains. Vol. 1, no. 6. Kalmbach Publishing. April 1941. p. 50. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
- ^ "Decade of the Streamliners". Railway Age. Vol. 116, no. 17. Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation. April 22, 1944. p. 768. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
- ^ Murray (2007), pp. 68–70.
- ^ a b c d Flanary, Ron (May 2007). "The Green Goddesses". Railfan & Railroad. Vol. 26, no. 5. Carstens Publications. pp. 51–53.
- ^ Murray (2007), p. 119.
- ^ a b c Ranks & Lowe (1966), pp. 154–155.
- ^ Tillotson Jr. (2004), pp. 65–67.
Bibliography
edit- Bryant Jr., H. Stafford (October 1950). "Ps-4". Trains. Vol. 10, no. 12. Kalmbach Publishing. pp. 20–26.
- Bryant Jr., H. Stafford (1962). The Georgian Locomotive (1st ed.). Weathervane. ISBN 0-517-172666.
- Murray, Tom (2007). Southern Railway (1st ed.). Voyager Press. ISBN 978-0-7603-2545-2.
- Prince, Richard E. (1970). Steam Locomotives and Boats: Southern Railway System (2nd ed.). Wheelwright Lithographing Company. ISBN 0-9600088-4-5.
- Ranks, Harold; Lowe, Shelby (1966). Southern Steam Power (1st ed.). Barnhart Press.
- Tillotson Jr., Curt (2004). Southern Railway Steam Trains Volume 1 – Passenger (1st ed.). TLC Publishing. ISBN 1-883089-94-8.