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The USRA 2-8-8-2 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. These locomotives were of 2-8-8-2 wheel arrangement in the Whyte notation, or (1'D)'D1' in UIC classification. A total of 106 locomotives were built to this plan for the USRA; postwar, it became a de facto standard design.

History[]

While the 2-8-8-2 had been built in the United States since 1909, most development work had gone into making subsequent locomotives larger and heavier. The Norfolk and Western Railway however, had taken development in a different direction. By using smaller cylinders and higher boiler pressure, the result was a locomotive capable of powerful performance, and a turn of speed higher than the 20 mph (32 km/h) maximum of the ‘traditional’ designs.

The USRA 2-8-8-2 drew heavily on the Norfolk and Western Railway’s Y-2 class locomotive design, as their delegate to the 2-8-8-2 design committee had brought a full set of blueprints.

Original owners[]

USRA originals[]

Railroad Quantity Class Road numbers Notes
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad 26 7145–7170 rebuilt to EL-5 class 2-8-8-0
Clinchfield Railroad 10 L-2 725-734
Norfolk and Western Railway 45 Y-3 2005-2049
Virginian Railway 5 900-904 Refused, to Norfolk & Western 2000–2004
Virginian Railway 20 USA 701–720
Total 106

Copies[]

Railroad Quantity Class Road numbers Notes
Clinchfield Railroad 10 L-3 745-744 -
Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad 10 L-107 3500-3509 -
Interstate Railway 2 Class 20 20-21 -
Norfolk and Western Railway 30 Y-3a 2050-2079 -
Norfolk and Western Railway 45 Y-3b 2080-2089 Later re-classed as Y-4
Northern Pacific Railway 4 Z-4 4500-4503 -
Virginian Railway 15 USB 721-735
Total 116

Survivor[]

Although no original USRA 2-8-8-2 survives, one of the copies does. Norfolk & Western 2050, a 1923 ALCO product of N&W's Y-3a class, is on display at the Illinois Railway Museum.

External links[]

File:Usra.jpg

Steam Locomotives of the United States Railroad Administration (USRA).
Switchers 0-6-00-8-0
Light 2-8-22-10-24-6-24-8-2
Heavy 2-8-22-10-24-6-24-8-2
Articulated 2-6-6-22-8-8-2
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