Ten Union Railroad 0-10-2

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

s were built in 1936–1939 by the

Baldwin Locomotive Works The Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) was an American manufacturer of railroad locomotives from 1825 to 1951. Originally located in Philadelphia, it moved to nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania, in the early 20th century. The company was for decades t ...

. These were the only

0-10-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-10-2 represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, ten powered and coupled driving wheels on five axles, and two trailing wheels on one axle (usually in a trailing t ...

locomotives ever built in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and this purchase gave the name "Union" to this type. The Union Railroad was a switching and transfer line owned by

U.S. Steel United States Steel Corporation, more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an American integrated steel producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with production operations primarily in the United States of America and in severa ...

, serving a number of plants in the area and connecting with six trunk line railroads. Operation was only at low speed, thus a leading truck's stability was not required. The intent was to eliminate helper requirements on grades, and thus a locomotive larger than the Union's previous

switchers The Switchers Trilogy is a fantasy book series for young adults, written by Kate Thompson. The series is mainly set in Ireland. The leading characters are teenagers with the power to shapeshift (or "Switch") into the forms of animals and variou ...

and

2-8-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels. ...

"Consolidations" was needed. Ten driving wheels allowed the application of sufficient

tractive effort As used in mechanical engineering, the term tractive force can either refer to the total traction a vehicle exerts on a surface, or the amount of the total traction that is parallel to the direction of motion. In railway engineering, the term tr ...

within the

axle load An axle or axletree is a central shaft for a rotating wheel or gear. On wheeled vehicles, the axle may be fixed to the wheels, rotating with them, or fixed to the vehicle, with the wheels rotating around the axle. In the former case, bearing ...

limits of the line, and the requirement for a large

firebox Firebox may refer to: *Firebox (steam engine), the area where the fuel is burned in a steam engine *Firebox (architecture), the part of a fireplace where fuel is combusted *Firebox Records Firebox Records was a Finnish record label based in S ...

and plentiful steam-raising ability necessitated the trailing truck. To increase tractive effort still further, a

booster engine A booster engine for steam locomotives is a small two-cylinder steam engine back-gear-connected to the trailing truck axle on the locomotive or the lead truck on the tender. A rocking idler gear permits it to be put into operation by the driver ...

was fitted to the leading tender truck. The unusual wheel arrangement was also a result of the turntable restrictions on the total wheel base. Upon

dieselization Dieselisation (US: dieselization) is the process of equipping vehicles with a diesel engine or diesel engines. It can involve replacing an internal combustion engine powered by petrol (gasoline) fuel with an engine powered by diesel fuel, as o ...

of the Union in 1949, nine of the locomotives were sold to fellow U.S. Steel railroad the

Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range The Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway (DM&IR) , informally known as the Missabe Road, was a railroad operating in northern Minnesota and Wisconsin that used to haul iron ore and later taconite to the Great Lakes ports of Duluth and Two Harbor ...

, where they served until 1962. 304 survives as a static exhibit at

Greenville, Pennsylvania Greenville is a borough with home rule status in northwestern Mercer County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located along the Shenango River, it lies roughly 80 miles from both Pittsburgh and Cleveland. It is 1.89 square miles in area, and had a ...

.{{cite web , url = http://www.steamlocomotive.info/vlocomotive.cfm?Display=1016 , title = Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range RR No. 604 , work = SteamLocomotive.info , accessdate = 2006-12-16

References

Steam locomotives of the United States Baldwin locomotives 0-10-2 locomotives Freight locomotives