This Class M-6 Mogul (2-6-0) type locomotive is one of sixty-nine (#1725-#1769 & #1780-#1803) delivered to the Southern Pacific in 1902 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works.
The SP came relatively late to buying Moguls in any number. The type had been popular with many railroads in the mid-late nineteenth century, and SP’s predecessor, the Central Pacific owned a small number from the 1860s. By the time the SP started acquiring them at the turn of the century, however, Moguls had largely fallen out of favour with other railroads, which were starting to invest in larger Consolidation (2-8-0) types. The Southern Pacific eventually rostered two hundred and fifty-two Moguls.
The M-6s were built as saturated Vauclain compounds with Stephenson valve gear, and 15½” x 28” high pressure and 26” x 28” low pressure cylinders. They weighed 174,000 lbs, 150,400 lbs on their 63” drivers. Oil burners with a 49.5 sq ft grate, 160.32 sq ft firebox and total heating surface of 2,257 sq ft, they operated at a boiler pressure of 200 psi delivering 26,785 lbs tractive effort.
#1785 was simpled by the SP in 1912 with 22” x 28” cylinders, and superheated in 1919 raising its weight to 174,000 lbs, 150,400 lbs on the drivers. With a slightly larger 162 sq ft firebox and total heating surface of 2,105 sq ft including 344 sq ft superheating, tractive effort increased by nearly 25% to 33,320 lbs.
#1785 was retired in 1957 and donated to the City of Woodburn, OR. It is on display near the junction of E Cleveland St & Ogle St, and appears to be very well looked after by the Oregonian Railway Historical Society.
