| Here is another example of a 1930 Alco-Schenectady built 4-8-4 Northern type locomotive for the Rock Island RR. According to Drury (1993) in Steamlocomotives.com, this design's size and weight limited their operation to the Chicago-Des Moines corridor, the Chicago-Dalhart, Texas line, and the segment between Herington, Kan and El Reno, Okla. Later bridge-strengthening allowed these heavyweights to pull freights and passenger trains to Denver, Fort Worth, Tucumcari, and Minneapolis. Specifics - 69" drivers, 250 psi boiler pressure, 26x32" cylinders, 434,000 lb engine weight, 66,620 lb tractive effort. Wesley Krambeck photo |