The Western Pacific Class GS-64 was a class of 4-8-4 steam locomotives. Six examples were developed from the Southern Pacific GS-6s which were originally for the Southern Pacific Railroad but they were later diverted to the Western Pacific Railroad during the Second World War.
History[]
Beginning[]
In 1943, the Western Pacific Railroad was experiencing a lack in motive power and needed some more locomotives to keep their trains on the move during World War II. The Southern Pacific Railroad had put an order for sixteen GS-6s for them but only ten of the sixteen had arrived on the Southern Pacific leading to the remaining six being diverted to the Western Pacific Railroad. The six that were meant to go on the SP were meant to be numbered 4470-4475 but were later numbered as 481-486 by the Western Pacific Railroad, the six that arrived on the Western Pacific Railroad were given some modifications such as smoke deflectors.
Withdrawal[]
All six members of the class were eventually withdrawn from active service and were all subsequently scrapped with the sole exception of the tender from one of the locomotives, No. 484, which can now been seen on display at the Western Pacific Railroad Museum in Portola, California. https://www.wplives.com/archives/steam/484/index.php
Numbering[]
Western Pacific Numbering | Southern Pacific Numbering | Current Status | Image |
---|---|---|---|
481 | 4470 | Scrapped | |
482 | 4471 | Scrapped | |
483 | 4472 | Scrapped | https://www.wplives.com/archives/steam/484/483.php |
484 | 4473 | Scrapped with the sole exception its tender on static display at the National Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri. | |
485 | 4474 | Scrapped | |
486 | 4475 | Scrapped | https://www.wplives.com/archives/steam/484/486.php |