Southern Railway 542

Southern Railway 542 is a steam locomotive built in 1903 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works for Southern Railway. It is a 2-8-0 Consolidation of Southern's J class.[1]

Southern Railway 542
No. 542 sitting at the North Carolina Transportation Museum roundhouse
Type and origin
Power typeSaturated Steam
BuilderBaldwin Locomotive Works
Serial number22570
Build date1903
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 • Whyte2-8-0
Gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Driver dia.57 in (1.448 m)
Fuel typeCoal
Boiler pressure200 psi (1.38 MPa)
CylindersTwo, with Outside Admission D-valves
Cylinder size21 in × 28 in (533 mm × 711 mm)
Valve gearStephenson
Performance figures
Tractive effort37,485 lbf (166.74 kN)
Career
OperatorsSouthern Railway
ClassJ
Numbers542
604
RetiredJuly 1953
Current ownerNorth Carolina Transportation Museum
DispositionOn static display in Spencer, North Carolina

History

542 first operated in North Carolina on the Southern Railway in Statesville and Winston-Salem in 1903. It was one of 25 similar locomotives built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1903 for the Southern to haul freight.

Between April 3–6, and August 23 - 24th, 1937, the locomotive was leased to the Atlantic and Yadkin Railway. In June 1946, the A&Y requested #542 in replacement of its sibling locomotive #531 in lease agreement. Although #542 needed $6,000.00 in boiler work, the A&Y begged to use the engine for few weeks before work is done. The Southern agreed and #542 was delivered to A&Y on June 14, 1946 and was transferred to lease in place of #531.[2] After the A&Y ceased operations in 1950, #542 went back to the Southern.

By 1953, #542 was rostered in Spencer as a yard goat. #542 stayed on the job until July 1953 when it retired from a revenue life of 50 years. In 1954, the Southern donated the locomotive to the Tanglewood Park in Clemmons, North Carolina for static display until it was being trade for the ex-Illinois Central 0-8-0 #1894 in 1991. The locomotive was eventually given a cosmetic restoration, and to become more presentable to the gneral public at the N.C. Transportation Museum (NCTM) in Spencer, North Carolina. Sometimes, the locomotive would be renumbered to 604 while holding a tender from a Buffalo Creek and Gauley 2-8-0. As of 2021, the locomotive has been renumbered back to 542, and it continued to be on static display inside the NCTM.[3]

References
  1. http://southern.railfan.net/images/archive/southern/steam/loco_diagram/47.jpg
  2. "Locomotives".
  3. "NC Transportation Museum - Rail Equipment -- Steam Locomotives". www.nctrans.org. Archived from the original on 2011-04-03.


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