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 locomotive 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 1,200 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: ​  • Grate area 46.6 sq ft (4.33 m2) Boiler pressure 175 psi (1.21 MPa) Heating surface: ​  • Firebox 190 sq ft (18 m2)  • Tubes 1,796 sq ft (166.9 m2)  • Flues 773 sq ft (71.8 m2)  • Total surface 2,781 sq ft (258.4 m2) Superheater: ​  • Heating area 637 sq ft (59.2 m2) Cylinders Two, outside Cylinder size 25 in × 28 in (635 mm × 711 mm) Valve gear Baker 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

Railroad	Quantity	Class	Road numbers	Notes
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad	10	F-1	540–549
Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway	8		329-336
Erie Railroad	16	C-1	120–135
Kansas City Terminal Railway	5		34-38
Louisville and Nashville Railroad	6	C-2	2118–2123
Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad	10		39-48
Northern Pacific Railway	4	G-1	1170–1173
New York Central Railroad	25	U-3a	415–439	Renumbered 7815–7839
NYC subsidiary Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway	9	U-3a	7440–7448	Renumbered 7740–7748
NYC subsidiary Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad	20	U-3a	300–319
NYC subsidiary Kanawha and Michigan Railroad	3	U-3a	553, 554, 568	Renumbered 9548-9550, then 7758–7760
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
NYC subsidiary Michigan Central Railroad	10	U-3a	8940–8949	Renumbered 7840–7849
NYC subsidiary Toledo and Ohio Central Railroad	5	U-3a	9543–9547	Renumbered 7753–7757
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad	35	Y-3	Ten were built in 1920 (3400-3409), twenty in 1922 initially lettered CNE 13-32 (3415-3434), and five in 1923 (3410-3414).
Pere Marquette Railway	10		1300–1309	to Chesapeake and Ohio Railway 40–49
Rutland Railroad	2	U-3	109–110
Southern Railway	20	As-11	1878-1897
West Point Route (Atlanta and West Point Rail Road)	1	G	215
West Point Route (Georgia Railroad)	2	G	801–802
West Point Route (Western Railway of Alabama)	1	G	115
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
Total	175

After the dissolution of the USRA, an additional 1,200 copies of the USRA 0-8-0 were built for many railroads, There is a known survivor of this Type, Republic Steel Corp. #285, which is an ALCO (Richmond) product built in 1925. It is now preserved at the Kentucky Railway Museum in New Haven, Kentucky. It is unknown if any more USRA 0-8-0s of this type exist.

References

• 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.