The Pennsylvania Railroad K4 was a class of 425 4-6-2 steam locomotives built between 1914 and 1928 for the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), where they served as the primary mainline passenger steam locomotives on the entire PRR system until late 1957.

Attempts were made to replace the K4s, including the 4-6-2 K5 (which had more power but the same number of drivers) and the 4-4-4-4 T1 duplex locomotive (which had both more power and more drivers). However, the low factor-of-adhesion of K5s meant that they were limited in their pulling power, while the T1s suffered from greater maintenance costs, wheel slip due to poor springing, and inexperienced crews. The T1s were also introduced late into the lifetime of steam locomotives. As such, the tried and tested K4s held their role as the PRR's primary express passenger locomotives for 30–40 years. The K4s hauled the vast majority of express passenger trains until they were replaced by diesel locomotives.

The K4s were not powerful enough for the heavier trains they often pulled from the mid-1930s onward, so they were often double-headed or even triple-headed, sometimes with early Atlantics and E6s. This was effective but expensive, and several crews were needed. The PRR did have the locomotives needed for this, many having been displaced by electrification east of Harrisburg.

The two preserved K4s, Nos. 1361 and 3750, were designated as Pennsylvania's official state steam locomotives on December 18, 1987, when Pennsylvania Governor Robert P. Casey signed into law House Bill No. 1211.

History

Development

thumb|left|A drawing design of the PRR K4 class locomotive

thumb|PRR K4s 1737 Builder's Photo

By the 1910s, the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) were in need of a larger and heavier passenger locomotive to haul their heavier main line passenger trains on their entire system. The result was the K4 class 4-6-2 Pacific, which was designed under the supervision of PRR Chief of Motive Power James T. Wallis, assisted by Chief Mechanical Engineer Alfred W. Gibbs and Mechanical Engineer Axel Vogt, as one of a pair of classes with the L1 class 2-8-2 Mikado, sharing the same boiler design and other features. Some inspiration came from the large experimental K29 class Pacific built in 1911 by American Locomotive Company (ALCO). Also influential was Gibbs' design for the successful E6 class 4-4-2 Atlantic, from which the K4 class inherited its heat-treated and lightweight machinery, its cast-steel KW trailing truck, and much of its appearance.

No. 1737 was the first K4 class locomotive built in May 1914 at PRR's Juniata Shops in Altoona, Pennsylvania with the construction number 2825.

A World War I-era prototype had distinctive "chicken coop" slat pilots, while the postwar versions had modern pilots.

Production

thumb|[[Baldwin Locomotive Works|Baldwin builder's photo of Pennsylvania Railroad K4s 5400]]

Three years elapsed until production examples were built. Partly, this was due to extensive testing, but wartime necessitated priority in construction to the L1s Mikado type for freight. In 1917, Altoona's Juniata Shops started producing K4s in numbers. The first 168 carried widely scattered road numbers, traditional for the PRR, but subsequent locomotives produced after 1920 were numbered in consecutive blocks.

{| class=wikitable style=text-align:center

|+ Table of orders and numbers

|-

!Year!!Quantity!!Fleet numbers

|-

|1914||1||1737

|-

|1917||41|| 12, 20, 43, 122, 227, 299, 358-359, 383, 389, 422, 612, 623, 669, 719, 830, 920, 1120, 1139, 1188, 1195, 1395, 1453, 1462, 1488, 1497, 2034, 2445, 5022, 5038, 5041, 5058, 5072, 5077, 5086, 5147, 5154, 5238, 5243, 5253, 5296

|-

|1918||111|| 8, 16, 225, 262, 269, 295, 452, 518, 526, 646, 837, 850, 911, 945, 949, 958, 962, 1329–1330, 1339, 1361, 1392, 1433, 1435, 1436, 1517, 1522, 1526, 1531, 1533, 1546, 1551, 1554, 1588, 1653, 1980, 1981, 1983-1985, 2032, 2112, 2665, 2673, 2761, 3654-3655, 3667-3684, 5334-5349, 7053, 7054, 7116, 7133, 7244, 7914, 7938, 8009, 8085, 8157, 8161, 8165, 8181,8195, 8212, 8218, 8225, 8236, 8240, 8242, 8251, 8261, 8278, 8281, 8309, 8334, 8347, 8373, 8377, 8378

|-

|1919||15|| 7267, 7270, 7273-7275, 7278-7280, 7287-7288, 8068, 8108, 8114, 8122, 8137 for PRR Lines West

|-

|1920||50||3726–3775

|-

|1923||57||3800, 3801, 3805–3807, 3838–3889

|-

|1924||50||5350–5399

|-

|1927||92||5400–5491

|-

|1928||8||5492–5499

|-

|||425||Total production

|}

Most of the K-4s were constructed at PRR's Juniata Shops, while Nos. 5400-5474 were built by Baldwin. Nos. 1120 and 2665 were streamlined in 1940 for the South Wind, a named passenger train equipped and operated jointly by the Pennsylvania Railroad, the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (later Seaboard Coast Line) and the Florida East Coast Railway. The South Wind began operations in December 1940, providing streamliner service between Chicago, Illinois, and Miami, Florida.

Nos. 3678 and 5338 were streamlined in 1941 for The Jeffersonian, one of the PRR's premier, all-coach trains between New York and St. Louis. They were also seen hauling the Broadway Limited (New York to Chicago), Liberty Limited (Washington to Chicago), and the Trail Blazer (New York to Chicago) occasionally. During World War II, these four locomotives formed a streamlined steam engine fleet within the PRR system, with another five locomotives that were also designed by noted industrial designer Raymond Loewy; they were the PRR S1 No. 6100, Q1 No. 6130, T1 Nos. 6110 and 6111; and K4 No. 3768. Streamlined shrouding of these four K4s Pacific locomotives was removed after 1950, together with K4 No. 3678.

Accidents and incidents

  • On Saturday, December 25, 1937, No. 8309 was leading the Gotham Limited from Columbus, Ohio to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with 16 passengers aboard and four porters. On approach into Pittsburgh, at a speed of 40 mph, the locomotive hit a large piece of rock near the West End Bridge and derailed off of a 50-foot cliff onto West Carson Street, killing engineer Oscar E. Rhoads, fireman William H. Strous, and narrowly missing many passing automobiles. All four porters aboard the train were injured. Three more people were indirectly injured when a city bus swerved into two other cars to avoid the falling locomotive. No. 8309 was re-railed, and intended to be towed to a shop to be rebuilt, but upon inspection, it was found that the damage was too great, becoming the first K4 locomotive to be written off for scrap in September 1938.
  • On the night of February 18, 1947, Nos. 422 and 3771 were double heading the Red Arrow passenger train No. 68 from Detroit, Michigan, to New York City with fourteen cars behind. At around 3:21 a.m., they both derailed at an excessive speed of at Bennington Curve in Gallitzin, Pennsylvania, killing 24 people, and injuring 138 on board. The train derailed due to the engineer having trouble looking through the fog along with excessive speed on a temporary trestle due to lack of proper signals. Despite extensive damage, the locomotive was repaired and operated until September 1953.

In May 2018, a group of preservationists, engineers and financial backers initiated a new restoration study. The work would include a detailed assessment of the engineering needs and a sustainable operating plan.

The group plans to replicate a 1940s Pennsylvania Railroad passenger train. It would work with the state's educators to give rides at tourist railroads within the state to school children on field trips, thus educating them on the history of how the Pennsylvania Railroad shaped their state.

On June 25, 2021, the Railroaders Memorial Museum in Altoona announced that it would launch a complete $2.6 million restoration of #1361. As of December 2022, a new Belpaire firebox was nearing completion, although with thicker steel and other modifications of the 1914 design in order to comply with current federal safety requirements.

PRR № 3750

No. 3750 remained on outdoor display at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, outside Strasburg, Pennsylvania. The museum's volunteer group plans to have No. 3750 cosmetically restored prior to it being placed in the newly proposed roundhouse exhibit.

References

Bibliography

  • Pennsylvania / Vandalia Line 4-6-2 "Pacific" Locomotives in the USA at SteamLocomotive.com.
  • PRR Steam Roster Pt6 - Class K.
  • K4s - All of them! by Gary Mittner.s