Description
Constructed by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1921, Southern Pacific’s fifteen P-8 class 4-6-2s #2461-2475 were obtained primarily for passenger service over the Ogden-Carlin segment of the railroad’s famed “Overland Route”. Over the route’s maximum gradient of 1.5%, a single P-8 was rated for a trailing load of 875-tons, approximately an elevencar passenger train. The P-8s thrived in this service until delivery of the larger, more powerful Mt-class 4-8-2s in the late 1920s. Most P-8s were then transferred further west for service between Oakland and Sacramento, along with the demanding Peninsula commute service between San Francisco and San Jose. Espee’s P-8 class 4-6-2s lasted until the mid-1950s, at which time they were replaced by diesels and retired.
Two Southern Pacific P-8 class locomotives were saved. SP #2467 was donated to the City of Oakland in 1960 and placed on display at Harrison Railroad Park. In April 1959, SP #2472 was donated to the City of San Mateo and placed on display at the Fairgrounds.
In the early 1990s, the Pacific Locomotive Association acquired SP #2467 and began its restoration. Completed by July 1999, the locomotive made its operational debut at Sacramento’s Railfair in 1999. SP #2467 is currently on loan for static display at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento.
In 1976, a group of volunteers began work on full restoration of SP #2472 back to operable service. In the early 1990s the locomotive was used on several local excursions. In 1992, SP #2472 was doubleheaded with SP GS-4 class locomotive #4449 on excursions operated for the National Railway Historical Society convention.
1:32 Scale / 45 mm Gauge
Brass & Stainless Steel Construction
10 ft. (3 M) Mini. Radius
Length: 35.02 in. (889.6 mm)
Width: 3.75 in. (95.25 mm)
Height: 5.95 in. (151.06 mm)
Alcohol / Butane fired
Two cylinders
D-valve
Twin Safety valve
Walschaerts valve gear
60 PSI working pressure
Gauge glass with blowdown
Axle driven water pump
Hand water pump in tender
Lubricator
Alcohol / Ceramic Butane burner
Draft Fan Required - Not included
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