The latest locomotive on my Timesaver Layout is a USRA 0-8-0 heavy switcher.
By 1917, the arrival of larger and much heavier freight cars had pushed most 0-6-0 designs to their limits. Realizing that railroads needed bigger and more powerful switchers to handle these modern cars, the United States Railroad Administration (USRA) developed plans for an all-new 0-8-0.
Up-to-date in all respects, these big switchers were the equals in power of many road freight locomotives from just a few years earlier! Unlike some USRA designs, the 0-8-0 was well liked by the railroads that received it; 175 were completed before government control ended in 1920.
But the 0-8-0’s ultimate success came in the years that followed as the USRA design was eventually copied by 35 different roads. In fact, the last new steam locos built in the US were a series of 0-8-0s, constructed by the N&W in 1951-53 that followed the general outline of the decades-old USRA design!
The total of 175 locomotives were built under USRA control; fourteen of these were sent to the Southern Railways.
Look here for a complete list of where all of the USRA 0-8-0’s are sent to.
