Nostalgia & History > Unusual number for a steam locomotive

Here is a photo of two ATSF Railway steam locomotives at Great Bend, Kansas, with the year unknown. Engine numbers are 1440 and 0116. This is the first time I've ever seen a photo of a steam engine with a zero being the first numeral in a four-digit number. Anyone have the dates when these two engines were manufactured. (Photo courtesy of the Kansas State Historical Society)

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Google for some of Evan Werkema's AT&SF rosters. In renumbering of 1898 you will find the 0111 class and the 0116 pictured. He also shows single digit with a leading zero, doubles, and triples up to 0266.

As I understood it, the "0" as the first digit in the number, is somewhat akin to today when BNSF re-letters a unit as "GN XXX" or the UP doing likewise as the "WP XXX", except that these steam locomotives were still in service - but not long for the world. They also tended to be the oldest stuff they ran during that time.

Corrections welcomed.

Bob

ATSF100WEST......Out

Can't find the reference right now, but I recall reading that in the early days of the Santa Fe, the "0" at the start of an engine number did indeed indicate that it was almost ready for the junkyard. On some electric railways, for example San Francisco Muni predecessor Market St. Railway, the "0" indicated a non-revenue car. On the Muni itself, the "0" indicated a gasoline-fueled bus, like White "shorty" 042, seen during Muni Centennial days in Dec. 2012.

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New Haven DL109's has a zero for a 1st number,and I imagine other roads did as well.

One CSX's SD 80Mac had a 0 beginning number. It was 0804. I was told it was because of the computer program having a four number requirement.

Paul B
Canton, GA

Thanks for reminding me of the New Haven. Back in July 1951, on a family trip from LA to New England, the last leg of the eastbound trip was from South Station in Boston to Norwood, where we would be staying with my mother's Aunt Lizzie. 'We rode a New Haven local, which had what I would now know was an Alco RS-2 or 3 on the point. My brother and I went up for a look and the engineer asked if we knew what the horsepower of the engine was. When I guessed "1500" he asked "How do you know it's not 1600?" and I admitted that I didn't, he told me that the clue was whether the engine number started with "0" or not. I've forgotten which was which, but it's one of my memories of long ago.