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,E. W. King, Jr. in Drury pp.298–299 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 maximum of the ‘traditional’ designs.
The USRA 2-8-8-2 drew heavily on the Norfolk and Western Railway’s Y2 class locomotive design, as their delegate to the 2-8-8-2 design committee had brought a full set of blueprints.E. W. King, Jr. in Drury p.299
Original owners USRA originals Railroad Quantity Class Road numbers NotesClinchfield RailroadDrury pp.131, 133Norfolk and Western Railway E. W. King, Jr. in Drury pp.299, 308Virginian RailwayRefused, to Norfolk and Western 2000–2004E. W. King, Jr in Drury pp.417, 419Virginian Railway Total 80
Copies Railroad Quantity Class Road numbers NotesClinchfield RailroadDenver and Rio Grande Western RailroadDrury pp.157, 161Interstate RailwayClass 20Norfolk and Western Railway Norfolk and Western Railway Later reclassified as Y-4’sNorthern Pacific RailwayDrury pp.310, 317Virginian RailwayTotal 81
Preservation
While none of the original USRA 2-8-8-2’s are preserved, one of the copies is. Norfolk and Western 2050, a 1923 ALCO product of N&W's Y3a class, is on static display at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois.
References Notes
Bibliography
https://archive.org/stream/railwayage64newy#page/1038/mode/2up https://archive.org/stream/railwayage66newy#page/576/mode/2up