Great Northern Class L-2

The Great Northern Railway L-2s were an early fleet of small 2-6-6-2 Mallet Compound locomotives built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works for freight services and helpers on grades.
== Early History and Design Stats ==
After the great success unveiling of America's first articulated steam locomotive, "Old Maude" of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad after 1904, the Great Northern Railway became interested in Mallet Compound Locomotives. In 1905 the GN Ry. used older F class 2-8-0s and G class 4-8-0s for their heavy freight services on the mountains, sometimes as pushers. But even with these large of engines, the GN was looking for something more powerful for their Glacier Divisions. In early 1906 the Railway turned to its most trusted builder, the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia for a much larger locomotive that would be twice the power. The GN asked for a locomotive that matched up to the performance of Old Maude, but with a two-wheel lead and trailing trucks on both sides between the two sets of drivers for more flexible operation around the mountain's curves. So, with designing a locomotive based on the GN's Belpaire Firebox with larger pistons and slightly heavier than the B&O locomotive, the 2-6-6-2 was born. The first five locomotives #1800-#1804 were delivered from the Philadelphia plant by September 1906 as L-1s, they were the first Mallets on the Great Northern Railway. The GN used these five as helpers on the Cascade Mountains pushing heavy freights up the steep grades and were found to be very successful, even with the help of their leading and trailing wheels around the curves. Beginning in March 1907 the Great Northern tried the new L-2 Class, which was a lighter version of the L-1, they had the same drive wheels of 55" diameter, but with a Belpaire boiler about the size of the H-2 Pacifics. These smaller Mallets had low pressure cylinders of 31" x 30", and high-pressure cylinders of 20" x 30" driven by a pressure of 210 Lbs. PSI. delivering 54,999 Lbs. of tractive effort. All engines were hand-fired with coal in their small eight-wheel tenders as delivered by Baldwin. Unusually for a small locomotive order for articulateds, the GN bought forty of them between March 1907 to February 1908, numbering them #1800-1844.
== Later Years and Fate ==
Used extensively for their services as intended, these smaller mallets didn't impress the GN as they were undersized and after 1908, the GN just stuck with Larger articulateds like the M-1 class 2-6-8-0s and N-1 Class 2-8-8-0s in the early 1910s, as no more 2-6-6-2s were being built. The GN nicknamed the L-2 class "Pocket Mallets" for their size and used them in freight service as the GN liked the L-1s better. However, the GN converted at least twelve of the class into Oil burners for ease of firing as twenty others were fit with Franklin grate shakers in their fireboxes for easier ash dumping. But some engines #1821-1829 had coal pusher devices installed in their tenders, although 28 were hand-fired. The GN also superheated a few designating them as L-2s. Despite the class of 40 locomotives present on the roster by the late 1910s, they were barely a decade old but fell obsolete to the M-1 and N-1 Class Locomotives and other faster steam engines such as the O class 2-8-2s which were already the main backbone of the engine roster. With the GN more impressed with the Mikado's and larger Articulated engines, there was no more use for them, but instead of scrapping the class the Railway decided to rebuild all the L-2s into a new class of O-5 type 2-8-2 Steam Locomotives using the boilers and other parts. Between 1921-1924 the Great Northern crews in various shops took they're time rebuilding the small mallets into forty-five O-5 Mikado's numbered #3300-3345. All O-5s were used in freight services and also some seen service clearing snow from tracks with plows added. Retirements began in 1941 with the last scrapped in 1950, none were preserved.
== Stock List ==
Locomotive Number and Build Date	Additional Notes 	Dismantle Dates 	O-5 Builds 	Retired and Scrapped
#1800 built 2/1908, BLW. 	Fit with Franklin grate shakers before 1916. 	1/1925, Dale St. Shops. 	Completed October 3rd, 1925 as #3344. 	March 1948.
#1801 built 2/1908, BLW. 	 	1-4/1922, Hillyard Shops. 	Completed February 8th, 1923 as #3304. 	September 1941.
#1802 built 2/1908, BLW. 	Fit with Franklin grate shakers before 1916. 	11/1921-1/1922, Dale St. Shops.	Completed May 11th, 1922 as #3300. 	July 1948.
#1803 built 2/1908, BLW. 	Fit with Franklin grate shakers before 1916. 	7/1924, Delta Shops. 	Completed December 3rd, 1924 as #3337. 	February 1941.
#1804 built 2/1908, BLW. 	Fit with Franklin grate shakers before 1916. 	9/1923-1/1924, Hillyard Shops. 	Completed January 4th, 1924, as #3318. 	June 1947.
#1805 built 3/1907, BLW. 	 	11/1924, Hillyard Shops. 	Completed April 30th, 1925 as #3342. 	September 1941.
#1806 built 3/1907, BLW. 	Fit with Franklin grate shakers before 1916. 	12/1921-2/1922, Dale St. Shops.	Completed December 21st, 1922 as #3302. 	May 1948.
#1807 built 3/1907, BLW. 	Fit with Franklin grate shakers before 1916. 	3/1924, Dale St. Shops. 	Completed October 20th, 1924 as #3330. 	September 1941.
#1808 built 3/1907, BLW. 	Converted to Oil Firing by 1915. 	1-3/1923, Delta Shops. 	Completed April 18th, 1923 as #3307. 	September 1941.
#1809 built 4/1907, BLW. 	Converted to Oil Firing by 1915. 	6/1922-1/1923, Delta Shops. 	Completed March 8th, 1923 as #3308. 	May 1948.
#1810 built 4/1907, BLW. 	Converted to Oil Firing by 1915. 	4-5/1923, Delta Shops. 	Completed August 18th, 1923 as #3309. 	April 1947.
#1811 built 4/1907, BLW. 	Converted to Oil Firing by 1915. 	7/1924, Hillyard Shops. 	Completed December 11th, 1924 as #3335. 	January 1950.
#1812 built 5/1907, BLW. 	 	10/1923-3/1924, Hillyard Shops.	Completed March 12th, 1924 as #3319. 	May 1948.
#1813 built 5/1907, BLW. 	 	10/1924, Delta Shops. 	Completed March 18th, 1925 as #3334. 	May 1948.
#1814 built 5/1907, BLW. 	Superheated as L-2s. 	10/1924, Hillyard Shops. 	Completed February 26th, 1925 as #3338. 	January 1947.
#1815 built 5/1907, BLW. 	Superheated as L-2s. 	8/1924, Hillyard Shops. 	Completed December 16th, 1924 as #3336. 	February 1941.
#1816 built 5/1907, BLW. 	Converted to Oil Firing by 1915, Superheated as L-2s. 	11/1923-3/1924, Delta Shops. 	Completed March 29th, 1924 as #3324. 	September 1949.
#1817 built 5/1907, BLW. 	Converted to Oil Firing by 1915. 	3/1924, Hillyard Shops. 	Completed July 25th, 1924 as #3328. 	Sold to Otter Tail Power Co. April 1947, Scrapping unknown.
#1818 built 5/1907, BLW. 	Converted to Oil Firing by 1915. 	5/1924, Hillyard Shops. 	Completed September 3rd, 1924 as #3329. 	April 1948.
#1819 built 5/1907, BLW. 	Converted to Oil Firing by 1915. 	1-5/1922, Delta Shops. 	Completed November 24th, 1922 as #3306. 	Sometime 1941.
#1820 built 5/1907, BLW. 	Converted to Oil Firing by 1915, was fit with Franklin grate shakers before 1915. 	5/1924, Delta Shops. 	Completed May 29th, 1925 as #3339. 	February 1941.
#1821 built 6/1907, BLW. 	Fit with Franklin grate shakers before 1916, tender fit with coal pusher. 	4/1924, Dale St. Shops. 	Completed November 26th, 1924 as #3333. 	September 1941.
#1822 built 6/1907, BLW. 	Superheated as L-2s, tender fit with coal pusher. 	3-10/1923, Delta Shops. 	Completed October 13th, 1923 as #3314. 	March 1949.
#1823 built 6/1907, BLW. 	Fit with Franklin grate shakers before 1916, tender fit with coal pusher. 	1-11/1923, Hillyard Shops. 	Completed November 14th, 1923 as #3317. 	Sometime 1938.
#1824 built 6/1907, BLW. 	Superheated as L-2s, tender fit with coal pusher. 	1-5/1924, Hillyard Shops. 	Completed May 20th, 1924 as #3320. 	June 1947.
#1825 built 6/1907, BLW. 	Superheated as L-2s, fit with Franklin grate shakers before 1916, tender fit with coal pusher.	11/1923, Dale St. Shops. 	Completed August 6th, 1924 as #3325. 	February 1947.
#1826 built 6/1907, BLW. 	Superheated as L-2s, fit with Franklin grate shakers before 1916, tender fit with coal pusher.	4-7/1924, Delta Shops. 	Completed July 17th, 1924 as #3327. 	September 1941.
#1827 built 6/1907, BLW. 	Converted to Oil Firing by 1916. 	9/1924, Dale St. Shops. 	Completed May 16th, 1925 as #3340. 	September 1941.
#1828 built 7/1907, BLW. 	Tender fit with coal pusher. 	5-12/1922, Dale St. Shops. 	Completed April 30th, 1923 as #3312. 	April 1947.
#1829 built 7/1907, BLW. 	Fit with Franklin grate shakers before 1916, tender fit with coal pusher. 	3-8/1923, Dale St. Shops. 	Completed August 31st, 1923 as #3315. 	Jaunuary 1947,
#1830 built 2/1908, BLW. 	Fit with Franklin grate shakers before 1916. 	12/1924, Hillyard Shops. 	Completed May 20th, 1925 as #3343. 	December 1941.
#1831 built 2/1908, BLW. 	 	1-2/1923, Hillyard Shops. 	Completed May 28th, 1923 as #3311. 	Sometime 1941.
#1832 built 2/1908, BLW. 	Fit with Franklin grate shakers before 1916. 	6/1923-3/1924, Dale St. Shops. 	Completed March 27th, 1924 as #3322. 	December 1941.
#1833 built 2/1908, BLW. 	Converted to Oil Firing by 1915. 	8/1923-1/1924, Delta Shops. 	Completed January 30th, 1924 as #3321. 	September 1941.
#1834 built 2/1908, BLW. 	 	1-2/1923, Delta Shops. 	Completed May 31st, 1923 as #3313. 	January 1947.
#1835 built 2/1908, BLW. 	 	12/1921-2/1922, Dale St. Shops.	Completed February 18th, 1923 as #3303. 	Sometime 1941.
#1836 built 2/1908, BLW. 	Fit with Franklin grate shakers before 1916. 	4-6/1923, Hillyard Shops. 	Completed September 8th, 1923 as #3310. 	May 1947.
#1837 built 2/1908, BLW. 	 	9/1923-5/1924, Dale St. Shops. 	Completed May 28th, 1924 as #3323. 	May 1947.
#1838 built 2/1908, BLW. 	 	1-4/1922, Hillyard Shops. 	Completed February 27th, 1923 as #3305. 	September 1941.
#1839 built 2/1908, BLW. 	Fit with Franklin grate shakers before 1916. 	5/1924, Delta Shops. 	Completed September 11th, 1924 as #3322.	December 1941.
#1840 built 2/1908, BLW. 	Fit with Franklin grate shakers before 1916. 	4-11/1923, Dale St. Shops. 	Completed September 9th, 1923 as #3316. 	Sometime 1938.
#1841 built 2/1908, BLW. 	Fit with Franklin grate shakers before 1916. 	6/1924, Dale St. Shops. 	Completed February 2nd, 1925 as #3331. 	February 1947.
#1842 built 2/1908, BLW. 	Superheated as L-2s. 	2-5/1924, Delta Shops. 	Completed May 14th, 1924 as #3326. 	September 1949.
#1843 built 2/1908, BLW. 	Fit with Franklin grate shakers before 1916. 	9/1924, Delta Shops. 	Completed January 22nd, 1925 as #3341. 	February 1947.
#1844 built 2/1908, BLW. 	Converted to Oil firing, 1915, before was fit with Franklin grate shakers before 1915. 	11-12/1921, Dale St. Shops. 	Completed June 19th, 1922 as #3301. 	April 1947.
Category:2-6-6-2 locomotives
Category:2-6-6-2 steam locomotives
Category:Mallet locomotives
Category:Great Northern (US) locomotives
Category:Built in 1907
Category:Built in 1908
Category:Scrapped steam locomotives
Category:Scrapped locomotives
Category:4 foot 8 1⁄2 inch gauge
Category:Standard gauge locomotives
Category:Standard gauge locomotives of the United States
Category:Baldwin locomotives
Category:Compound locomotives
Category:Oil-Fired locomotives
Category:Freight locomotives
Category:Steam locomotives
Category:American steam locomotives