Steam & Excursion > A Lone Central's Call

Coal traffic on the Illinois Central's Kentucky Division out of Paducah would see the last wisps of steam on the railroad.  These photos, dated November, 1958, show what would continue during traffic peaks into March of 1960 and feature what would be one of the last locomotives to operate.

1. 2-10-2 #2807, known as a Central on the I.C., backs out of the Paducah roundhouse and onto the turntable at the beginning of the day.  The locomotive was built by Lima in 1923 as #3013, and was rebuilt in September of 1944 with improved running gear and a new boiler, complete with a front-end throttle.  Rated at over 100,000 pounds of tractive effort, the 2800 Class was among the best 2-10-2's ever built.

2. Surrounded by GP9 diesels, #2807 is the sole source of coal smoke in the Paducah engine terminal.

3. Headed northwest, timetable north of CR junction, #2807 heads to the Shawnee Fossil Plant with coal loads to be converted to electricity at the TVA facility.

Photos by Jim Adams in my collection.

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions

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Whoa! That last image is a really shot... That engine is not going to sit around for anyone, ever. It must still be putting away miles somewhere.

More IC gold from Mary!  Thank you.
Damned diesels.

jkh2cpu Wrote:
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> Whoa! That last image is a really GREAT shot... That
> engine is not going to sit around for anyone,
> ever. It must still be putting away miles
> somewhere.

I'll second that - great "new" memories - thanks for sharing
these!  What a hansome looking locomotive! 

/Mtich

It looks like that steam leak at the throttle's packing gland 'took-up'  
Sitting around cold for long periods has things like packing shrink and dry-out.
Working tte throttle and a little oil, soon helps soft leaks, like this packing 
self-seal.  So, by the time they got underway, everything tightened-up.
That's a fairly small capacity water-tendsr --- I think I can make-out 
an auxiliary water-car in the last picture .... it would make sense.

That's a great photo of backing onto the turntable..

Thanks for the photos.

​W.
 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/08/23 15:20 by wcamp1472.

Enjoyable photos!  Thank you!

Matthew

wcamp1472 Wrote:
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> That's a fairly small capacity water-tendsr --- I
> think I can make-out 
> an auxiliary water-car in the last picture .... it
> would make sense.

The 2600 Class 4-8-2's were built with high-capacity six-axle tenders.  The 2500 Class 4-8-2's and 2-10-2's had their tenders' coal capacity increased along with a coresponding decrease in water capacity, and the cisterns combined with the modified tenders approximated the capacity of the larger tenders of the 2600's.

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions

Frisco1522 Wrote:
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> More IC gold from Mary!  Thank you.
> Damned diesels.

Second that motion. Outstanding stuff, Mary.

MC

Excellent series!

Larry

Mary,
I'm still confused by the wording.
The 2800-engine on the turntable has a tender with two, 2-axle trucks.
I typically call the water compartment a 'cistern', as opposed to the 
fuel carrying portion.

In this case, by your use of the word: 'cistern' , are you referring to a
separate water car for the 2800s,  or to the 6-axle tenders and their water cisterns?

I continue to feel that's a small tender to 2-10-2 locos.

​W.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 09/09/23 06:54 by wcamp1472.

Most excellent photos.  It is great to see IC steam running so late in the steam era.

Interesting seeing the red on the underside of the tender slope sheet and supports,

Wes,   The IC called the auxillary water cars "cisterns", as opposed to the water leg of the tender.   Many of the 2-8-2's and virtually all of the rebuilt 2-10-2 and 4-8-2  types had a small water leg on the tender so that the coal capacity was increased, and they were almost invariably equipped with a "cistern" to get over the road. 

Of course, the use of a larger coal capacity and the extra water cistern allowed longer runs between water and fuel stops which contributed to shorter over the road times and allowed the IC steam to compete with the diesels for as long as it did. 

This usage was almost exclusively on the Chicago to New Orleans, and Omaha and St. Louis main lines, rather than on the rest of the system.   I grew up along the "charter line" in central Illinois, and never saw an engine equipped with a cistern, because as a secondary main line, the over the road timing was not as important. 

2807 was apparently one of the favorite 2-10-2s at the end as there are many photos of it in action after mid 1958, when almost all of the rest had been retired or stored.

Mary, 
Understood...

Many thanks,

W.

What he said about the auxilliary water cisterns.  The combination of increased capcity and the cistern was aimed to give similar range to the large six-axle tenders the 2600's were built with.  The Lima 2-8-4's also had larger tenders, and occasionally one of those would end up with other power.

Also since 2807 was among the very last locomotives to run, she got a higher numbers of photos simply because the pickings were slim.  At the very end, she was one of only two 2-10-2's (along with 2739) left in steam.

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/09/23 09:02 by MaryMcPherson.

Besides 2807 and 2739 you mention, 2802 was also very active at Paducah in February, 1960. I photographed her on 2/18 and 2/19 on coal trains and in sparkilng fresh paint! The oxide red cab roof really stood out! (2524, on the same dates,  also had fresh paint and a very oxide red cab roof and bell interior.)

Warren Frost