Somewhere at my parents' house in a footlocker rests one of my favorite pieces of HO equipment - a Baldwin 2-6-0 Mogul locomotive lettered for the Illinois Central. I can't remember the manufacturer (Model Power comes to mind, but I wouldn't swear to that), but that's not critical to my inquiry. I'm curious as to when the IC used Moguls and when they stopped. I had always thought this particular locomotive looked like a '30s-'40s version (short stack, headlamp mounted in the front center of the boiler, etc.), but I recently read that the Moguls were largely out of favor by the end of the 1920s. Was the IC an exception, or do I just have an earlier locomotive than I realized? -Dave PS As a complete aside, I have a family connection to the IC: One of my great uncles was a fireman in the '40s, '50s, and '60s and my grandfather laid track for the IC in the mid-'30s as a summer job during college.
"Out of favor" probably is referring to building of new Moguls. The last new Moguls in the US, as far as I know, were made by SP around 1929. Many roads used theirs on light branchline duties until diesels came. I know that IC ran Moguls at least into the 40s.
Not sure when IC rostered their last active 2-6-0's. I only found a photo of IC 2-6-0 #401... it was built in 1889 and retired in 1918. IC looked to their 2-8-0's with much more favor than the moguls. Those lasted until they dropped fires in 1959-60. Chad
Hi Dave, The IC rostered a lot of Moguls, and they kept them a long time. According to my research, they had a grand total of 376 2-6-0s on the roster (never more than 285 at any one time). The first was #194, built by Rogers in 1872. The last and heaviest was #598, built by Alco in 1901, and about the same size as a mid-sized Consolidation of the time (but with 63" drivers, making it a dual-purpose engine). The IC had a huge number of marginal and poorly built branchlines snaking all over Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Mississippi. 2-6-0s were ideally suited to work these branches, so they survived longer than on any other class one besides the SP (which used them for the same purpose). The absolute last Mogul on the IC roster was #3705 (formerly 558 and 3717; the IC loved to renumber engines!), which was scrapped in October, 1956. There were at least a dozen 2-6-0s that survived on the roster after 1945, especially working light branches in Wisconsin and Mississippi. Surprisingly, one IC Mogul still survives. IC 3706 is preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum. Sold in 1946 to the Bevierville & Southern (their engine 109), the engine was used for a few years and then sat in a field until rescued by IRM. For some reason the engine was mis-painted as number 3039 at some time in the past (IRM's website shows the proper number).
Ray, Just a quick clarification. I believe the railroad you refered to was the Biever & Southern a coal hauling shortline which connected with the CB&Q at Biever, Missouri. If i am not mistaken I recall this road being famous for using steam up into the 1960s with the motto: "Have Train Will Haul" which was a pun refering to the then popular TV western "Have Gun Will Travel". I belive they may have also owned/leased one of the future CB&Q excursion steamers, either the 5960 or 5963. Just my 2 cents. Barry
I believe the B&S used ex-IC 2-6-0s until 1962, after that leasing CB&Q 2-8-2s for 2 or 3 years, then leased CB&Q diesels.
I have an HO IC Mogul that I got back in the early 90s. It is an IHC engine which I believe is based on a SP engine with an oil tender. IHC also produced a 2-8-0 and a 4-8-2 lettered for the IC as well as passenger cars. I can't remember if they made a passenger diesel or not, but they made a semi-streanlined Pacific that would have made a cherry IC engine, but none were lettered as such.
