4-8-2

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The 4-8-2 steam engine was the workhorse of Norfolk & Western's Shenandoah Division passenger service. It is referred to as a 4-8-2 engine because the wheel alignment as viewed from one side of the train; four leading wheels in the front, followed by 16 large driving wheels in the middle, and 2 trailing wheels in the rear. This nomenclature, leading wheels - driving wheels - trailing wheels, is how engines are classified in the United States. Try to envision it this way; oo-OOOO-o.

The 4-8-2 steam engines were designed for speed. Also known as the "Mountain" type, because of it's suitability for pulling long lines of heavy steal cars through the mountains, these engines were ideal for passenger service.

The first 4-8-2 in North America was manufactured at the Alco plant in Richmond, Virginia in 1911. The Chesapeake & Ohio acquired this engine in order to eliminate doubleheading on its line across the Allegheny Mountains. The 4-8-2 could handle this 12-car line without without difficulty.

There were three major manufacturers of the 4-8-2 in North America; Alco, Norfolk & Western, and Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia. Norfolk & Western is unique because it not only manufactured steam engines and railroad cars, but it also ran a large, highly respected railroad.

There where three classes of the 4-8-2 configuration and the Norfolk & Western Railway had many. According to "Norfolk & Western Steam (The Last 25 Years)" by Ron Rosenberg, N&W's 4-8-2 fleet totaled 16 Class K1, 22 Class K2 and 10 Class 3.

Norfolk & Western streamlined numbers 116 through 137. Their appearance, as sleek streamliners, was marred by retention of the original rivet-fabricated trailing truck, where a one-piece steel casting of the Delta type would have been more pleasing. Nevertheless, their appearance is so similar to the Class J streamlined engines, that numbers 116 through 137 became known as J-Juniors.

From 1924, the locomotives assigned to the Shenandoah Division were in captive service more or less. By ICC edict, each major railroad had to have a district equipped with Automatic Train Control(ATC). N&W selected the Shenandoah-Hagerstown district initially, then extended it from Shenandoah to Roanoke. The engines had to be equipped with cab signals and didn't roam the system. Mason Cooper's book on the Shenandoah Division shows some of the assignments over various periods. Incidentally, the ATC-equipped K and E class engines assigned to Richmond-Petersburg service wouldn't operate on the Shenandoah Div. because N&W used Union Switch & Signal and ACL used GRS. (1)

Between 1957 and 1959 all 38 of the Class K "Mountain" type passenger locomotives, Nos. 100 through 137, were reduced to scrap metal. None of these engines survive.

Class	Number	Details known about this engine	Photo
K1	100	In 1941 train #14 was a Class K1 4-8-2 "Mountain" steam locomotive, labeled No. 100. According to Mason Y Cooper, an authority on the Shenandoah Division, passenger service on this line relied on the 4-8-2 type for the latter part of its existence. The first tender carried 9,000 US gallons of water and 14 tons of coal; total weight was 146,700 lb. Over time, of course, the tender's capacity and weight more than doubled as is documented in the specs. Built in 1916, number 100 was used by N&W for close to 15 years on the Shenandoah Valley Line. It worked the remainder of it's career on the West end of the N&W Railway, assigned to Portsmouth, Ohio. The motion picture "Giant," released in 1956, starred Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, and James Dean. It includes a locomotive steam engine with Chesapeake and Ohio on the tender in the opening scenes. In reality, this steam engine is a N&W locomotive, with C&O lettering on just the left side of the tender. The engine was number 100 -- Wendell's old engine.	new photo pending
K1	101	Built in 1916.	no photo available
K1	102	This engine was built by the N&W Roanoke Shop in July 1916 and dismantled 31 October 1957. It headed the famous "Pocahontas" line that ran between Norfolk and Cincinnati in the late 1920s and 1930s. No. 102 pulled seven heavyweight N&W cars painted Tuscan red, similar to Pennsylvania Railroad's equipment, rather than traditional Pullman green used by other railroads. This photo, taken May 17, 1921, shows the engine on a turntable.	17 May 1921 - Transparency courtesy VT ImageBase
K1	103	Built in 1916.	no photo available
K1	104	Engine 104 was built in 1916. It appears in this 1954 photograph on the tracks in Hagerstown, Maryland.	7 June 1954 From the collection of Blair Miller
K1	105	Engine 105 was built in 1916. It appears here on the tracks in Hagerstown, Maryland.	From the collection of Blair Miller
K1	106	A streamlined engine 130 in Hagerstown, Maryland.	22 August 1953 From the collection of Blair Miller
K1	107		no photo available
K1	108		no photo available
K1	109		no photo available
K1	110		no photo available
K1	111	There is a photo in the archives of Roy Blanchard of engine #111 working the westbound local freight at Wakefield, Virginia on 19 January 1957. At this time the K-1s held down a Norfolk-Crewe local and its eastbound counterpart, meeting in Petersburg. In about 1958 it became one local from Norfolk, Virginia to Petersburg, Virginia and back with another turn from Crewe. Then came the streamlined Class K-2 4-8-2s, often referred to as "J-Juniors", and finally the noble Js in the late 50s as diesels took over the passenger jobs.	Photo courtesy Roy Blanchard.
K1	112		no photo available
K1	113		no photo available
K1	114	This engine provided premier passenger service, but finished out its days on train #102/103, the "Tom Cat."	no photo available
K1	115	Built in 1917, number 115 finished it's days providing local freight service. It was placed out of service on February 21, 1957 when diesel powered engines officially took over.	no photo available
K2	116	Built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) at the old Brooks Works plant.	no photo available
K2	117	This photo, take May 4, 1957, shows Norfolk & Western's No. 117 at the Lubritorium in Bluefield, WV. It was built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) at the old Brooks Works plant in 1919.	From the collection of Edward J. Ozog. Permission pending.
K2	118	Built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) at the old Brooks Works plant.	no photo available
K2	119	Built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) at the old Brooks Works plant.	no photo available
K2	120	Built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) at the old Brooks Works plant.	no photo available
K2	121	Locomotive No. 121, right side view. Built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) at the old Brooks Works plant. May 1919 as 1 of 10 costing $55,895.00 each Tractive power - 58000 lbs. Driving wheels - 69" Boiler pressure - 200 lbs./sq. in. Grate area 76.3 sq. ft. Cylinder size - 28 x 30" Weight on drivers -243000 lbs. Engine - 352000 lbs. Tender - 193000 lbs Tender capacity - 16 tons coal and 1000 gallons water. This engine unfortunately was dismantled on January 24, 1958. Permission to publish Norfolk Southern images must be obtained from NS before TIFF images will be provided. Permission to publish must be obtained from Rhonda.Broom@nscorp.com	Transparency courtesy of VT ImageBase. Permission pending from Norfolk Southern.
K2	122	Non-streamlined steam locomotive on Eastbound passenger train at Lynchburg, Virginia. Built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) at the old Brooks Works plant.	c1940. Photo by Walter Dunnam. Permission pending.
K2	123	Built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) at the old Brooks Works plant.	no photo available
K2	124	Built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) at the old Brooks Works plant in May 1919, No. 124 provided service for Train #14 in May of 1927. The VT ImageBase also has a photo of No. 124 operating as Train #4 in September of 1926. Apparently the photograph was retouched and used for advertising the new No. 3 train in the 1940s. No. 124 was dismantled 16 July 1959. The photo to the right is of passenger Train # 14 near Buchanan, Virginia. Permission to publish Norfolk Southern images must be obtained from NS before TIFF images will be provided. Permission to publish must be obtained from Rhonda.Broom@nscorp.com	Transparency courtesy of VT ImageBase. Permission pending from Norfolk Southern .
K2	125	The 125 was built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) at the old Brooks Works plant.in May 1919. This photo was taken at the Roanoke Shops after heavy shop repairs. It was dismantled December 20, 1957. Permission to publish Norfolk Southern images must be obtained from NS before TIFF images will be provided. Permission to publish must be obtained from Rhonda.Broom@nscorp.com	Transparency courtesy of VT ImageBase. Permission pending from Norfolk Southern.
K2a	126	Built by the Baldwin Locomotive Company in 1923, the Class K-2a 4-8-2 streamlined no. 126 is photographed in Roanoke, Virginia three months from retirement - moving to replace a 4-8-4 at the station. The date of this photograph is May 5, 1957.	From the collection of Edward J. Ozog. Permission pending.
K2a	127	Here is a photo of the streamlined #127 arriving in Roanoke, Virgina at about 7:30 in the morning, having traveled South from Hagerstown, Maryland. Built by the Baldwin Locomotive Company.
K2a	128	Built by the Baldwin Locomotive Company in 1923, this streamlined 4-8-2 was photographed on May 5, 1957 in Roanoke, Virginia.	From the collection of Edward J. Ozog. Permission pending.
K2a	129	This engine, built by the Baldwin Locomotive Company, provided passenger service between Roanoke, Virginia and Hagerstown, Maryland starting in 1946. It was later streamlined is the style of the Class J's. Sadly, it departed Hagerstown with train No. 2 on February 20, 1957 making the run as the last steam powered engine in Norfolk & Western's fleet. The next day only diesel engines would roam the tracks. In the photo of the streamlined no. 129, the train is backed out of the station in Roanoke, Virginia and is shown on the branch to Winston-Salem, NC (what appears to be a fault in the coach is a piece of paper debris caught in the wind). The photograph is dated May 5, 1957.	Photo courtesy Terry Marshall. Permission pending. From the collection of Edward J. Ozog. Permission pending.
K2a	130	N&W number 130 built by the Baldwin Locomotive Company.	From the collection of Blair Miller
K2a	131	This is the only photograph I have been able to find of number 130. A baby J built by Baldwin Locomotive Company in April 1923, the photographer states this "N&W K-2a 4-8-2 took our cars on the "Tennessean" and left us at Monroe [Virginia] outside Lynchburg in the care of a Southern diesel for Washington." Number 130 served for almost 25 years. It was dismantled in January 1958.	From the collection of Edward J. Ozog. Permission pending.
K2a	132	Built by the Baldwin Locomotive Company.	no photo available
K2a	133	Built by the Baldwin Locomotive Company.	no photo available
K2a	134	Built by the Baldwin Locomotive Company.	no photo available
K2a	135	Built in 1923 at the Baldwin Locomotive Works (Philadelphia, PA), engine number 135 was eventually retrofitted with 70-inch drivers and 28x30-inch cylinders. This increased it's capacity from 200 to 220 pounds of boiler pressure. N&W struggled with the cost of streamlining their existing 4-8-2 fleet, as did other railroads. Of the 2,300 4-8-2s in the United States and Canada, only a few were streamlined. In fact, they are commonly mistaken for the large J class engines.	Cincinnati, 1954. From the collection of David V. Leonard.
K2a	136	Built by the Baldwin Locomotive Company.	no photo available
K2a	137	Built by the Baldwin Locomotive Company.	no photo available
K3	200		no photo available
K3	201		no photo available
K3	202		no photo available
K3	203		no photo available
K3	204		no photo available
K3	205	No. 205 was buildt by Roanoke shopes in September 1926. Sold to Richmond Fredericksburg and Potomac R R on 6 April 1944. Locomotive 4-8-2 Class K-3, No. 205, front view from the Digital Library and Archives (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University). Permission to publish Norfolk Southern images must be obtained from NS before TIFF images will be provided. Permission to publish must be obtained from Rhonda.Broom@nscorp.com	Transparency courtesy of VT ImageBase. Permission pending from Norfolk Southern.
K3	206		no photo available
K3	207		no photo available
K3	208		no photo available
K3	209		no photo available

(1) According to Harry Bundy, NW Mailing List, 2013

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