Pennsylvania Railroad Class E2

The Pennsylvania Railroad's class E2, E3, E7 steam locomotives were of the 4-4-2 "Atlantic" passenger type, frequently called light Atlantics after the introduction of the heavier E6 Atlantics. All were similar in size and boiler capacity but differed in firebox type, valves and valve gear and cylinder diameter. Classes E2 and E3 were built simultaneously. Starting in 1916 a rebuilding program converted ninety class E2a,b,c to class E7s by replacing slide valves with piston valves and increasing cylinder diameter from 20.5 to 22.5 inches (520 to 570 mm). Fourteen class E2 were similarly converted to class E7sa. Ninety class E2a,d, E3a,d were converted to class E3sd. These improvements allowed many of the engines to remain in active service into the 1930s.
The sub-classes differed as follows:
Class	Firebox 	Cylinder size	Valves	Valve gear 	Number built 	Years built
E2 	Radial-stay	20 ½" x 26" 	Slide 	Stephenson 	88 	1901-02
E2a 	Belpaire 	20 ½" x 26" 	Slide 	Stephenson 	93 	1902-05
E2b 	Belpaire 	20 ½" x 26" 	Piston	Stephenson 	70 	1903-04
E2c 	Belpaire 	20 ½" x 26" 	Slide 	Stephenson 	22 	1903
E2d 	Belpaire 	20 ½" x 26" 	Piston	Walschaerts	32 	1906-08
E3 	Radial-stay	22" x 26" 	Slide 	Stephenson 	8 	1901-02
E3a 	Belpaire 	22" x 26" 	Slide 	Stephenson 	114 	1903-05
E3d 	Belpaire 	22" x 26" 	Piston	Walschaerts	56 	1906-10
E7s 	Belpaire 	22 ½" x 26" 	Piston	Stephenson 	90 conv. fr. E2a,b,c	1916-20
E7sa 	Radial-stay	22 ½" x 26" 	Piston	Stephenson 	14 conv. fr. E2 	1916-20
In the first decade of the twentieth century classes E2 and E3 handled all of the fast passenger trains of the Pennsylvania Railroad. As train weights increased due to the switch to steel passenger cars and more cars per train, the "light" Atlantics were usually doubleheaded. Eventually, as Pacific class K2 and K3 became available, they were relegated to secondary service
==Engine #7002==
This engine was built in 1902 as a class E2 for the Pennsylvania Railroad as engine No. 7002. On the first westward run of the Pennsylvania Special (renamed the Broadway Limited in 1912) in June 1905 the conductor clocked the train over three miles just west of Lima, Ohio in 85 seconds, at a record speed of 127.1 miles per hour (204.5 km/h). (Many doubt the claim; the train averaged about 68 mph from Crestline to Fort Wayne.) No. 7002 was rebuilt to class E7sa in August 1916 and scrapped in 1935. When the PRR was looking for an E7 class locomotive for preservation, they refurbished No. 8063 (an E2a from the PRR) and substituted No. 7002's engine number and builder's plate. No. 8063 is a PRR E2a built in 1905. The engine was donated to Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in 1979 and put into operating order by Strasburg Rail Road where it ran for a number of years, sometimes doubleheading with PRR D16 No. 1223. It last ran on December 20, 1989.
== Gallery ==
E5011.jpg
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