Santa Fe No. 3243 moves a freight extra westbound at milepost 54 near Summit on Cajon Pass in the early 1950s. It is one of 128 Mikados in the 3160-3287 series built by Baldwin between 1917 and 1920. Classic Trains collection
Baltimore & Ohio No. 4592 takes water at Buckhannon, W.Va., on July 1, 1957. The railroad had 100 2-8-2s in the Q-3 class, Nos. 4500-4599, built by Baldwin in 1918 and retired by 1959. Jim Shaughnessy photo
Elgin, Joliet & Eastern No. 747 heads an eastbound freight about 2 miles east of the railroad’s Joliet, Ill., yard. The railroad, long associated with northwest Indiana’s steel industry, was a Chicago bypass. R. H. Braun photo
Extra 3156 West departs Marion, Ohio, on the Erie Railroad. Baldwin built 40 N-3 Mikados for the Erie 1923. H. W. Pontin photo
A reprieve for Great Northern steam: 2-8-2 No. 3386 serves as a stationary boiler in Superior, Wis., in November 1959 to steam heat iron ore hoppers for unloading. Note that the main rods are removed. It is one of 22 class O-7 locomotives built by the GN between 1929 and 1931 from retired M-2 class 2-6-8-0 articulateds. Philip A. Weibler photo
Illinois Central 2-8-2 No. 1607 steams at Chicago in April 1948. The railroad had more than 500 Mikados built by Alco, Baldwin, and Lima in addition to those built in its own shops. J. Bowie photo, C. W. Witbeck collection
Southern Pacific 2-8-2 No. 3249 is southbound at Thornbrook, Calif., with train 327 on Dec. 30, 1951. No. 3249 was built by Baldwin in 1913 and was the highest numbered locomotive the railroads Mk-5 class. The train was discontinued effective Feb. 26, 1952. Fred H. Matthews Jr. photo
In 1940, Union Pacific sometimes used one of its aging 2-8-2 Mikado type locomotives as a helper on Sherman Hill in Wyoming. In this picture, No. 2296 assists 4-8-4 No. 807 at Cheyenne with train 21, the Pacific Limited, operated to the West Coast from Kansas City and Chicago. R. H. Kindig photo
The 2-8-2 Mikado-type steam locomotive was the first with a firebox behind the drivers and supported by a trailing truck. Originally conceived by Baldwin Locomotive Works and the narrow gauge Interoceanic Railway in Mexico, the first U.S. Mikado was a 50-inch drivered Baldwin built in 1901 for the Bismarck, Washburn & Great Northern. In 1902, Baldwin delivered 15 2-8-2s to the Santa Fe. During World War II, several railroads tried to redesignate their 2-8-2s “MacArthurs,” but the name didn’t stick. New York Central and subsidiaries had the most with 1,387. Denver & Rio Grande Western operated the last on a Class I railroad on its narrow-gauge lines in Colorado and New Mexico.
