Southern Pacific class GS-6
Encyclopedia
The GS-6 is a semi-streamlined 4-8-4
4-8-4
Under the Whyte notation classification of steam locomotives, 4-8-4 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and four trailing wheels on two axles .Other equivalent classifications are:UIC classification: 2D2...

 Northern type steam locomotive that served the Southern Pacific Railroad
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....

 from 1943 to 1958 and the Western Pacific Railroad
Western Pacific Railroad
The Western Pacific Railroad was a Class I railroad in the United States. It was formed in 1903 as an attempt to break the near-monopoly the Southern Pacific Railroad had on rail service into northern California...

 from 1943 to 1953. They were built during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 for the Southern Pacific Railroad by the Lima Locomotive Works
Lima Locomotive Works
Lima Locomotive Works was an American firm that manufactured railroad locomotives from the 1870s through the 1950s. The company took the most distinctive part of its name from its main shops location in Lima, Ohio. The shops were located between the Baltimore & Ohio's Cincinnati-Toledo main line...

 and were numbered 4460
Southern Pacific 4460
Southern Pacific 4460 is the only surviving GS-6 Class steam locomotive. The GS-6 is a semi-streamlined 4-8-4 Northern type steam locomotive. GS stands for "Golden State" or "General Service." The locomotive was built by the Lima Locomotive Works for the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1943...

 through 4469 for Southern Pacific and 481 through 486 for Western Pacific. GS stands for "Golden State" or "General Service."

History

In 1943 when the Southern Pacific Railroad placed an order for fourteen new "Daylight" locomotives from Lima, it was World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 and the US government had taken over all locomotive manufacturers. SP's order was turned down, with the government declaring that streamlined passenger engines were not necessary and would not help in moving wartime traffic. Southern Pacific re-designed the engines for general service and it was finally approved. The smaller and power-starved Western Pacific Railroad was also looking for locomotives at the time and had first requested diesels, then a different style of steam locomotive. The War Production Board instead diverted six GS-6s (reportedly to have been numbered SP 4470-4475) to the WP. SP patented items were not included and the WP requested Franklin boosters be installed, making them slightly different from the SP engines upon delivery. The WP referred to them as GS-64-77s.

The GS-6 had an appearance similar to the GS-2
Southern Pacific class GS-2
The GS-2 was a streamlined 4-8-4 Northern type steam locomotive that served the Southern Pacific Company from 1937 to 1956. They were built by Lima Locomotive Works and were numbered 4410 through 4415. GS stands for "Golden State" or "General Service."...

: They featured a silver smokebox
Smokebox
A smokebox is one of the major basic parts of a Steam locomotive exhaust system. Smoke and hot gases pass from the firebox through tubes where they pass heat to the surrounding water in the boiler. The smoke then enters the smokebox, and is exhausted to the atmosphere through the chimney .To assist...

 with a cone-shaped single headlight casing and 73 inches (1.9 m) drivers. Like all GS engines they had teardrop classification lights, an air horn, and whistles. They retained the skyline casing on the top of the boiler, but they did not retain the side skirting of previous GS locomotives. Southern Pacific's GS-6s also lacked the orange and red "Daylight" paint scheme that the previous GS engines so famously wore. Western Pacific's GS-6s received "elephant ears" similar to that of the Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....

's 4-8-4 locomotives. Like the GS-5
Southern Pacific class GS-5
The GS-5 was a streamlined 4-8-4 Northern type steam locomotive that served the Southern Pacific Company from 1942 to 1958. Only two locomotives were built by the Lima Locomotive Works and were numbered 4458 and 4459. GS stands for "Golden State" or "General Service."The GS-5s are exactly identical...

, they were also equipped with roller bearings, giving the GS-6 a smoother ride and extra weight, and they also featured all-weather, fully enclosed cabs.

They were primarily used by the Southern Pacific for the San Joaquin Daylight
San Joaquin Daylight
The San Joaquin Daylight was a Southern Pacific passenger train inaugurated between Los Angeles and Oakland Pier by way of the San Joaquin Valley and Tehachapi Pass on July 4, 1941. It operated until the advent of Amtrak in 1971.-Passenger cars:Pullman-Standard built coaches were assigned to the...

, as well as San Jose
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...

-San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

 commute trains and freight service.

The Western Pacific used its GS-6s (GS-64s as WP classified them) on various passenger trains and in freight service as well. They acquired a different look from their SP sisters when the WP applied the "elephant ear" style smoke deflectors to all six locomotives. When the Western Pacific dieselized in 1953, they sold three of the GS-64 engines (WP 481, 484 and 485) to Southern Pacific to be used as sources for spare parts, but kept the tenders and converted them to steam generators for rotary snowplow
Rotary snowplow
A rotary snowplow is a piece of railroad snowfighting equipment. It is characterized by the large circular set of blades on its front end that rotate as a unit to cut through the snow on the track ahead of it.-History:...

s.

Preservation

One GS-6 survives today, Southern Pacific 4460
Southern Pacific 4460
Southern Pacific 4460 is the only surviving GS-6 Class steam locomotive. The GS-6 is a semi-streamlined 4-8-4 Northern type steam locomotive. GS stands for "Golden State" or "General Service." The locomotive was built by the Lima Locomotive Works for the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1943...

, which pulled the final movement of steam on the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1958. It was donated to the Museum of Transportation
Museum of Transportation
The Museum of Transportation of the St. Louis County, Missouri, United States Parks Department is a museum located in the Greater St. Louis area. It was first founded in 1944 by a group of individuals dedicated to preserving the past and has a wide variety of vehicles from American history...

 in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

, where it has remained ever since. Also, the tender of Western Pacific GS-6 484, which was used in its final years as a water and fuel tank for a rotary snowplow, is stored at the Western Pacific Railroad Museum
Western Pacific Railroad Museum
The Western Pacific Railroad Museum in Portola, California, formerly known as the Portola Railroad Museum before , is a heritage railroad that preserves and operates historic American railroad equipment. The museum's mission is to preserve the history of the Western Pacific Railroad and is...

 in Portola, California
Portola, California
Portola is the only incorporated city in Plumas County, California, United States. The population was 2,104 at the 2010 census, down from 2,227 at the 2000 census...

.

External links

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