#178 is a Ten Wheeler type (4-6-0) locomotive built in 1898 by the Rogers Locomotive Works in Paterson, NJ, as Mobile & Ohio Railroad #187. It was sold to the Columbus & Greenville Railway Co., in Columbus, MS, in 1924 and renumbered #178.
The engine weighs 129,000 lbs, 103,200 lbs on its 63” drivers (the original 57” drivers were replaced in 1948). It has a driver wheelbase of 12’ and engine wheelbase of 22’ 3”. With Stephenson valve gear, 18” x 26” cylinders, it has a 25 sq ft grate, 157 sq ft firebox and total heating surface of 1,845 sq ft. Operating at a boiler pressure of 180 psi, it delivered 20,458 lbs tractive effort. The tender weighs 93,000 lbs light with a 4,000 gallon water capacity.
The Columbus & Greenville was formed by the sale in 1923 of the Southern Railway, operated Southern Railway in Mississippi, to local interests. It continued independent operations until 1972 when it was bought by the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad. A second Columbus & Greenville Railway was founded in 1974 and began operations in 1975 over divested Illinois Central Gulf Railroad trackage across the state of Mississippi.
#178 was retired in May 1951 and donated
to the City of Columbus, MS.
It is on display in
Propst Park with a consist of a baggage car, diner, passenger coach, and a wooden Columbus & Greenville caboose, all from about 1900.
