Southern Railway Ps-4 class

Southern Railway Ps-4 class
ALCO Richmond built Ps-4 No. 1396 built in 1926.
Type and origin References:[1][2][3] Power type Steam Builder ALCO Schenectady (1923 and 1924 batches) ALCO Richmond (1926 batch) Baldwin Locomotive Works (1928 batch) Build date 1923-1928 Total produced 64
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 4-6-2 "Pacific" Gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge Leading dia. 33 in (838 mm) Driver dia. 73 in (1,854 mm) Trailing dia. 43 in (1,092 mm) Wheelbase 13 ft 0 in (3.962 m) Frame type Bar Axle load 61 long tons (62.0 t) Adhesive weight 182,000 lbf (809.6 kN) Tender type 3 axle bogie (1926 order), 2 axle bogie (1923 and 1928 orders) Fuel type Coal Fuel capacity 16 long tons (16.3 t) Water cap. 10,000 imp gal (45,000 L) (1923 order), 14,000 imp gal (64,000 L) (1926 order), 12,000 imp gal (55,000 L) (1928 order) Firebox: ​  • Grate area 70.5 sq ft (6.550 m2) Boiler pressure 200 psi (1,380 kPa) Feedwater heater 1923 batch: Worthington 1926 and 1928 batches: Elesco No. 1409: Coffin, later Worthington Cylinders Two Cylinder size 27 in (686 mm) bore 28 in (711 mm) stroke Valve gear 1923 and 1926 batches: Baker, later Walschaerts 1928 batch: Walschaerts
Performance figures Maximum speed 60–80 mph (97–129 km/h) Power output 2,624 hp (1,957 kW) Tractive effort 47,535 lb (21.6 tonnes) Factor of adh. 3.79
Career Operators Southern Railway (SOU), Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway (CNO&TP), Alabama Great Southern Railroad (AGS) Class Ps-4 Number in class 64 Numbers SOU No. 1366-1409 AGS No. 6684-6691 CNO&TP No. 6471-6482 Nicknames "The Harrison Engines" Delivered 1923-1928 Withdrawn 1949-1953 Preserved No. 1401 Disposition One preserved, remainder scrapped

The Southern Railway Ps-4 was a class of 4-6-2 steam locomotives built for the Southern Railway (SOU), as well as its subsidiaries, the Alabama Great Southern (AGS) and the Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific (CNO&TP). They were designed to pull SOU's heavy mainline passenger trains between Washington, D.C. and Atlanta, Georgia, including the CNO&TP trains between Cincinnati, Ohio and Jacksonville, Florida, as well as the AGS trains between Chattanooga, Tennessee and Meridian, Mississippi, via Birmingham, Alabama.

The first batch were built between 1923 and 1924 by American Locomotive Company's (ALCO) Schenectady Works in Schenectady, New York. These locomotives were originally painted black with gold linings and lettering until 1926, when they were all repainted in a brand-new Virginian green and gold paint scheme. This would include the next batch of Ps-4s, which were built at ALCO's Richmond Works in Richmond, Virginia, and signified as the First Ladies of the Pacifics around the SOU system. In 1928, the last batch of Ps-4s were built by Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

In the 1940s, the Ps-4s were relegated to haul local mainline passenger trains and mail trains as their duties were taken over by SOU's new Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) E6 diesel locomotives. Despite this, the Ps-4s were used in motive power pool service, where they were called in to pull the mainline passenger trains again whenever one of the diesel locomotives was unavailable. By 1949, their retirement began and all but one were scrapped in 1953.

No. 1401 was spared from scrap and was donated to Smithsonian Institution, where it was put on permanent display at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., around late 1961 as the sole survivor of the Southern Railway Ps-4 class, which have been regarded by Smithsonian curator John H. White Jr. as being "among the most celebrated passenger locomotives operated in the United States...."