Alco’s Pittsburgh, PA, Works built this locomotive in 1906 as oil burning KCS class
E-3 Consolidation type (2-8-0) #488. Forty eight of the class were built between 1906 and 1907 by Alco and the Baldwin Locomotive Works (#475-#532).
The E-3 class had a 24’ 3” engine wheelbase and 15’ 3” driver wheelbase. They weighed 205,500 lbs, 182,650 on their 55” drivers. With Stephenson valve gear and 22” x 30” cylinders, they had a 33.5 sq ft grate, a 214 sq ft firebox including 23 sq ft of arch tubes and a total heating surface of 3,063 sq ft. Operating at a boiler pressure of 200 psi, they delivered 44,880 lbs tractive effort.
Thirty six of the forty eight E-3s, including #488, were later converted to burn oil. Twelve were rebuilt at the Kansas City's Pittsburg, KS, shops as Class K-1 0-8-0 switchers #1020-#1031 between 1925 and 1927, #1023 in 1925. The boiler pressure was pushed up slightly to 210 psi and tractive effort also increased to 47,124 lbs.
The engine went on display in Schlanger Park in Pittsburg, KS, after being donated to the city by the KCS in 1955. The city donated it to Heart of the Heartlands in December 2011, and it was moved to the Carona museum site in September 2012 at a cost of $75,000. It is the only Kansas City Lines steam locomotive to have survived.
