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,[1] 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.[1]
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.[2]
rebuilt to EL-5 class2-8-8-0[3] NOTE: The B&O EL-5 locomotives were NOT USRA types with the trailing trucks removed. Lawrence [Larry] Sagle, primary author of B&O Power is likely the one responsible for this canard. Considering that most people think his book to be the standard work on B&O motive power, they apparently just keep repeating the error. Sagle was a B&O employee [ran public relations] and should have known better. Check out Sagle's figures on the EL-5 [cylinders, driver diameter boiler pressure, etc. - page 169 of B&O Power] and compare with the figures for the USRA locos as cited here, then check out the stats for the N&W Y-3 types as given on page 34 of Rosenberg & Archer's Norfolk & Western Steam [The Last 25 Years]
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.
