Southern Pacific GS Series

The Southern Pacific GS Series is a series comprised of eight classes of GS 4-8-4 "Northern" Type steam locomotives built by Baldwin and the Lima Locomotive Works between 1930 and 1943.
==About the Class==
The GS Series was built in between 1930 and 1943 by Baldwin Locomotive Works for only the first and the last two classes and Lima Locomotive Works for the rest of the four classes. They were commonly referred to "Golden State" or "General Service" depending whoever you asked.
Today, there are two GS locomotives that are preserved. #4449 is currently in active service and #4460 is on static display at Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri.
==The Entire Story==
In 1930, the SP designed a locomotive similar to those Mountains that had a very large firebox (90.4 sq ft) and a four wheel trailing truck to support it. Thus, evolved the Southern Pacific 4-8-4 which was designated Class GS (Golden State) by the SP.
The first 10 "Golden States", Class GS-1 (road numbers 4400 through 4409), were built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1930. They were oil burners with 73.5" drivers, 27 x 30 cylinders, and 250 psi boiler pressure, which resulted in a tractive effort of 62,200 lbs. They weighed 448,400 lbs and had 266,500 lbs of weight on the drivers.
In early 1937, six more "Golden States" arrived but this time from the Lima Locomotive Works. These were designated Class GS-2 and assigned road numbers 4410 through 4415 and were identical to the Class GS-1s except for the exterior styling, color scheme plus they weighed 6000 lbs more. The color scheme used bright orange, red, black and silver. The orange was applied to the pilot and in a broad band along the skirting and the tender. The red was applied in a band above the skirting and above and below the orange band on the tender. The rest of the locomotive was black except for the smoke box door, which was silver, and the hand rails, which were cadmium plated. The six Class GS-2s were purchased for brand new trains that updated passenger service between Los Angeles and San Francisco. They sported a "Daylight" emblem and regularly hauled "The Coast Daylight".
Late in 1937, 14 more "Golden States" (road numbers 4416 through 4429) were delivered from Lima. This group, Class GS-3 was similar in appearance to the GS-2s. However, they were designed for higher speeds with 80" drivers, 26 x 32 cylinders, and a boiler pressure of 280 psi giving them 62,800 lbs of tractive effort. They weighed 460,000 lbs and had 267,300 lbs over the drivers.
The Southern Pacific ordered 28 more Class GS-4 "Golden States" from Lima and took delivery of twenty (road numbers 4430 through 4449) in April and May 1941 and the other eight (road numbers 4450 through 4457) in March and May 1942. These were similar to the GS-3s except they had "all-weather" vestibule cabs and had a smaller cylinder diameter (25.5) with a higher boiler pressure (300 psi). They weighed 475,000 lbs and with 275,700 lbs on the drivers had a tractive effort of 64,800 pounds.
Two additional "Golden States" (road numbers 4458 & 4459), designated Class GS-5, were delivered from Lima in June 1942 and were similar to the GS-4 except they had roller bearings on all axles and weighed 8,200 pounds more.
During World War II, the SP like most railroads were in need of more motive power and it wanted more GS Class 4-8-4s, but the War Production Board would not permit SP to build more "GS" passenger locomotives. The Southern Pacific redefined "GS" to stand for "General Service" instead of "Golden State" and specified that this group would be used for freight as well as in passenger service. The board then approved the purchase. From then on "GS" officially meant "General Service". Due to wartime shortages, these last 10 Class GS-6 (road numbers 4460 through 4469) Locomotives were built without skirting and were void of the orange and red paint and were delivered from Lima in July to August 1943.
==Locomotive Rosters==
===GS-1 (Nos 4400-4409, 4470-4473 for Texas & New Orleans)===
Locomotive Numbers	Image	Date Built	Date Scrapped 	Notes
No. 4400 	 	May 1930 	March 23, 1954 	Loaned to T&NO as No. 708 from 1943 to 1952. Returned to the SP as No. 4470 in March 1953 and renumbered again as No. 4400 in July of that year.
No. 4401 	 	June 1930 	June 8, 1955 	Used for evaluation of various burner arrangements and different usage grades of oil in Sacramento, California in September 1946 until late 1951.
No. 4402 	 	June 1930 	April 24, 1959 	Rebuilt in February 1932, after being involved in a boiler explosion at Richvale, California on December 25, 1931.
No. 4403 	 	June 1930 	August 15, 1955 	Loaned to T&NO as No. 709 in 1943. Returned to the SP as No. 4471 in 1952 and renumbered again in July 1953 as No. 4403.
No. 4404 	 	June 1930 	? 	Sold to T&NO as No. 710 in 1943
No. 4405 	 	June 1930 	May 27, 1957 	Vacuum brakes added in February 1957.
No. 4406 	 	July 1930 	? 	Sold to T&NO as No. 704 in March 1941.
No. 4407 	 	July 1930 	June 1, 1955 	Loaned to T&NO as No. 705 from 1941 to 1952. Returned to the SP on April 20, 1953.
No. 4408 	 	July 1930 	August 15, 1955 	Loaned to T&NO as No. 706 from 1941 to 1953. Returned to the SP on April 20, 1953. Used as an official portrait of this locomotive class.
No. 4409 	 	July 1930 	September 6, 1955	Loaned to T&NO as No. 707 from 1941 to 1952. Returned to the SP on June 11, 1953.
No. 4470 	 	May 1930 	May 31, 1956 	Originally No. 700 from T&NO in December 1952 as SP's second No. 4403 replacement in March 1953. Renumbered again as SP's second No. 4470 in July of that year.
No. 4471 	 	May 1930 	January 20, 1956 	Originally No. 701 from T&NO in January 1953, became SP's second No. 4471 in July of that year.
No. 4472 	 	June 1930 	July 9, 1956 	Originally No. 702 from T&NO in January 1953, became SP's second No. 4404 in April of that year. Renumbered again as No. 4472 three months later.
No. 4473 	 	June 1930 	February 15, 1955	Originally No. 703 from T&NO in January 1953, then became SP's No. 4406 replacement in April of that year. Renumbered again as No. 4473 three months later
===GS-2 (Nos. 4410-4415)===
Locomotive Numbers	Image	Date Built 	Date Retired 	Date Scrapped
No. 4410 	 	January 1, 1937 	All of them were retired in 1955.	All of them were scrapped in 1958.
No. 4411 	 	January 1937 	All of them were retired in 1955.	All of them were scrapped in 1958.
No. 4412 	 	January 1937 	All of them were retired in 1955.	All of them were scrapped in 1958.
No. 4413 	 	January 1937 	All of them were retired in 1955.	All of them were scrapped in 1958.
No. 4414 	 	January 1937 	All of them were retired in 1955.	All of them were scrapped in 1958.
No. 4415 	 	January 26, 1937	All of them were retired in 1955.	All of them were scrapped in 1958.
===GS-3 (Nos. 4416-4429)===
Loco No.	Image 	Build date(s) 	Current status	Notes
4416 	 	November 3, 1937 	Scrapped 	
4417 	frameless	1937 	Scrapped 	
4418 	 	1937 	Scrapped 	
4419 	 	1937 	Scrapped 	
4420 	 	1937 	Scrapped 	
4421 	 	1937 	Scrapped 	
4422 	 	1937 	Scrapped 	The one wheel from the #4422, the first axle, right side, was rescued just before scrapping. It was donated to the RailGiants Train Museum at the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds in Pomona, California where it is today placed on display.
4423 	 	1937 	Scrapped 	
4424 	 	1937 	Scrapped 	
4425 	 	1937 	Scrapped 	
4426 	frameless	1937 	Scrapped 	
4427 	frameless	1937 	Scrapped 	
4428 	 	1937 	Scrapped 	
4429 	frameless	December 30, 1937	Scrapped 	
===GS-4 (Nos. 4430-4457)===
Loco No.	Image	Manufacturer(s) 	Build date(s)	Batch type	Retirement date(s) 	Restoration date(s)	Status 	Notes
4430 	 	Lima Locomotive Works	April 1941 	1941 Batch	October 1958 	- 	Scrapped 	Around 70 mph, 4430 hit a tanker truck and making it derailed, leaving it damaged around the skyline casing and the front. It is unknown if it was repaired or scrapped. But it is most likely that it was repaired, then scrapped later on after the locomotive was likely taken out of service.
4431 	 	Lima Locomotive Works	April 1941 	1941 Batch	October 1958 	- 	Scrapped 	-
4432 	 	Lima Locomotive Works	April 1941 	1941 Batch	October 1958 	- 	Scrapped 	-
4433 	 	Lima Locomotive Works	April 1941 	1941 Batch	October 1958 	- 	Scrapped 	-
4434 	 	Lima Locomotive Works	April 1941 	1941 Batch	October 1958 	- 	Scrapped 	-
4435 	 	Lima Locomotive Works	April 1941 	1941 Batch	October 1958 	- 	Scrapped 	-
4436 	 	Lima Locomotive Works	April 1941 	1941 Batch	October 1958 	- 	Scrapped 	-
4437 	 	Lima Locomotive Works	April 1941 	1941 Batch	October 1958 	- 	Scrapped 	-
4438 	 	Lima Locomotive Works	April 1941 	1941 Batch	October 1958 	- 	Scrapped 	-
4439 	 	Lima Locomotive Works	April 1941 	1941 Batch	October 1958 	- 	Scrapped 	-
4440 	 	Lima Locomotive Works	May 1941 	1941 Batch	October 1958 	- 	Scrapped 	-
4441 	 	Lima Locomotive Works	May 1941 	1941 Batch	October 1958 	- 	Scrapped 	-
4442 	 	Lima Locomotive Works	May 1941 	1941 Batch	October 1958 	- 	Scrapped 	-
4443 	 	Lima Locomotive Works	May 1941 	1941 Batch	October 1958 	- 	Scrapped 	This is the first ever GS-4 locomotive from the Southern Pacific Railroad to be appeared in the movies.
No. 4443 pulled one of the final steam excursions on the Southern Pacific in 1957. A GS-4 pulled its last passenger train in October 1958, and they were all retired by the end of the year.
4444 	 	Lima Locomotive Works	May 1941 	1941 Batch	October 1958 	- 	Scrapped 	The tender of the locomotive was rebuilt by the SP and used as a "hammer car" to test impacts on hydracushion boxcars before it was scrapped in the early 1970s.
4445 	 	Lima Locomotive Works	May 1941 	1941 Batch	October 1958 	- 	Scrapped 	-
4446 	 	Lima Locomotive Works	May 1941 	1941 Batch	October 1958 	- 	Scrapped 	Involved in a collision with the Lark in a siding at Donner Pass, repaired, put back into service and was scrapped afterwards.
4447 	 	Lima Locomotive Works	May 1941 	1941 Batch	October 1958 	- 	Scrapped 	One of 4447's career highlights occurred on October 17, 1954, when SP 4447 and her sister Southern Pacific 4449 pulled a special 10-car train for the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society from Los Angeles to Owenyo, California.
4448 	 	Lima Locomotive Works	May 1941 	1941 Batch	October 1958 	- 	Scrapped 	-
4449 	 	Lima Locomotive Works	May 20, 1941 	1941 Batch	October 2, 1957 (revenue service)	April 21, 1975 	Operational, based in The City of Portland, Oregon	Currently under ownership of the Oregon Rail Heritage Center
4450 	 	Lima Locomotive Works	March 1942 	1942 Batch	October 1958 	- 	Scrapped 	-
4451 	 	Lima Locomotive Works	March 1942 	1942 Batch	October 1958 	- 	Scrapped 	-
4452 	 	Lima Locomotive Works	March 1942 	1942 Batch	October 1958 	- 	Scrapped 	-
4453 	 	Lima Locomotive Works	March 1942 	1942 Batch	October 1958 	- 	Scrapped 	-
4454 	 	Lima Locomotive Works	April 1942 	1942 Batch	October 1958 	- 	Scrapped 	-
4455 	 	Lima Locomotive Works	April 1942 	1942 Batch	October 1958 	- 	Scrapped 	-
4456 	 	Lima Locomotive Works	April 1942 	1942 Batch	October 1958 	- 	Scrapped 	-
4457 	200px	Lima Locomotive Works	April 1942 	1942 Batch	October 1958 	- 	Scrapped 	-
===GS-5 (Nos. 4458 & 4459)===
Locomotive Numbers	Image	Date Built	Date Retired 	Date Scrapped 	Notes
No. 4458 	 	May 1942 	Both of them were retired in 1958 and scrapped later in same year.	Both of them were retired in 1958 and scrapped later in same year.	They are well-known experimental GS-4 locomotives being used for rollerbearings for high speeds. 4458 used rollerbearings from Timken Company but 4459 used from SKF brand.
The roller bearings on the two GS-5s were so successful that when both No. 4458 and No. 4459 were scrapped, they were examined and showed minimal wear.
Just like many other GS classes, they started out as Daylight paint scheme then repainted to black and silver for the final years of service before retirement and scrapped afterwards.
No. 4459 	 	June 1942 	Both of them were retired in 1958 and scrapped later in same year.	Both of them were retired in 1958 and scrapped later in same year.	They are well-known experimental GS-4 locomotives being used for rollerbearings for high speeds. 4458 used rollerbearings from Timken Company but 4459 used from SKF brand.
The roller bearings on the two GS-5s were so successful that when both No. 4458 and No. 4459 were scrapped, they were examined and showed minimal wear.
Just like many other GS classes, they started out as Daylight paint scheme then repainted to black and silver for the final years of service before retirement and scrapped afterwards.
===GS-6 (Nos. 4460-4469)===
Loco No.	Image	Build date(s)	Current status 	Notes
4460 	 	July 1943 	On display at the National Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri.	It was best known as the "Forgotten Daylight" because everyone fawns over the SP 4449 which is the main superstar while everyone thinks it is the last of her class, but has not been restored and partnered with it.
4461 	 	July 1943 	Scrapped 	
4462 	 	July 1943 	Scrapped 	
4463 	 	July 1943 	Scrapped 	
4464 	 	July 1943 	Scrapped 	
4465 	 	August 1943 	Scrapped 	
4466 	 	August 1943 	Scrapped 	
4467 	 	August 1943 	Scrapped 	
4468 	 	August 1943 	Scrapped 	
4469 	 	August 1943 	Scrapped 	
===GS-7 (Nos. 4475-4481)===
Loco No.	Image 	Cotton Belt Route No.	Manufacturer 	Operators	Status
4475 	Frameless	**COMING SOON** 	Pine Bluff Shops	Cotton Belt Route
Southern Pacific Railroad	Scrapped
4476 	Frameless	**COMING SOON** 	Pine Bluff Shops	Cotton Belt Route
Southern Pacific Railroad	Scrapped
4477 	Frameless	**COMING SOON** 	Pine Bluff Shops	Cotton Belt Route
Southern Pacific Railroad	Scrapped
4478 	Frameless	**COMING SOON** 	Pine Bluff Shops	Cotton Belt Route
Southern Pacific Railroad	Scrapped
4479 	Frameless	**COMING SOON** 	Pine Bluff Shops	Cotton Belt Route
Southern Pacific Railroad	Scrapped
4480 	Frameless	**COMING SOON** 	Pine Bluff Shops	Cotton Belt Route
Southern Pacific Railroad	Scrapped
4481 	Frameless	**COMING SOON** 	Pine Bluff Shops	Cotton Belt Route
Southern Pacific Railroad	Scrapped
===GS-8 (Nos. 4485-4488)===
Loco No.	Image 	Cotton Belt Route No.	Manufacturer 	Operators	Status
4485 	Frameless	815 	Pine Bluff Shops	Cotton Belt Route
Southern Pacific Railroad	Scrapped
4486 	Frameless	817 	Pine Bluff Shops	Cotton Belt Route
Southern Pacific Railroad	Scrapped
4487 	Frameless	818 	Pine Bluff Shops	Cotton Belt Route
Southern Pacific Railroad	Scrapped
4488 	Frameless	813 	Pine Bluff Shops	Cotton Belt Route
Southern Pacific Railroad	Scrapped
==See also== 
*Gallery
*Southern Pacific No. 4449 (the only survivor of the GS-4 class)
*Southern Pacific No. 4460 (the only survivor of the GS-6 class)
Category:Southern Pacific locomotives
Category:Steam locomotives
Category:Baldwin locomotives
Category:American steam locomotives
Category:American locomotives
Category:Lima locomotives
Category:Southern Pacific GS Series