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The 4-4-0 American

The 4-4-0 American became the standard of US railroads in the 1800s. With little need to back up except at low speed, the 4-4-0 had no need for a trailing truck, putting most of the locomotive's weight on its four big drivers for pulling both passengers and freight trains. Though eventually replaced by bigger, faster and more modern engines, new 4-4-0 Americans were being built as recently as 1905 (the D16 class for the Pennsylvania RR). Before being replaced by Atlantics, the 4-4-0s maintained a schedule of 24 hours between New York and Chicago for the PRR. The 1905 model had 68-inch drivers with a tractive effort of 23,902 pounds. The locomotive weighed 141,000 pounds, pulling a tender containing fuel weighing 13 tons and 5,600 gallons. Builder: Juniata Shops. Several older 4-4-0 Atlantics are in existence on display in parks or museums, and PRR#1223 (from 1905) is also being preserved to show the acme of American-type steam locomotives.
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