| This massive and powerful locomotive was built by Lima in October of 1939. Not to be confused with the "cab forward" 2-8-8-4's this had the cab located in the rear. The AC-9 class was fitted with an air-smoothed casing similar to those on the GS-4 4-8-4 passenger locomotives (without the colors). In May of 1950, the loco was converted from coal to an oil burner at El Paso, TX. The loco continued to serve for nearly 17 years before being vacated in April of 1956 in Sparks, NV and finally sold for scrap in May of 1956. Specs - class AC-9, 63 1/2" drivers, impressive 250 psi boiler pressure, four 24x32" cylinders, engine weight of 689,900 lb, impressive tractive effort of 124,300 lb. An unknown photographer took this photo. |