The

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...

's class B6 was its most successful class of

switcher locomotive A switcher locomotive (American English), shunter locomotive (British English), station pilot (British English), or shifter locomotive (Pennsylvania Railroad terminology) is a locomotive used for maneuvering railway vehicles over short distanc ...

, or as the PRR termed them "shifter". The PRR preferred the

0-6-0 is the Whyte notation designation for steam locomotives with a wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels. Historically, this was the most common wheel arrangement used o ...

wheel arrangement In rail transport, a wheel arrangement or wheel configuration is a system of classifying the way in which wheels are distributed under a locomotive. Several notations exist to describe the wheel assemblies of a locomotive by type, position, and c ...

for larger switchers, whereas on other railroads the

0-8-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and no trailing wheels. Locomotives of this type are also referre ...

gained preference. The PRR generally used

2-8-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels. ...

s when larger power was required.

History

Altoona Works Altoona Works (also known as Altoona Terminal) is a large railroad industrial complex in Altoona, Pennsylvania. It was built between 1850 and 1925 by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), to supply the railroad with locomotives, railroad cars and rel ...

constructed the prototype B6 in 1902. The B6 had the Pennsylvania's trademark square-shouldered

Belpaire firebox The Belpaire firebox is a type of firebox used on steam locomotives. It was invented by Alfred Belpaire of Belgium in 1864. Today it generally refers to the shape of the outer shell of the firebox which is approximately flat at the top and s ...

and drivers. They were constructed as

saturated steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is ...

engines, rebuilt with

superheater A superheater is a device used to convert saturated steam or wet steam into superheated steam or dry steam. Superheated steam is used in steam turbines for electricity generation, in some steam engines, and in processes such as steam reforming. ...

s later as class B6s, and had

Piston valves Piston valves are one form of valve used to control the flow of steam within a steam engine or locomotive. They control the admission of steam into the cylinders and its subsequent exhausting, enabling a locomotive to move under its own power. ...

and

Stephenson valve gear The Stephenson valve gear or Stephenson link or shifting link is a simple design of valve gear that was widely used throughout the world for various kinds of steam engines. It is named after Robert Stephenson but was invented by his employees. ...

. A total of 79 were built by

Baldwin Baldwin may refer to: People * Baldwin (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname Places Canada * Baldwin, York Regional Municipality, Ontario * Baldwin, Ontario, in Sudbury District * Baldwin's Mills, ...

and

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

, in addition to Altoona, between 1902 and 1913. The next version built was the B6sa, 55 of which were built at Altoona during 1913–1914. These had radial-stay fireboxes, common elsewhere but rare on the Pennsylvania, and they replaced the Stephenson gear with the more modern

Walschaerts valve gear The Walschaerts valve gear is a type of valve gear used to regulate the flow of steam to the pistons in steam locomotives, invented by Belgium, Belgian railway mechanical engineering, engineer Egide Walschaerts in 1844. The gear is sometimes name ...

. Steam delivery pipes were outside, like all other PRR modern power. All were built superheated. Finally, during 1916–1920, 238 of class B6sb were built. These were the final, definitive type, and had a Belpaire firebox, but were otherwise little changed from the B6sa. The final 97 locomotives had piston valves mounted outboard of the cylinders, instead of inbound as previously built, giving the cylinder assemblies an outward cant at the top, rather than inward. All B6sa and B6sb locomotives were retrofitted with

power reverse Reversing gear is a mechanism used to both control the direction of travel of a steam locomotive and adjust its engine's steam cutoff. Reversing lever The most common form of reversing gear uses a lever to engage (known as a ''Johnson bar'' in ...

to make the frequent back-and-forth of switching quicker and easier. The last PRR locomotive in active service was #5244, leased to Union Transportation of

New Egypt, New Jersey New Egypt is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Plumsted Township, in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Northumberland, Pennsylvania Northumberland is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,911 at the 2020 census. History A brewer named Reuben Haines, a native of Philadelphia, founded the town of Northumb ...

and was donated to the

Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to ro ...

along with the majority of that collection. - B6sa #60 was on a siding in Hockessin, Delaware, along the

Wilmington and Western Railroad The Wilmington and Western Railroad is a freight railroad, freight and heritage railroad in northern Delaware, operating over a former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) branch line between Wilmington, DE, Wilmington and Hockessin, DE, Hockessi ...

. It has a larger tender, from a 2-8-0 Consolidation, but it is intact, albeit in poor condition. In 2019–2020, it was donated to the Historic Red Clay Valley Inc., and the locomotive remains on a siding near Mt. Cuba. B6sa #60 then was moved to the Wilmington and Western's railroad shops in Wilmington, Delaware on May 9, 2024 where it will be cosmetically restored and then put on display as an exhibit in Lewes, Delaware.

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Prr B6 Steam locomotives of the United States Baldwin locomotives Lima locomotives 0-6-0 locomotives C n2 locomotives C h2 locomotives B6 Railway locomotives introduced in 1902 Standard-gauge locomotives of the United States Shunting locomotives Railway locomotives on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania