USRA 0-8-0

The USRA 0-8-0 was a USRA standard class of steam locomotive designed under the control of the United States Railroad Administration, the nationalized railroad system in the United States during World War I. This was the standard heavy switcher of the USRA types, and was of 0-8-0 wheel arrangement in the Whyte notation, or "D" in UIC classification.

USRA 0-8-0
Type and origin Power type Steam Builder ALCO, Baldwin, Lima Total produced 175 (plus 1200 copies)
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 0-8-0  • UIC D h2 Gauge 4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge Driver dia. 51 in (1,295 mm) Wheelbase Locomotive: 15 ft 0 in (4.57 m) Loco & tender: 52 ft 10 ^1⁄2 in (16.12 m) Length 66 ft 1 ^1⁄2 in (20.15 m) Width 10 ft 0 in (3.05 m) Height 15 ft 0 in (4.57 m) Axle load 55,000 lb (25,000 kg) Loco weight 220,000 lb (100,000 kg) Tender weight 144,000 lb (65,000 kg) Total weight 364,000 lb (165,000 kg) Fuel type Coal Fuel capacity 32,000 lb (15,000 kg) Water cap 8,000 US gal (30,000 l; 6,700 imp gal) Firebox:  • Firegrate area 46.6 sq ft (4.33 m^2) Boiler pressure 175 psi (1.21 MPa) Heating surface 2,781 sq ft (258.4 m^2)  • Tubes 1,796 sq ft (166.9 m^2)  • Flues 773 sq ft (71.8 m^2)  • Firebox 190 sq ft (18 m^2) Superheater: ​  • Heating area 637 sq ft (59.2 m^2) Cylinders Two, outside Cylinder size 25 in × 28 in (635 mm × 711 mm) Valve type 14-inch (360 mm) piston valves
Performance figures Tractive effort 51,042 lbf (227.05 kN)

A total of 175 locomotives were built under USRA control; these were sent to the following railroads:

Table of original USRA allocation[1]

Railroad	Quantity	Class	Road numbers	Notes
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad	10	F-1	540–549	[2]
Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway	8		329-336
Erie Railroad	16	C-1	120–135	[3]
Kansas City Terminal Railway	5		34-38
Louisville and Nashville Railroad	6	C-2	2118–2123	[4]
Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad	10		39-48
Northern Pacific Railway	4	G-1	1170–1173	[5]
New York Central Railroad	25	U-3a	415–439	Renumbered 7815–7839[6]
NYC subsidiary Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway	9	U-3a	7440–7448	Renumbered 7740–7748[6]
NYC subsidiary Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad	20	U-3a	300–319	[6]
NYC subsidiary Kanawha and Michigan Railroad	3	U-3a	553,554,568	Renumbered 9548-9550, then 7758–7760[6]
NYC subsidiary Lake Erie and Western Railroad	3	U-3a	4250–4252	to New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad ("Nickel Plate Road") 205–207 in 1923[6][7]
NYC subsidiary Michigan Central Railroad	10	U-3a	8940–8949	Renumbered 7840–7849[6]
NYC subsidiary Toledo and Ohio Central Railroad	5	U-3a	9543–9547	Renumbered 7753–7757[6]
Pere Marquette Railway	10		1300–1309	to Chesapeake and Ohio Railway 40–49[8]
Rutland Railroad	2	U-3	109–110	[9]
Southern Railway	20	As-11	1878-1897	[10]
West Point Route (Atlanta and West Point Rail Road)	1	G	215	[11]
West Point Route (Georgia Railroad)	2	G	801–802	[11]
West Point Route (Western Railway of Alabama)	1	G	115	[11]
Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway	5	C-1	5101–5105	to New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad ("Nickel Plate Road") 271–275 in 1949[7]
Total	175

After the dissolution of the USRA, an additional 1200 copies of the USRA 0-8-0 were built for many railroads, However, there is a known survivor of this Type, Republic Steel Corp. #285 is an ALCO (Richmond) Product built in 1925, is at the Kentucky Railway Museum, New Haven, KY. It is unknown if any more USRA 0-8-0's of this type exist.

References

1. "USRA Locomotives". Steamlocomotive.com. Retrieved 2009-02-18.
2. Drury pp.105–106
3. Drury pp.179–180
4. Drury pp.229–230
5. Drury p.317
6. Drury pp. 275–276
7. Drury pp.286–287
8. Drury pp.86–87
9. Drury p.339
10. Drury pp.372–373
11. Drury p.31

• Westcott, Linn H. (1960). Model Railroader Cyclopedia - Volume 1: Steam Locomotives. Kalmbach Books. ISBN 0-89024-001-9.
• Drury, George H. (1993), Guide to North American Steam Locomotives, Waukesha, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing Company, ISBN 0-89024-206-2, LCCN 93041472
• Railroad Master Mechanics' Association (1922). Locomotive Cyclopedia of American Practise - 6th Edition, 1922. Simmons-Boardman.