Bachmann ALCo Southern 2-6-0 - were these real Southern locos?

[Searsport]

Hi, I am trying to track down whether the ALCo modern 2-6-0 models in the Bachmann range for the Southern (#7080, 7082 and maybe others) represent a real Southern class. The database on steamlocomotive.com is no help as the Southern was composed of so many constituents (over 150) it is impossible to search it. The Southern Society website does not have a list of SOU steam classes, nor does anywhere else I can find on the web.

Does anyone know, or maybe know where to look?

Maybe Mr B can say where he got the #s from?

Grateful for any help,
Thanks,
Bill.

[ebtnut]

The definitive reference is the book, Southern Railway System - Steam Locomotives and Boats by Richard E. Prince.  Not home now so I can't look up the answer directly.  The book shows up on Amazon and ABE Books periodically.  First edition can be a bit pricey. 

[Trainman203]

You don't have to look anything up.  It is definitely not a Southern Railway prototype.  

The prototype was built for the Green Bay and Western in the mid 1920's, therefore it is a very modern steam locomotive, built at a time when very few small steam engines were being built anymore.  By that time, the Southern was buying locomotives like the Ps4 Pacifics and other larger USRA derived engines.  

In fact, these were the last steam engines bought by the Southern.  Southern never bought anything with a four wheel trailing truck, i.e. no "super power" engines.  This meant that by the time the depression and then WW ll ended, Southern's steam engines were shot, and that is a big reason they dieselized early, especially on the NO&NE (1948) where bridge restrictions required the use of the older, most worn engines.

Smaller Southern Railway engines like moguls and ten wheelers were a good bit older than the 1920's, many acquired from the patchwork of shorter lines that became the Southern as we knew it.  While not matches, in general they more belonged to the vintage represented by Bachmann's ten wheelers.

The paint  job on the Southern Rwy Bachmann mogul isn't correct either.  They got it more or less right on the black  4-6-0, the black 2-8-0, the 2-10-2, and the 4501 2-8-2, although the real 4501 predates USRA designs by several years.

None of this means that you can't enjoy this engine.  I have two that run great.

[jbrock27]

Very informative, well put and helpful

[brokenrail]

Well said 
Johnny

[Woody Elmore]

The Southern is my favorite. Nobody will know that you are running an engine the Southern didn't have. It's your railroad. The Norfolk Southern won't sue you! Who knows for sure that in one of their many acquisitions they didn't acquire a mogul.

Have fun - that's what the hobby is supposed to be about.

[Trainman203]

i totally agree Woody. The Southern did have moguls, just not as new and modern as the Bachmann model.  One thing I love about the Southern is that because they absorbed so many different lines, their roster, unlike the PRR , wasn't "anything" "standard" at all.  You can certainly say that a modern mogul got taken in at some point.

Look at my Texas and New Orleans 2-8-0 in another thread.  At best it will only have a passing resemblance to the prototypes (which varied quite a bit), but it will be the best looking T&NO steam engine on my railroad.

[Searsport]

You don't have to look anything up.  It is definitely not a Southern Railway prototype.  

None of this means that you can't enjoy this engine.  I have two that run great.

Hi, thanks for the above. I did know that the immediate source for the Bachmann model was the GB&W, but not how close it was to a real SOU loco, or what really carried the #s 7080 / 7082 and where they ran. As you may have guessed, I have these 2 too - saw them on ebay at too good a price to ignore as they both have sound (value) (7082 boxed and 7080 liberated from a set). They are ideally short for switching a small (or micro) branch line layout.

The Prince books are not re-published often enough -  I will have to track one down for the SOU.

Thanks,
Bill.

[Trainman203]

If it had no outside valve gear, square steam chests, and a low coal bunker tender like the 4-4-0 it would start getting closer.

[Royce Wilson]

Could you lengthen the frame and boiler and make this a 4-6-0(light)?.


Royce

[Trainman203]

Probably not.  The pilot already sticks out almost too far.  

The drivers are very far apart.  A craftsman could put them closer together , moving the no. 1 driver back to make room for a 4 wheel pony truck.  But that's an awful lot of work.......

If you like the look  of the 2-6-0 becoming a 4-6-0, why not get a 52" driver 4-6-0 and put a mogul boiler shell on it?  No frame work, just adapting a boiler.  Plus, you get a lot better looking tender.  To me, the 2-6-0 tender is pretty unusual, one of a kind, bordering on goofy looking.

[brokenrail]

Answer No
Johnny