During the renaissance of the US railroad industry 1980 -2000, standardization played a material role in contributing to the efficiency most major railroads now enjoy. Gone were the days when strong-willed railroad mechanical engineers and equally stubborn suppliers fueled the creation of custom-designed locomotives and cars. Superficially, the pretense was that locomotive and car designs had to be tailored and built to the tastes and needs of individual railroads. Lost in that pursuit were the economies of scale. Ironically, railroads dissed the first practical example of “standardization 101” that came from a most unlikely place over 100 years ago: the Federal Government.

Frequently we hear reference to fruitless projects championed and funded by the US Government. One major exception occurred on the eve of World War I: The creation of the United States Railroad Administration (USRA) on December 28, 1917. On that date, the Federal Government confiscated the management of all US railroads. From that date forward, US-appointed railroad executives were charged with making operating changes that were needed to cope with the demands of the war. Outcry from capitalists was loud, but in this case, federal agents had a reasonable level of justification. The railroad traffic had grown substantially since 1900, in particular from 1910-1917. Railroads were choked with traffic, creating backlogs that stemmed from inadequate plant, inefficient dispatching and signaling, and insufficient fleets of aged – and mostly wooden – equipment. Most rosters of locomotives were likewise dated and even when a railroad looked into new and larger locomotives, most still had 90 to 110 LB rail – both rail weights could not safely support larger 2-10-0, 2-10-2 and mallet locomotives.

The USRA was right on target and worked intelligently and surprisingly quickly to get to the source of the operating problems and developed “best practice” with all of the referenced weaknesses – especially locomotive and car design. The USRA brought together the best engineers from American Locomotive Company, Baldwin Locomotive Works and Lima Locomotive Works and charged them with developing “standard” locomotive designs, covering a range of effective and efficient wheel arrangements that would be suitable on every railroad. Car builders were likewise to tasked to do the same with freight equipment.

The locomotive builders worked swiftly and developed many classes of state-of-the-art “standard” locomotives including 0-6-0 and 0-8-0 switchers, and road service locomotives in “light” and “heavy” categories covering 2-8-2, 4-6-2, 4-8-2 and larger freight locomotives 2-10-2 and 2-6-6-2 mallets; all three builders participated in construction. Many believed that only less-prosperous railroads were the beneficiaries of these locomotives but the USRA also astutely identified the need on larger systems for these new locomotive designs as well. As such, the Pennsylvania-Lines West, New York Central and Baltimore & Ohio had many USRA locomotives added to their fleets. The first USRA-built locomotive was Baltimore & Ohio #4500, a light 2-8-2 – from Baldwin Locomotive Works – and was distinguished, like all USRA designs, by clean lines and front-end with centered headlight with the bell above.

To the surprise of skeptical railroad motive power men, the USRA designs were highly successful; ditto for the freight car designs. The USRA and the locomotive and car builders believed that further economies could be obtained if the entire railroad industry shifted it’s thinking toward standardization in all areas of engineering. But that was not to be.

The railroads returned to private ownership on March 1, 1920. While a few select railroads replicated the USRA designs with private purchases in the early years of the 1920s, mid-1920s prosperity created false optimism about the future and lessened the need to “think standard”.  Accordingly, the old pattern of highly specialized, individually designed locomotives and cars dominated new purchases. An odd twist of the Government design era occurred when 2-10-0 locomotives were built in quantity for Russia. But the convolution of the Revolution compelled the US to cancel delivery.  The large inventory of “Russian Decapods” – light machines by US standards – were rebuilt to standard US track gauge and sold to a host of US railroads.

For those interested in seeing the real thing, B&O number #4500 was held for preservation and can be viewed at the B&O railroad Museum in Baltimore. The locomotive displays a number of B&O-specific modifications that are evidence of that individualized thinking that killed standardization. Three Russian Decapods have been likewise preserved and are on display and include the following: Frisco 1630 at the Illinois Railway Museum (being the only operating one) and other surviving examples include locomotive 1621 at the National Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, MO, and 1625 at the Museum of the American Railroad in Frisco, TX.

To honor the far-sighted USRA designs, that remain popular prototypes with model railroaders, we call your attention to the wide range of USRA-inspired models we offer. The selection and purchase are made easier by our competitive pricing and fast delivery.

Frank Wrabel

Modeltrainstuff.com