This Mogul type (2-6-0) locomotive was built by Burnham Williams & Co., an early incarnation of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, in 1901. One of fifteen designated Class M-6a (#1720-#1724 & #1770-#1779), they were progressively superheated by the Southern Pacific from 1919 and reclassified M-8.
#1774 spent some time on the Southern Pacific subsidiary, the Arizona Eastern Railway between 1910 and 1924. The AZER ran from Miami, AZ, through Globe to an
interchange with the SP at Bowie, AZ. After the SP absorbed the AZER in 1924, the locomotive was assigned to main line freight in Arizona and California. During WWII, it also hauled troop trains to military bases. After the war, it was assigned to the Miami-Bowie, AZ, line for light passenger trains. #1774 was finally retired in 1956 having accumulated over three million miles in service in its fifty-five year operating life.
The locomotive was presented to the City of Globe by the Southern Pacific on 2nd November 1956 when it was run on a spur from the mainline to its current location in Veterans Memorial Park.
#1774 weighs 184,700 lbs, 159,000 lbs on its 63” drivers. The driver wheelbase is 15’ 2” and total engine wheelbase 23’ 10”. An oil burner with a 49.5 sq ft grate, 170 sq ft firebox and total heating surface of 2,380 sq ft including 373 sq ft superheating, it operated at a boiler pressure of 200 psi delivering 33,320 lbs tractive effort.
It has Stephenson valve gear and
21” x 28” cylinders.
