This Consolidation type (2-8-0) locomotive was built as #973, one of thirty (#965-#979) delivered to the Union Pacific subsidiary the Oregon Short Line between 1901 and 1903 by Burnham, Williams & Co, one of the early incarnations of the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, PA.
Built as a Vauclain compound, #973 had 16” x 30” high pressure and 27” x 30” low pressure cylinders. Weighing 188,585 lbs, 162,7500 lbs on its 56” drivers, with a 33.8 sq ft grate, 202.4 sq ft firebox and 2,570 sq ft heating surface, it operated at a boiler pressure of 200 psi delivering 34,510 lbs tractive effort. In 1915, #973 was renumbered #533 but, by this time, many US railroads were no longer buying compounds and converting those they owned to simple expansion. In 1918, the thirty OSL Vauclain compounds were simpled with 21½” x 30” cylinders. When #533 was simpled, the original Stephenson valve gear was replaced by Walschaert.
At some stage, it was also superheated, the rebuild increasing the weight to 197,300 lbs, although slightly reduced to 174,000 lbs on the drivers.
The grate size increased to 49.5 sq ft with the rebuild and the firebox reduced to 174 sq ft. The operating boiler pressure was also reduced to 190 psi but, with a total heating surface of 2,810, including 464 sq ft superheating, they
nevertheless delivered 39,291 lbs tractive effort, a 12% increase.
In 1936, #533 was leased to the Union Pacific Railroad and appears to have spent most of its working life hauling freight in Wyoming. In 1958, it was donated to the City of Rawlins, WY, and went on display on W Elm St.
