Southern Pacific class MM-2

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Southern Pacific class MM-2
Power type Steam
Builder Baldwin Locomotive Works
Serial number 36684, 36685, 36687-36689, 36703-36705, 36726, 36727, 36740, 36783
Build date July-August 1911
Configuration 2-6-6-2
Gauge ft 8½ in (1435 mm)
Driver size 63 in (1.600 m) diameter
Weight on drivers 320,100 lb (145,190 kg)
Locomotive weight 384,800 lb (174,540 kg)
Boiler pressure 200 psi (1.38 MPa)
Feedwater heater 4B Worthington
High-pressure
cylinder size
25 in dia × 28 in stroke
Low-pressure
cylinder size
38 in dia × 28 in stroke
Tractive effort 74,070 lbf (329.3 kN)
Career Southern Pacific Railroad
Class MM-2
Number 4200 – 4211, renum 3900 – 3911
First run September 19, 1911
Retired 19461948
Disposition scrapped

Southern Pacific Railroad's MM-2 class of steam locomotives was Southern Pacific's (SP) only class of 2-6-6-2 locomotives ordered and built as cab forward locomotives. They were built in 1911 by Baldwin Locomotive Works and entered service on SP beginning September 19, 1911. By 1914, they had all been upgraded with an additional leading axle making them 4-6-6-2 locomotives. This was done to improve handling at speed.

SP used these locomotives in the Sierra Nevada Mountains for about 20 years, retiring them in the mid 1930s. They were stored in the railroad's Sacramento, California, shops for a couple years before being rebuilt with 4B Worthington feedwater heaters and uniform cylinders ("simpling" them) measuring 22 in diameter × 28 in stroke (559 mm by 711 mm). The rebuilds increased the class weight to 424,200 lb (192,410 kg) with 356,900 lb (161,890 kg) on the drivers, 210 psi (1.45 MPa) boiler pressure and 76,800 lbf (342 kN) tractive effort.

The rebuilt locomotives were renumbered into the 3900 series then used on SP's Portland Division in Oregon until they were again retired in the late 1940s. The locomotives were all scrapped soon after retirement with the last, 3907 (originally 4207), on September 23, 1948.

[edit] References

  • Diebert, Timothy S. and Strapac, Joseph A. (1987). Southern Pacific Company Steam Locomotive Conpendium. Shade Tree Books. ISBN 0-930742-12-5.