| This is a massive beast was built by the Great Northern's own Hillyard Shops in 1927. According to www.gngoat.org website, "The mountain-shrinking 2-8-8-2 was the all-time giant of Great Northern's steam fleet -- and the largest locomotive in the world when Baldwin built the first of its class. Most of the big R's, however, came from the railway's own shops at Hillyard, Washington, and were the first steam locomotives built in the Pacific Northwest." Specs - R-1s class, 63" drivers, 225 psi boiler pressure, 28x32" cylinders, engine weight of 594,940 lb, impressive tractive effort of 152,320 lb. The entire class of 2-8-8-2's were retired between 1951-1955. Only two remain - one at the Illinois RR Museum at Union, IL and one at the Museum of Transportation in Kirkwood, MO. No information was given for this photo so the date and location are "guess-timations". Unknown photographer. |