Union Pacific Class C-57 #437 is on display at the Stuhr Museum, 3133 W US Highway 34, Grand Island, NE, one of forty-one Consolidation (2-8-0) type locomotives (#1640-#1679) built as Vauclain compounds in 1900 by Burnham, Williams & Co., later incorporated as Baldwin Locomotive Works (renumbered #420-#459 in 1915). Outshopped as #1657, it is one of several early 20th Century UP Consolidations dotted across the Great Plains. You can see others on the UP #237, UP #407, UP #480, UP #481 and UP #485 pages of this website.
As built, the 1640s had 15½" x 30" high pressure and
26" x 30" low pressure cylinders. However, by the time
they were delivered, many US railroads had begun to abandon compounds and were converting those they owned to single-expansion locomotives. The main advantage claimed for compounding was lower fuel and water consumption, but the Vauclain arrangement produced uneven forces and excess wear at the crosshead, and increased maintenance costs largely offset any fuel economies. So, between 1910 and 1913, the 1640s were progressively simplified with 21" x 30" cylinders, #437 in June 1910.
#437 weighs 185,891 lbs, 161,605 lbs on its 57" drivers. With a 33.9 sq ft grate, 247.2 sq ft firebox and total heating surface of 2,502 sq ft, it operated at a boiler pressure of 200 psi, delivering 31,719 lbs tractive effort. The tender weighs 115,798 lbs light with a capacity for 6,000 gallons of water and 11 tons of coal.
The locomotive was in relatively good condition when we visited. It is on display with former Union Pacific CA-1 wooden caboose #3201 built in 1912, later Mount Hood Railway #7, and an 1871 passenger car.
