USRA Light Mikado

The USRA Light Mikado 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 light freight locomotive of the USRA types, and was of 2-8-2 wheel arrangement in the Whyte notation, or 1′D1′ in UIC classification.

A USRA Light Mikado type locomotive donated to the Museum of Transportation by the Chicago and Illinois Midland Railway

USRA Light Mikado
Type and origin Power type Steam Builder ALCO, Baldwin, Lima Build date 1918-1929 Total produced 698 originals plus 641 copies
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 2-8-2  • UIC 1′D1′ h2 Gauge 4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge Leading dia. 33 in (0.838 m) Driver dia. 63 in (1.600 m) Trailing dia. 43 in (1.092 m) Wheelbase locomotive: 36 ft 1 in (11.00 m) + tender: 71 ft 4 ^1⁄2 in (21.76 m) Adhesive weight 220,000 lb (99,800 kg)[1] Loco weight 292,000 lb (132,000 kilograms; 132 metric tons) Tender weight 185,400 lb (84,100 kilograms; 84.1 metric tons) Total weight 477,400 lb (216,500 kilograms; 216.5 metric tons) Fuel type Coal Fuel capacity 16 t (16 long tons; 18 short tons) Water cap 10,000 US gal (38,000 l; 8,300 imp gal) Boiler pressure 200 psi (1.38 MPa) Cylinders Two Cylinder size 26 in × 30 in (660 mm × 762 mm) Valve gear Walschaerts
Performance figures Maximum speed 30-59 Mph Tractive effort 54,724 lbf (243.42 kN)
Career Preserved 7

General arrangement drawing.

A total of 698 locomotives were built under the auspices of the USRA,[1] with a further 641 copies built after the end of the USRA's control. The first, for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, was completed in July 1918 and given #4500. The locomotives were considered well designed and modern, and were popular and successful. Large numbers remained in service until replaced by diesel locomotives. It was also called the McAdoo Mikado after William Gibbs McAdoo, head of the USRA.

With later copies, over 50 railroads used the type, including the following:

Table of original USRA allocation[2]

Railroad	Quantity	Class	Road numbers	Notes
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad	100	Q-3	4500–4599	[3]
Chicago and Alton Railroad	10	L-4	875–884	to Alton Railroad 4385–4394, class Q-8[4]
Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad	15	N-2	1925–1939	[5]
Chicago Great Western Railway	10	L-3	750–759	[6]
Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville Railroad ("Monon")	5	J-2	550–554	[7]
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad	9 (+11 from T&P)	K-55	2300–2308, 2309–2319	[8]
Grand Trunk Railway	15	M-3	440–454	to Canadian National Railway 3700–3714, class S-3-a[9]
Grand Trunk Western Railroad	25	M-3	455–479	to Canadian National Railway 3715–3739, class S-3-a[9]
Lehigh and Hudson River Railway	4	80	80–83	[10]
Louisville and Nashville Railroad	18	J-3	1500–1517	[11]
Maine Central Railroad	6	S	621–626	[12]
Missouri Pacific Railroad	15 (+10 from PRR)	MK-63	1301–1315, 1316–1325	[13]
Monongahela Railway	10		170-179
Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway	10	L2-55	650–659	[14]
New York Central Railroad	95	H-6a	5100–5194	Renumberd 1800–1894, less 11 to PM[15]
New York Central subsidiary Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway	25	H-6a	6089–6113	Renumbered 1700–1724[15]
New York Central subsidiary Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad	24	H-6a	400–423	[15] 10 to SLSF, others to PM
New York Central subsidiary Lake Erie and Western Railroad	15	H-6a	5540–5554	to Nickel Plate Road 586–600[15][16]
New York Central subsidiary Michigan Central Railroad	20	H-6a	7970–7989	Renumbered 1770–1789[15]
New York Central subsidiary Toledo and Ohio Central Railroad	15	H-6a	9732–9746	Renumbered 1732–1736[15]
New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railway ("Nickel Plate Road")	10	H-6a	601–610	[16]
Pennsylvania Railroad	(33)		20006-20038	Refused;[17] 10 to MP,[13] 23 to SLSF
Pennsylvania Railroad subsidiary Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad	5	L2s	108-112	renumbered PRR 9627-9631 [17]
Pere Marquette Railway	(30)	K-8	1011–1040	Acquired secondhand from IHB (14), NYC (11) and WAB (5).[18] To C&O 2350–2379
Pittsburgh and West Virginia Railway	3		1000-1002
Rutland Railway	6	H-6a	32–37	[19]
Seaboard Air Line Railroad	10	Q-1	390–399	[20]
St. Louis – San Francisco Railway	(23 from PRR, 10 from IHB)	4000	4000–4032	[21]
Southern Railway	25	Ms-1	4750–4774	[22] 4765–4775 to subsidiary Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway 6285–6294 in 1920
Texas and Pacific Railway	11	H-1	550–560	Refused; to Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific[23]
Union Pacific Railroad	20	MK-Spl	2295–2314	[24] Renumbered 2480–2499 in 1920
Union Pacific subsidiary Oregon Short Line Railroad	20		2535-2554
Wabash Railroad	20	K-2	2201–2220	5 to PM, replaced by 5 from WP[25]
Western Pacific Railroad	5	MK-55	321–325	to Wabash in 1920[26]
Totals	698

Copies:

Table of USRA copies

Railroad	Quantity	Class	Road numbers	Notes
Akron, Canton and Youngstown Railroad	7
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad	74
Canadian National Railway (Grand Trunk (Western))	18	S-3	3740-3757	[27]
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway	3
Chicago and Alton Railroad	5	L-4a	885–889	to Alton Railroad 4395–4399, class Q-8a[4]
Chicago and Illinois Midland Railway	9
Detroit and Toledo Shore Line Railroad	11
Florida East Coast Railway	15	701	701–715	[28]
Kansas, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway	1
Louisville and Nashville Railroad	75	J-3	1518–1592	[11]
Midland Valley Railroad	16
Missouri Pacific subsidiary International-Great Northern Railroad	10	MK-63	1101–1110	[13]
Mobile and Ohio Railroad	37	450	450–486	[29]
Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México	56
Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway	12	L2A-55	660–671	[14]
New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railway ("Nickel Plate Road")	61	H-6b–H-6f	611–671	[16]
Oklahoma City-Ada-Atoka Railway	68
Pere Marquette Railway	10	K-5	1041–1050	to C&O 1060–1069[18]
Seaboard Air Line Railroad	118	Q-3	334–451	[20]
Southern Railway subsidiary Alabama Great Southern Railroad	10	Ms-1	6612–6621	[22]
Texas and Pacific Railway	11	H-2	800–810	[23]
West Point Route (Atlanta and West Point Rail Road)	3	F	425–427	[30]
West Point Route (Georgia Railroad)	7	F	320–326	[30]
West Point Route (Western Railway of Alabama)	4	F	375–378	[30]
Total	641

Nine USRA light mikados both originals and copies are preserved. These are Frisco 4003 at the Fort Smith Trolley Museum in Fort Smith, Arkansas, Frisco 4018 at the Sloss Furness in Birmingham, Alabama, Nickel Plate Road 587 at the Indiana Transportation Museum in Noblesville, Indiana, Nickel Plate Road 624 at Hammond, Indiana, but is now being relocated to Headwaters Junction,[31] Nickel Plate Road 639 in Miller Park at Bloomington, Illinois, Baltimore and Ohio 4500 at the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, Maryland, Grand Trunk Western 4070 at Midwest Railway Preservation Society in Cleveland, Ohio, Union Pacific 2537 at Jefferson Park in Walla Walla, Washington, and C&IM 551 at the St. Louis Transportation Museum.

References

1. Drury p.409
2. "USRA Locomotives". Steamlocomotive.com. Retrieved 2009-02-25.
3. Drury pp.39–40, 47
4. Drury pp.436, 438
5. Drury pp.440–442
6. Drury pp.107, 110
7. Drury pp.112–113
8. Drury pp.125, 129
9. Edson & Corley p.168
10. Drury pp.213–214
11. Drury pp.227, 230
12. Drury pp.233, 235
13. Drury pp.248, 254
14. Drury pp.258, 260
15. Drury pp.268, 278
16. Drury pp.281, 286–287
17. Drury pp.322, 328
18. Drury pp.80, 88
19. Drury pp.338–339
20. Drury pp.349, 353
21. Drury pp.342, 345
22. Drury pp.369, 372–373
23. Drury pp.387, 390
24. Drury pp.397, 402
25. Drury pp.420, 422
26. Drury pp.430–431
27. Clegg, Anthony & Corley, Ray (1969). Canadian National Steam Power. Trains & Trolleys: Montreal. pp. 91–95.
28. Drury p.185
29. Drury p.256
30. Drury pp.30–31
31. "Nickel Plate Road no. 624 – Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society". Retrieved 2020-12-03.

Bibliography

• Drury, George H. (1993), Guide to North American Steam Locomotives, Waukesha, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing Company, ISBN 0-89024-206-2, LCCN 93041472
• Edson, William D.; Corley, Raymond F. "Locomotives of the Grand Trunk Railway". Railroad History. Boston, MA: The Railway and Locomotive Historical Society, Inc. (147). ISSN 0090-7847.