SLSF 4018

Frisco 4018

SLSF 4018 on display at Sloss Furnaces, May 2011

Type and origin Power type Steam Builder Lima Locomotive Works Serial number 5872 Model USRA Light Mikado Build date 1919

Specifications Configuration 2-8-2 Gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) Leading dia. 33 in (0.838 m) Driver dia. 63 in (1.600 m) Trailing dia. 43 in (1.092 m) Adhesive weight 228,500 lb (103.6 t) Loco weight 303,000 lb (137.4 t) Fuel type Coal Boiler pressure 200 psi (1.38 MPa) Cylinders Two, outside Cylinder size 26 in × 30 in (660 mm × 762 mm)

Performance figures Tractive effort 54,700 lbf (243.32 kN) Factor of adh. 4.18

Career Operators Frisco Lines Class 4000 Number in class 23 Numbers 4018 Locale Birmingham District Delivered 1923 Last run February 29, 1952 Current owner City of Birmingham, Alabama Disposition Static display at the Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark

SLSF 4018 is a class USRA Light 2-8-2 "Mikado" steam locomotive which operated for three decades hauling freight between Bessemer and Birmingham, Alabama (United States), on the St. Louis – San Francisco Railway. It went on display at the Alabama State Fairgrounds in 1952 and is one of only a few locomotives of its type that survive.

Called a "war baby" because it was part of the build-up of cargo capacity ordered through the United States Railroad Administration during World War I, Engine No. 4018 was constructed in October 1919 to a standardized USRA Light Mikado design by the Lima Locomotive Works of Lima, Ohio, for the Pennsylvania Railroad. The engine is a 2-8-2 locomotive of the USRA standard Mikado type, inherited from Japan, and is coal-fired. The standard gauge locomotive was capable of 54,700 pounds-force (243.3 kN) of tractive effort, running two 27-by-30-inch (686 mm × 762 mm) cylinders under 200 pounds per square inch (1.38 MPa) of boiler pressure. The driving wheels are 63 inches (1.600 m) in diameter and its wheelbase is 36 ft 1 in (11.00 m). The overall length of the engine and its 10,000 US gallons (38,000 l; 8,300 imp gal) tender is just under 82 ft (25.0 m). The locomotive stands 19 ft (5.8 m) tall.

Engine No. 4018 was sold to the St Louis – San Francisco Railway (Frisco Railway) in 1923 and spent much of the next three decades carrying transport between Bessemer and Birmingham. The USRA Light 2-8-2 "Mikado" design itself was later improved upon by the Lima Locomotive Works evolving into the 2-8-4 Berkshire locomotive. Part of this evolution involved increasing the size of the Mikado's firebox. This larger firebox improved the engine's coal burning efficiency, however the additional weight facility adding the second wheel set to the trailing truck. Steam engines were phased out in favor of diesel locomotives in the mid-20th century and No. 4018 was, in fact, the last steam locomotive to operate on any part of the Frisco Railway and quite possibly the last to operate within the Birmingham metro area.