The St. Louis-San Francisco Railway bought thirty Mountain (4-8-2) type locomotives from Baldwin for freight and passenger service. #1501 is from the first batch of fifteen (#1500-#1514) delivered in 1923. Five more (#1515-#1519) were delivered in 1925 and the last ten (#1520-#1529) in 1926.
Oil burning #1500-#1514 were equipped with Baker valve gear, but initial problems led the Frisco to order the rest of the T-54s with Walschaert valve gear. At 339,800 lbs, the first batch
were also lighter than those delivered in 1925 (342,200 lbs) and in 1926
(360,890 lbs). However, all thirty of the class operated at a boiler pressure of 210 psi delivering tractive effort of 56,800 lbs.
T-54s made long passenger runs without an engine change, including the 542 mile St Louis-Oklahoma City Will Rogers and the 737 mile Kansas City-Birmingham Southland.
Left, #1501 is on display coupled to wood, open platform SLSF Passenger Car #563.
With a 40' 4" engine and 18' driver wheelbase, #1501 weighs 320,400 lbs, 244,700 lbs on its 69" drivers. It has
28" x 28" cylinders, a 70.3 sq ft grate, 419 sq ft firebox and a combined heating surface of 4,430 sq ft, including thermic syphons, combustion chamber and 1,220 sq ft superheating. Operating at a boiler pressure of 200 psi, it delivered 54,085 lbs tractive effort.
The 238,000 lbs tender has a 5,000 gallon oil and 11,700 gallon water capacity.
#1501 was donated to the City of Rolla by the Frisco in 1955 and is on display in Schuman Park.
Five other SLSF Mountains have survived. You can see #1522 on the National Museum of Transportation, St. Louis Train Sheds page of this website. #1527 in Mobile, AL, is on the SLSF #1527 page and #1526 in the Museum of the Great Plains in Lawton, OK, is on the SLSF #1519 page. #1529 is on display in Frisco Park, Amory, MS.
Related Links:
Send a comment or query, or request permission to re-use an image.
Lloyd Stagner's Steam Locomotives of the Frisco Line was published by Pruett Publishing Company, Boulder, CO, in 1976 (click on the cover to search for this book on Bookfinder.com).
