<kuid:45588:5562> Tennessee Central 4-8-2 554

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Tennessee Central operated four of the lightest 4-8-2's ever built. Only Alaska Railroad's 4-8-2's were lighter. They mainly worked in passenger service, but near the end of their service lives, as boiler-equipped RS3's arrived, they worked increasingly in freight service. During the first World War, the United States government put the nation's railroads under the control of a government agency: the USRA (United States Railroad Administration). The lasting legacy of the USRA was a group of standard locomotive designs, which were used by railroads across the country. The locomotives were designed to use a minimum of materials to conserve vital materials for the war effort. To serve as many roles as possible, the USRA created a set of 12 standard steam loco designs.
The first to be delivered was Baltimore & Ohio 4500, a USRA light 2-8-2. This engine is currently on display at the B&O Railway Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. The USRA engines came very late: even 4500 served for only a few months before the war ended; many USRA engines were not delivered until after the war.
Due to a focus on freight operations in USRA locomotive allocations, relatively few of the USRA passenger engines were built. There were only 47 of these light 4-8-2s built under the USRA, which made it the second most common USRA passenger engine (after the 81 light 4-6-2s). However, the design was modified and copied often following the end of the war. Many roads ordered similar 4-8-2s before and after the war, so this model can easily be a stand in for many 4-8-2 types around North America.

Tennessee Central 551-class 4-8-2
Builder: Alco-Dunkirk, 1926
Drivers: 63 inch
Cylinders: 24 by 28 inch
Weight: 441,800 pounds (Apparently Cliff Downey is including the tender's weight in this figure, or they would challenge Frisco's for the heaviest, not second or third lightest.)
Tractive Effort: 46,349 pounds