• Source: Southern Railway Ps-4 class

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...."




History






= Development and appearances

=
During the 1920s, the Southern Railway's (SOU) roster consisted of smaller Ps-2 class 4-6-2 Pacifics that could not handle the longer and heavier mainline passenger trains between Washington, D.C., and Atlanta. Although there were Ts and Ts-1 class 4-8-2 locomotives valid enough to that handle this work, they could not be relocated to some of SOU's routes over and over. The SOU decided to revise the 4-6-2 type and ordered the more powerful Ps-4 Heavy Pacific class with the first batches built in 1923 by American Locomotive Company's (ALCO) Schenectady Works in Schenectady, New York, with 12 of them, Nos. 1375-1386, delivered to SOU; and four of them, Nos. 6684-6687, for the Alabama Great Southern (AGS). These locomotives were derived from the standard USRA Heavy Pacific design, but had notable differences based on the SOU's standards. The Ps-4s had a more spacious cab, smaller 73 in (1,778 mm) driving wheels, a slightly shorter boiler, an additional firebox combustion chamber, and a Worthington 3-B feedwater heater mounted on the running board of the fireman's side. These arrangements made the locomotives produce 47,535 lb (21.6 tonnes) of tractive effort, allowing them to pull fourteen passenger cars at 80 miles per hour (130 km/h) on the Piedmont terrains between Washington, D.C., and Atlanta. They were originally painted black with gold linings and lettering.
The Ps-4 locomotives were designed to pull SOU's most famous passenger trains, including the Piedmont Limited, the Aiken-Augusta Special, the Peach Queen, and the Birmingham Special on flat terrains. The SOU officials, impressed with the Ps-4s' excellent performance, ordered 15 more locomotives from ALCO in 1924, while the other five were assigned to the Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway (CNO&TP). The first nine SOU locomotives were numbered 1366-1374, while the remaining six were numbered 1387-1392, filling in on either sides of the 1923 group. The CNO&TP Ps-4s were numbered 6471-6475 and were assigned to pull the Royal Palm, Ponce de Leon, Queen & Crescent Limited, and Florida Sunbeam trains, among others.

In 1925, Southern Railway president Fairfax Harrison traveled to the United Kingdom, where he admired the country's London and North Eastern Railway's apple green passenger steam locomotives. Harrison's trip had inspired the appearance of the second order of Ps-4s built in the summer of 1926 by ALCO's Richmond Works by having them painted in Virginian green with gold leaf trimming and lettering. This would include the original first batches and the new Crescent Limited passenger train. The second order consisted of twelve locomotives numbered 1393-1404 for SOU, seven numbered 6476-6482 for the CNO&TP, and four numbered 6688-6691 for the AGS. Aside from the paint scheme, which would soon be applied to all of Southern's passenger locomotives, the second order had other notable differences. They featured an Elesco feedwater heater mounted on top of the smokebox between the stack and bell instead of under the running boards. In comparison with the two-axle bogie, 10,000 US gallons (38,000 L) standard USRA tender design used on the first order, the 1926 Ps-4s were equipped with a larger three-axle bogie tender with a water capacity of 14,000 US gallons (53,000 L) designed for long-distance passenger runs and eliminating multiple water stops. These locomotives were affectionally nicknamed the Harrison Engines. Because of the Harrison Engines' Virginian green and gold paint scheme, they were signified as the First Ladies of the Pacifics around the SOU system.
The final Ps-4s were built in April 1928 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works, consisting of only five locomotives for SOU, Nos. 1405-1409. They were equipped with smaller tenders unlike the second order, but still larger than those of the first order, featuring two-axle bogies and a capacity of 12,000-gallon of water. They also built with Walschaerts valve gear as opposed to the previous orders which were equipped with Baker valve gear. The final locomotive of the series, No. 1409, featured an extended smokebox and a Coffin feedwater heater. The SOU engineers, firemen, and workshop employees decorated the Ps-4s with two brass flag holders on their headlight, a brass eagle ornament mounted in front of their smokebox door, and brass stars on their cylinder head caps.




= Locomotives roster

=
During 1926, Nos. 1393, 1394, 1401, 1402, and 1403 were initially assigned to the Atlanta Division, while Nos. 1395-1400, and 1404 served the Charlotte Division. The formers were maintained at SOU's South (Pegram) Shops in Atlanta, while the latters were maintained at SOU's Spencer Shops in Spencer, North Carolina. No. 1401 was relocated to the Charlotte Division in 1945, while Nos. 1393, 1394, 1402, and 1403 followed on in mid-1947, where they were all maintained at the Spencer Shops until their end.

The AGS Ps-4s pulled the Queen & Crescent Limited on the Queen and Crescent Route between Chattanooga, Tennessee and Meridian, Mississippi. These locomotives were maintained at AGS' Finley Shops in Birmingham, Alabama. In 1949, all of the AGS Ps-4s were transferred over to SOU's Charlotte Division, where they were maintained at the Spencer Shops.




= Modernizing and retirement

=
In the mid-late 1930s, the 1923-1926 Ps-4s were re-equipped with Walschaerts valve gear as the SOU mechanical officers were concerned about the Baker type intended to reverse itself at high-speed, damaging the locomotives' running gear and the rails. In 1941, SOU began to modernize their premier passenger trains with their new EMD E6 diesel locomotives to pull, while the SOU Ps-4s were relegated to haul local passenger trains and mail trains on the Washington, D.C. to Atlanta mainline. Additionally, the Ps-4s were in motive power pool service, where they were called in to pull mainline passenger trains again whenever one of the diesel locomotives was unavailable. Due to the outbreak of World War II and wartime restrictions placed on all of the railroads, SOU was unable to purchase more diesel locomotives, and opted to modernize their steam locomotives, including the Ps-4s. As such, all of the Ps-4s were re-equipped with multiple-bearing crossheads to replace their original alligator crossheads. Some of the Ps-4s also have their tender coal bunkers expanded to hold up more coal. Nos. 1366-1409 were all rebuilt with the higher and straighter front running board to allow more room around their cylinders and running gear for the crew to maintain the mechanical lubricating system.
At the same time, No. 1380 was given a bullet-nose streamlining design by Otto Kuhler for use on SOU's new Tennessean service, which operated between Washington, D.C., and Monroe, Virginia, connecting in the latter to the Norfolk and Western Railway, who had assigned its streamlined J class engines to its connecting lines. After the war ended, SOU resumed dieselization and by 1953, all of the Ps-4s were retired and scrapped with the exception of one.




= Preservation

=

No. 1401 of the 1926 batch was salvaged from the scrap line in 1953, per advice from railfan Walter H. Thrall and SOU board member W. Graham Claytor Jr., who requested that the locomotive should be donated to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., since it was recognized to be one of the eight Ps-4 locomotives hauling the funeral train of U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt in April 1945. In 1961, the No. 1401 locomotive was cosmetically restored and transported via flatbed truck to the Smithsonian's under construction National Museum of American History, which opened in early 1964. No. 1401 currently remains on static display at the museum as the sole survivor of the Southern Railway Ps-4.




See also


Atlanta and West Point 290




Notes






References






Bibliography






Further reading


Morgan, David P. (December 1978). "A paean to the Ps-4". Trains. Vol. 39, no. 2. Kalmbach Publishing. pp. 28–34.




External links



Steam Locomotive, Southern Railway 1401

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