The first Mikado (2-8-2) type locomotives delivered to the Great Northern Railway in 1911 (#3000-#3019) were coal-burners built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, PA. Designated Class O-1, they were the first of what would become the largest class of 2-8-2s on the Great Northern, with a total of one hundred and forty-five O-1s delivered by 1919, all of them built by Baldwin.
The second batch of fifty O-1s was delivered in 1913. They were ordered as oil-burners, but #3059 at least seems to have been a coal-burner at some stage in its career. The design was reconfigured from the first batch, reducing the number of boiler tubes to three hundred and four 2" tubes and increasing the number of 5½" superheater flues to thirty-six. Forty sq ft of arch tubes were also added. With a 78 sq ft grate and 284 sq ft firebox area, the O-1's total heating surface was 5,732 sq ft, including 1,018 sq ft superheating.
Tapering from a diameter of 82" at the front to 89" at the dome ring, the boiler was designed to operate at a boiler pressure of 210 psi. With Walschaert valve gear, 63" drivers and 28" x 32" cylinders, the locomotive delivered 71,083 lbs tractive effort.
During their operating lives on the Great Northern, a number of improvements were made to the O-1s.
Some were temporarily equipped with 11,000 to 12,200 lb tractive effort boosters. Others received feedwater heaters and exhaust steam injectors.
The O-1s were assigned across the Great Northern system, and proved capable freight haulers. The roster stayed intact until 1925 when the first of the class were sold to the Spokane, Portland & Seattle. Sales to the SP&S continued until 1944. Except for #3059, the entire class was retired and scrapped during the 1950s.
Engine and tender are 58' 1" long from front coupler to rear tender coupler. The total engine wheelbase is 35', with a driver wheelbase of 16' 8". The engine weighs 315,360 lbs, 236,000 lbs on its drivers.
#3059 was converted to burn oil in 1949. As a coal burner, it appears to have originally been coupled to a Great Northern Class F-8 Style 19 tender weighing 64,000 lbs light with a capacity of 15 tons of coal and 10,000 gallons of water. Later specs indicate a tender weighing 187,000 lb light with a capacity of 4,500 gallons of oil and 10,000 gallons of water.
#3059 was retired in December 1957 and was donated to the City of Williston, ND in August 1958. It is on display on Front St E, near the Amtrak depot.
#3059 is displayed with Northern Pacific M930 Class caboose #10405.
The caboose was built in 1969 by the International Car Company in Kenton, OH. Transferred to Burlington Northern in 1970, it was renumbered #10035. At some point, it was converted to a "Riding Platform" with much of the original equipment and furnishings that a conductor would use removed. A "Riding Platform" is intended simply as a safe place for a brakeman to ride as a lookout on the rear of a train during a long reverse move.
Related Links:
Great Northern Railway Historical Society
Great Northern Empire
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Steam Locomotives of the Great Northern Railway by Kenneth R. Middleton and Norman F. Priebe was published by the Great Northern Historical Society in 2010 (click on the cover to search for this book on Bookfinder.com).
