Manila Railroad 800 Class USA

The Manila Railroad 800 class ''USA'' were 45 United States Army Transportation Corps class S118 steam locomotives used by the Manila Railroad Company and the Philippine National Railways. Originally built by Vulcan Iron Works and the American Locomotive Works for the United States Army during the Second Philippines Campaign, they were later used to pull freight trains and temporary passenger trains. After the dieselization of the Manila Railroad network in the mid-1950s, they were relegated to work trains until the last unit was scrapped after appearing in a 1989 World War II movie.

Background

According to a 1952 report that would later gain fruition as the Mindanao Railway, around 75% of all steam locomotives used by the Manila Railroad have been destroyed during World War II between 1941 and 1945. During this time period, the US Army ordered 45 USATC class S118 for the Philippines. This is because the USATC S200 Class design does not fit with the narrow-gauge track in the country. 40 units were ordered from Vulcan Iron Works of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania while five were ordered from the American Locomotive Company.

Design

The 800 class was the first to adopt the Janney coupler as its primary railway coupling mechanism. Locomotives built prior used buffers and chain couplers and were later fitted with Janney couplers during their reconstruction. The locomotives were also given the nickname ''USA'', after US Army markings on the tenders. There are no other known notable features, with the 2-8-2 ''Mikado'' type being a common freight locomotive wheel arrangement during the era.

The 800 class' engine unit was lighter by compared to other S118s.

Service

The delivery and eventual journey of three named locomotives, two of which were named after Mark Twain characters, was one of the primary subjects of the 1945 documentary ''Hannibal Victory''. The titular Victory ship carried Nos. 866 ''Tom Sawyer'', 867 ''Hannibella'' and 875 ''Huckleberry Finn'' from San Francisco to Luzon during the Second Philippines Campaign. After the war in the Philippines ended, they were later made into freight trains as well as temporary passenger trains carrying so-called "zombie cars" or gondola cars converted to passenger cars with a tent as a roof. This practice continued well into the 1950s as noted in a 1952 report, though these were slowly replaced by new 7-series coaches.

This report however meant the demise of steam traction as the Manila Railroad transitioned into diesel power starting in 1954. The locomotives were later retired from mainline service on August 12, 1956 as these were rendered "obsolete" by the media covering the subject. They were then relegated to work trains and were eventually scrapped over the course of the next decades. The last known appearance of the locomotive was in the 1989 Japanese war film ''Harimao'' about the Japanese occupation of Malaya. The film featured one of the Vulcans as well as Manila Railroad 45 class No. 62. They were presumed to be scrapped in the years after since neither of these locomotives exist.

Legacy

The PNR 900 class diesel locomotives has its numbering follow this class instead of the traditional four-digit scheme used by the Manila Railroad.

References

{{PNR rolling stock

2-8-2 locomotives
ALCO locomotives
USATC S118 Class
Railway locomotives introduced in 1944
Scrapped locomotives
3 ft 6 in gauge locomotives