Southern Railway Class A-7

The A-7 Class were a fleet of 175 0-6-0 steam locomotive switchers that worked for the Southern Railway from 1904 until 1954.

Southern Railway Class A-7
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Details Builders Baldwin, ALCo (Pittsburgh and Richmond), and Lima Date Built 1904 - 1914 Wheel Arrangement 0-6-0 Switcher Gauge Standard (4' 8 1/2" inches) Driving Wheel Diameter 50" inches Cylinder Size 20" x 26" inches Boiler Pressure 185 psi Tractive Effort 32,710 lbs. Weight 73 tons (117.87 tons with tender) Fuel Capacity 7 tons of Coal Water Capacity 7,000 gallons Total Built 175 Numbers 1614 - 1751, 6015 - 6020 (CNO&TP), 6510 - 6518 (AGS), 8370 - 8375 (GS&F), 8550, 8551, 8555, and 8556. Retired 1934 - 1954 Number Preserved No. 1643 preserved, the rest scrapped
V - E - T - D

History

At the turn of the century, the Southern Railroad was a new company with a lot of older engines, this was also the case for switching locomotives. The switch engines at the time were the A-1, A-2, and A-3 classes. There was a need for some new switcher locomotives and the Southern came up with a new standard design to replace them.

In 1904, Baldwin built the first 24 engines of the new A-7 class locomotives. Each locomotive had 50" inch driving wheels, 20" x 26" inch cylinders, weighed in at 73 tons (117.87 tons with tender), a boiler pressure of 185 psi, and a tractive effort of 32,710 lbs. Their tenders could hold up to 7 tons of coal and 7,000 gallons of water.

Between 1904 and 1914, 175 locomotives were built by Baldwin, ALCo (Richmond, VA and Pittsburgh, PA Works), and Lima. Southern numbers were 1614 - 1751, AGS numbers were 6510 - 6518, CNO&TP numbers were 6015 - 6020, GS&F numbers were 8370 - 8375, and engines #8550, #8551, #8555 and #8556 worked at the St. Johns River Terminal. Engines #1614 and #1615 were built in 1907 by ALCo-Richmond for the Nashville Terminal Railroad (original numbers 3 and 4) back when the Southern controlled the Tennessee Central Railroad along with the Illinois Central Railroad. After the TC went back into private hands in 1908, the engines were renumbered to 1614 and 1615.

These locomotives could be seen almost anywhere on the entire Southern system working at big passenger terminals such as Chattanooga, Tennessee; Knoxville, Tennessee; Cincinnati, Ohio; Atlanta, Georgia; Spencer, North Carolina; Birmingham, Alabama; Alexandria, Virginia; New Orleans, Louisiana; Jacksonville, Florida; Sheffield, Alabama; Macon, Georgia; Asheville, North Carolina; Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Memphis, Tennessee; Nashville, Tennessee; and other major cities the Southern served.

Until the As-10 and As-11 class 0-8-0s arrived in 1914 and the 1920s, the A-7 class 0-6-0s were the primary switching locomotives on the Southern Railroad. In 1934, #1639 was the first of the class to be retired from service and after that, 19 more engines would be retired until 1939. After World war 2, retirements began again with engine #1621 in March 1946. One by one, all of them fell to the scrapper's torch and by the end of 1953, only one, #1655, was left. This engine would later be sold for scrap on December 28, 1954.

Batches

• #1614 - 1615 (built by ALCo-Richmond in 1907) (Originally Nashville Terminal Railroad #3 and 4)
• #1616 - 1625 (built by Baldwin in 1906)
• #1626 - 1640 (built by ALCo-Pittsburgh in 1906)
• #1641 - 1650 (built by ALCo-Pittsburgh in 1905)
• #1651 - 1673 (built by Baldwin in 1904) (First Batch)
• #1674 - 1698 (built by ALCo-Pittsburgh in 1904)
• #1699 - 1713 (built by Baldwin in 1908)
• #1714 - 1723 (built by Baldwin in 1910)
• #1724 - 1738 (built by Lima in 1911)
• #1739 - 1751 (built by Lima in 1914) (Last Batch)
• #6015 - 5017 (built by ALCo-Pittsburgh in 1906) (originally CNO&TP #519 - 521)
• #6018 - 6020 (built by ALCo-Richmond in 1907) (originally CNO&TP #522 - 524)
• #6510 - 6512 (built by ALCo-Pittsburgh in 1905) (originally AGS #110 - 112)
• #6513 - 6515 (built by ALCo-Pittsburgh in 1906) (originally AGS #113 - 115)
• #6516 - 6518 (built by ALCo-Richmond in 1907) (originally AGS #116 - 118)
• #8370 - 8371 (built by Baldwin in 1910) (originally GS&F #200 - 201)
• #8372 - 8375 (built by ALCo-Richmond in 1912) (originally GS&F #202 - 205)
• #8550 (built by Baldwin in 1908) (originally St. Johns River Terminal #2)
• #8551 (built by Baldwin in 1909) (originally St. Johns River Teriminal #3)
• #8555 (built by Baldwin in 1909) (originally St. Johns River Terminal #4)
• #8556 (built by Lima in 1912) (originally St. Johns River Terminal #5)

Accidents

• On January 2, 1910, engine #1670 derailed and landed on its engineer's side in West Yards in Knoxville, Tennessee. Engineer William Hagues was killed.

Sale to other companies

In October 1947, engine #6513 (formerly CNO&TP #113) was sold to the Tennessee Products & Chemical Company of Nashville, Tennessee.

In 1952, engine #1643 was sold to the Morehead & North Fork Railroad in Kentucky as their #12.

Preservation

In September 1952, #1643 (built by ALCo-Pittsburgh in September 1905) was sold to the Morehead & North Fork Railroad Company as their #12. She hauled local clay products, coal, and lumber to the Chesapeake & Ohio interchange in Morehead, Kentucky for the M&NF until the railroad bought a pair of ALCo S-1 to replace their steam locomotives on April 1, 1963.

The M&NF was abandoned in 1973, but a private owner took possession of the railroad and continued operations for his clay plant with four Baldwin diesels acquired in 1976. C&O successor CSX Transportation removed its track into Morehead during 1985, and for a while, the landlocked line operated the occasional steam-powered—and then diesel-powered—tourist trains until 1995. Steam sisters Nos.11 and 14 were sold and preserved elsewhere (and even operated), but 0-6-0 No.12 was shoved into the M&NF’s ramshackle shed in next-door Clearfield, and largely forgotten about.

In 2011, the locomotive was sold to Jerry Jacobson and it reached the Age of Steam Roundhouse in 2012. On July 16, 2018, the locomotive was finally restored to operation.

Gallery

Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific #523's builder photo. The engine was built by ALCo-Richmond in 1907 and later became Southern #6019. She was scrapped in Chattanooga in October 1935.

Nashville Terminal Railroad #4 builders photo. The unit was built by ALCo-Richmond in 1907 and later became Southern #1615. She later retired in December 1946 and scrapped.

#1621 at East St. Louis in 1939. She was built by Baldwin in 1906 and was later retired in March 1946.

Southern #6517 (originally AGS #117) was built by ALCo-Richmond in 1907. She retired in February 1949 and was later scrapped.

Southern #8556 (originally St. Johns River Terminal #5). Built by Lima in 1912. Scrapped January 16, 1953

Southern #8371 (originally GS&F #201) built by Baldwin in 1910. It retired in April 1949 and was later scrapped.

#1683 at Knoxville, Tennessee in April 1951. The unit was built by ALCo-Pittsburgh in 1904 and was scrapped in Birmingham on July 20, 1953.

Southern #1710's builders photo. It was built by Baldwin in 1908 and served the Southern until June 1947.

#1649 at Knoxville in October 1949. It was built by ALCo-Pittsburgh in 1906 and served the Southern until November 1951.

#1633 at Knoxville on May 9, 1951. She was by ALCo-Pittsburgh in 1906 and was scrapped on September 18, 1953.

Morehead & North Fork #12 (ex-Southern #1643) collecting coal from the coal tipple at Clearfield, Kentucky in 1960.

Morehead & North Fork #12 at Clearfield in 1962

#12 (#1643) being towed out of the engine shed in 2011.

#12 being restored in 2012

#12 during the winter of 2017-2018