National Park Service Special Hisory Study

2. LOCOMOTIVES FROM THE 1860s UNTIL THE 1980s

When the Pennsylvania Railroad began planning the Altoona shops, the directors decided to assign the shops the duty of repairing locomotives as well as freight and passenger cars. The bulk of the first locomotives used on the Pennsylvania Railroad came from the M.W. Baldwin and Company in Philadelphia, with other locomotives coming from R. Norris & Son, Ross Winans, Seth Wilmarth, and Smith and Perkins. A few of these locomotives were coal burners, but most required wood for fuel and all required a great amount of maintenance. [41]

In 1861, the Pennsylvania Railroad became one of the first American boilers railroads to install steel fireboxes under the locomotive boilers. [42] By 1862, the locomotive repair and rebuilding operations at Altoona was well under way with fifteen or more engines at a time undergoing some type of repair there. [43]

The first locomotive built in Altoona was passenger engine No. 86 completed in May of 1862. This engine had four 66-inch drivers and weighed 69,400 pounds. The engine number was changed to 73 in 1869 and it was cut up for scrap in 1885. Another early engine, often mistakenly referred to as the first Altoona engine, was passenger engine No. 142 built in January of 1867. This engine was slightly smaller in that it weighed 66,000 pounds, but otherwise of similar design as No. 86. [44]

To understand the kinds of locomotives built at Altoona, a brief discussion is necessary concerning the locomotive classifications system. The first eight classes of locomotives from the 1860s until 1895 were designated by the first eight letters of the alphabet. This system was revised in 1895 when a letter was assigned to designate a wheel arrangement followed by a figure or letter and figure combination to indicate the difference classes having that wheel arrangement. In the following discussion, the old classification will be used with the revised classification, when known, given in parenthesis to better identify the locomotives. Since some of the alphabet designation will only have meaning to those familiar with Pennsylvania Railroad classification, the Whyte classification system will be used to help clarify locomotive types. This system is based upon the grouping of locomotive wheels by diameters and will appear in parenthesis. [45]

In 1866, the Pennsylvania Railroad management adopted a policy of not doing major repairs to locomotives, but instead replacing them with new locomotives. These new locomotives were built at Altoona as well as other Pennsylvania shops and by a number of private contractors. This resulted in lowering the cost of repairs per mile run and increasing the profitability of the railroad. [46] The Pennsylvania Railroad management in 1867 adopted a policy that all locomotives be constructed according to a standard design. This resulted in 40 percent of the locomotives used on the Pennsylvania system in 1873 being of standard design. The various classes of locomotive design allowed flexibility within the standard design limits. Often times parts such as boilers of one class of locomotives were interchangeable with boilers of other classes. One hundred percent standardization was achieved by 1900 on all lines of the Pennsylvania system. [47] Still the Altoona shops did not become a major locomotives manufacturer until after 1875. [48]

In the early 1870s, the Altoona shops constructed class A (reclassified DI and D7), (4-4-0), class C (D3 and D4) (4-4-0), class E (G2) (4-6-0), class F (BI) (0-6-4), class G (D5) (4-4-0), and class H (B2) (0-6-0) locomotives along with various permutations of these basic types. By 1872, the Altoona shops constructed and placed in service 32 new locomotives plus repairing a number of locomotives. [49] The next year Altoona shops placed in service 57 locomotives. [50]

In 1875, the Altoona shops began constructing class I (HI) (2-8-0) engines. These were the first engines of the consolidation type built by Altoona though the Pennsylvania Railroad System previously had purchased a few for service. The type of boiler used in this locomotive became known as the "Altoona" or "Belpaire" type and differed from those on earlier classes. The boiler was so designed as to minimize the loss of steam. The crown and roof sheeting of this boiler differed from other boilers. This locomotive became the Pennsylvania standard heavy freight engine. It hauled 80- to 90-car trains at 14 miles per hour [51]

By 1880, the Altoona shops had produced 500 locomotives and in 1886 had completed 1,000 locomotives. [52] The Altoona works introduced the class K (D6) (4-4-0) engines in 1881 which represented the high efficiency locomotive of its day. Its capacity was a marked increased over any other locomotive previously built by the Pennsylvania railroad. That same year the Altoona works began building class BA (D2a) (4-4-0) engines which combined features of class B and class A locomotives. [53] The shops built 131 new engines in 1883 some of which were switching locomotives of the class M (B3 and B4a) variety as well as the class N (D8) (4-4-0) and class P (D11a, D13c, D14, and D14a) (4-4-0). The next year the Altoona works constructed 81 locomotives in 1884. [54]

In 1885, the Altoona shops turned out an experimental consolidation, freight locomotive designated as class R (H3). The term consolidation came from an engine type designed for the Lehigh Valley railroad by Alexander Mitchell in 1866. The purpose of this locomotive was to transport freight over mountain grades. The locomotive proved successful in testing and Altoona soon constructed fifteen additional locomotives. This locomotive offered several advantages over contemporary engines. It produced a higher boiler pressure which meant more power than Class I locomotives and its design meant the engine could operate more efficiently with less fuel. [55]

In addition, the Altoona works began building a new four-coupled switching engine known as class Q (A2 and A2a) (0-4-0). This switching locomotive was designed for certain sections of Philadelphia where the sharp curves prohibited the use of six-coupled engines. These small switchers were built in the Juniata complex until 1924. [56]

In 1884, the Altoona shops could construct a locomotive in less than twenty hours. The shops efficiency continued to increase and by 1888 in a timed test, a locomotive could be readied for a trial run in less than seventeen hours. [57]

Classes O (D10 and D10a) (4-4-0) built at Altoona in the early 1890s represented an engine used for high speed passenger service. These engines saw much service in the Middle Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad which predominately had gentle grades. Class P built in Altoona in the early 1890s also served as an engine for high speed passenger service. These engines saw service in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh Division which had steeper grades. Both of these engines answered the need for speedier schedules and heavier train loads. [58]

In 1895, the Altoona shop began constructing class L (D16, D16b, D16c, and D16d) (4-4-0) locomotives. This class represented an improvement of the basic American type of locomotive with increased steam pressure. These locomotives saw service in heavy grade areas while a modified version was used in gentler grade areas. [59]

That same year, the need for increasing hauling capacity and speed resulted in several experimental consolidated (2-8-0) locomotives being built in Altoona following European and American designs. These experiments resulted in the construction of "mogul type" (2-6-0) class F1 and F1a locomotives at Altoona. In 1901, an improved version with an enlarged boiler and increased steam pressure known as class F3 was constructed in Altoona. Subsequent modifications to the firebox and boiler resulted in the class F3b and F3c engines. [60] Also, the Altoona shops built four coupled switching locomotives class U (A3) in 1895. In addition, a consolidated engine of the class R (H3) type was built at Altoona. These engines remained in production until 1890. [61]

In 1898, a new consolidated engine class H5 was constructed in Juniata. These trains could handle 568 tons unloaded and 643 tons loaded. This engine was so big that only the Altoona turntables could turn them. The next year class H6 (2-8-0) locomotives were built at Altoona. In 1899 ten-wheeled locomotives (4-6-0) designated class G4 was built at Altoona. [62] The boiler design for this train was such that it could handle unusually high steam pressure and had exceptionally good traction force for the time. This was used in the heavy grades east of Pittsburgh. [63]

In 1901, Altoona constructed many class H6 and H6a (2-8-0) engines designed by the Baldwin Locomotive Company between 1902 and 1905. These were followed in 1910 by class H8 locomotives and, in 1913, by the H9s and H10s. The H9s and H10s represented the highest development of the consolidation locomotive types. They were used principally for freight service. [64]

The first three Atlantic (4-4-2) class El built at Altoona in 1899 were for service between Camden and Atlantic City, New Jersey. They proved very satisfactory and hauled 300-ton trains at speeds up to 75 miles per hour. These were the only Pennsylvania engines with the cab located in the middle of the boiler known as Camel or Camel back type. Altoona constructed later modifications of this design including the E1a, E2, E2a, E3, E3a, and E6 (4-4-2) engines. W.W. Atterbury, General Superintendent of Motive Power for the Pennsylvania Railroad, was responsible for the design of E2a and E3a which were introduced between 1901 and 1903. These engines pulled heavy express trains. The E6 locomotive was the last of this class and was designed and tested in 1911. The E6 came into mass production in 1913 when the Altoona shops constructed 80 of these engines for the New York and New Jersey Divisions of the Pennsylvania Railroad. [65]

In 1902, the Altoona works constructed an 85-ton class B6 switch engine. The B6 switch engine was built for service on lines west of Pittsburgh along with the B4a. The B6 was constructed until 1913 and then modified to become the B6sb which was constructed until 1926. The latter became the standard heavy switch engine on the Pennsylvania system. In 1903, a lighter switch engine designated as B8 was constructed for service on eastern lines of the Pennsylvania. [66]

The class K2 (4-6-2) locomotives were designed in Fort Wayne in 1910 and built in Altoona. In 1911, the K2 became the first Pennsylvania Railroad engines to use superheating. Superheating used a collecting chamber which ran inside the boiler tubes and re-routed steam into tubes which dried and greatly heated it. This device increased locomotive efficiency by nearly 20 percent. To meet the need for heavier engines, the K4 was designed and constructed at Altoona in 1914. This became the standard passenger engine for the Pennsylvania Railroad for the next several years. The Juniata shops constructed 350 K4s (4-6-2) between 1914 and 1928 while the Baldwin Company constructed 75 in the same period. [67] Contemporary with the K4s was a Mikado type locomotive known as class L1s which worked in heavy freight service. Many parts of this locomotive were interchangeable with parts on the K4 including the entire boiler. [68]

The Pennsylvania Railroad in 1905 reached an agreement with the Westinghouse Company to construct two experimental direct current locomotives. The Westinghouse Company provided the electrical gear and the Juniata shops built the locomotive bodies. The company agreed to furnish all equipment free of charge and place its railway engineering staff at the disposal of the Pennsylvania Railroad free of charge. This experiment convinced railroad officials to continue working with the Westinghouse Company to construct electric engines for the New York City area. This collaboration resulted in the development of the class DDI. The first of this class locomotives was constructed in 1909 and tested prior to full production of twenty-three electric locomotives in 1910. [69] The Altoona shops in 1917 constructed an experimental electrical locomotive designated as class FFI. The designers plan to use the locomotive to move heavy freight and provide pushing service. Again, Altoona fabricated the mechanical parts and the Westinghouse supplied electrical components. [70]

The Altoona shops constructed an experimental "Decapod" (2-10-0) known as class I1s in 1916. The term "Decapod" came from a type of locomotive deigned for the Dom Pedro Segundo Railway of Brazil. This particular locomotive had five pairs of driving wheels connected with a two-wheeled leading truck. The Pennsylvania Railroad tested this engine for use in heavy freight service. The purpose of these tests was to develop a locomotive with 25 percent greater capacity than the L1s and more efficient at lower speeds. The trials proved so successful that the Juniata shop constructed 123 of these engines and the Pennsylvania Railroad assigned them to the Pittsburgh division. Eventually 598 I1s locomotives were built. [71]

In 1916, a large light switching locomotive known as class A5 (0-4-0) was constructed for the purpose of doing work in areas of sharp curves and limited clearances. These switch engines were equipped with superheaters and larger cylinders and fireboxes than the small class A4 (0-4-0). Also this switch engine represented a gain in traction force over the class B switch engine. The Juniata shops constructed these engines until 1924. [72]

In 1919, the Altoona shops designed and constructed an experimental mallet articulated locomotive known as HC1 (2-8-8-0). The ma let was a type of locomotive with two separate engines working with one boiler. The rear engine was rigid and the front engine articulated or jointed to take the curves. Once constructed this engine was sent to Atlantic City, New Jersey, to be an exhibit at the Master Mechanics' convention. Pennsylvania Railroad officials claimed this was the largest locomotive in the world. This trial locomotive only saw limited service as a pusher since the drawbar pull was too great to haul trains not equipped with the strongest couplers. Pennsylvania Railroad engineers designed this unit to give maximum economy in fuel and water consumption while providing maximum traction force. [73]

In 1923, the Altoona shops constructed two new classes of passenger locomotives. The "Mountain type" (4-8-2) designated as M1 and M1a could be used either for fast freight or heavy passenger service. The second new design was a ten-wheeled locomotive known as G5 (4-6-0) whose primary purpose was to serve the needs of suburban passenger runs. Altoona produced forty of these engines in 1923 and another fifty in 1924. They combined the virtues of high starting traction with rapid acceleration which proved desirable assets on suburban service routes. [74]

In 1924, the Altoona shops designed an eight-coupled switching locomotive designated as class C1 (0-8-0). This was one of the largest two-cylinder switching locomotives ever built. Unfortunately, the rigid frame and axle construction resulted in the engine achieving only low speeds and caused frequent derailments. [75] Also the shops constructed two types of electric locomotives designated as the L5 and L5a. These represented a collaboration with the Westinghouse Company where, again, Altoona fabricated the mechanical parts and Westinghouse supplied the electrical components. The alternating current L5 was scheduled to serve the Philadelphia Division while the direct current L5a to serve other locations. These represent an effort by the Pennsylvania Railroad to standardize direct and alternating current operations by using identical type of locomotive design for both. The eighty-inch driving wheels on these locomotives led to a number of problems which convinced railroad engineers to switch to slightly smaller wheels for electric locomotives. [76]

In order to perform yard work in electrified areas of the New York and Philadelphia terminals, the Altoona shops in 1926 began constructing electric switching engines. These engines were semi-permanently coupled in pairs and designated as classes BB1, BB2, and BB3 (0-6-0). The BB1 and BB2 were equipped to operate with alternative current while the BB3 used direct current. The BB3 was equipped especially for operations on the Long Island Railroad. Later all units were designed for use of alternating current and redesignated as B1. The Altoona works in 1934 and 1935 produced fourteen B1 units for service in electrified areas. [77]

Since the Pennsylvania Railroad planned to extend electrification to several sections of their system, management ordered that new prototype machines be constructed at Altoona. In 1930, the Altoona Works produced two electric locomotives designed as class 01 for light passenger service. Again purchasing the electrical equipment from Westinghouse. The Pennsylvania Railroad placed the electrical locomotives in experimental service on the Pennsylvania-Wilmington runs and the newly electrified Philadelphia-Trenton runs. The Altoona shops produced six additional engines of this type by the end of 1931 with the electrical components being supplied by Westinghouse, General Electric, and American Brown-Boveri. To distinguish these locomotives, they were designated as classes 01a, 01b, and 01c. This electric locomotive class could generate 2,500-horsepower and used 72-inch driving wheels. [78]

During the same period, Altoona began construction of a more powerful electrical locomotive designated as P5. These engines had an output of 3,750-horsepower and used 72-inch drive wheels. Two experimental electric locomotives of this class were constructed in the Altoona shops in the spring of 1931. Company officials were so confident in the PS locomotives capability that they ordered ninety additional units from the Baldwin Locomotive Works, Westinghouse, and General Electric before the prototypes were constructed and road tested. Road tests revealed several mechanical defects including cracking along the driving axles and pronounced lateral motion at speeds more than seventy miles per hour. This resulted in withdrawing the P5 locomotives from service and temporarily replacing them with steam locomotives. The modified PS class were designation P5a. Meanwhile, Pennsylvania Railroad officials began searching for a replacement electrical engine. Their work led to the development of the GG1 in 1934. The Pennsylvania Railroad designed this locomotive in cooperation with engineers at General Electric which brought with them experience in working on electrical locomotives on the New York Central system. [79]

During the next years, the Altoona shops turned out an appreciable number of GG1 (4-8-4) electric locomotives for use on the eastern lines of the Pennsylvania Railroad. In early 1938 alone, the Altoona shops constructed eleven of this type of locomotive and began construction on twenty more as part of the overall modernization program that the Pennsylvania Railroad undertook at the time. These locomotives generated more than 4,500 sustained horsepower and hauled a passenger train at one hundred miles per hour speeds for extended periods of time. [80]

Pennsylvania Railroad officials in the early 1930s became interested in the development of an electric heavy freight engine to replace the L5. For this purpose, the Altoona shops constructed a new electrical freight locomotive designed as L6. Two were built in the fall of 1931 at Altoona for experimental purposes. Pennsylvania Railroad officials were confident enough in the design that before these engines were completed they placed an order for thirty more with the Lima Locomotive Works. [81] In 1936, Raymond Loewy in collaboration with the Pennsylvania Railroad engineering department designed a streamlined version of the K4. [82] The Altoona shops in 1939 built another Loewy creation for exhibition at the world's fair in New York advertised as one of the world's largest and fastest coal-burning engines. Designated as class S1 (6-4-4-6) this duplex engine could achieve speeds of 100 miles per hour in level areas and haul a 1,200-ton passenger train. This project was a joint engineering effort with the Baldwin Locomotive Works, American Locomotive Company, and the Lima Locomotive Works. After the World's Fair, the Pennsylvania Railroad placed the train in service in the western section of their system. This locomotive was scrapped in 1949. [83]

In 1940, the Pennsylvania Railroad's Board of Directors authorized the design and construction of a high powered freight locomotive with greater capacities than the M1. This resulted in design of a superheated four cylinder engine designated the Q1 (4-6-4-4) and first constructed in Altoona in 1942. Starting in 1945 a larger locomotive known as Q2 (4-4-6-4) was constructed in the Juniata shops. Another duplex constructed at Altoona for heavy passenger-train service was the T1 (4-4-4-4). The prototype for the T1 was constructed by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1942 and actual production engines were built in Altoona and the Baldwin works in 1945 and 1946. The T1 had an undesirable characteristic of slipping at slow speeds and were extremely expensive to maintain. With these locomotives under development, the railroad management negotiated with the Lima Locomotive Works for the plans of a large freight engine designated as J1 (2-10-4). Both the J1 and a modified engine designated as the J1a were not innovative, but designed to meet the wartime need for additional freight engines. One hundred and twenty-five of these locomotives were constructed in Altoona with the first one constructed in 1942 and placed in service on the Pennsylvania Railroad's Middle Division. By 1954, the T1 and Q2 engines were no longer in active service, but J1 locomotives continued in service until 1956. [84]

The Altoona shops continued in operation after the merger with the New York Central Railroad. In 1969, the Altoona shops overhauled diesel-electric switchers as well as electrified equipment for the new Penn Central system. This work boosted the switchers horsepower from 1,000 to 1,200 and increased their fuel capacity 50 percent. The rejuvenation of these locomotives culminated with repainting them with the colors of the new Penn Central. [85]

By 1976, the Juniata shops performed similar tasks for the new Conrail system. The Juniata shops rebuilt engines as well as repairing frames and rewiring locomotives. This refurbishing work finished with the engines receiving a coat of blue paint with white lettering marking them as Conrail equipment. [86]