USRA Light Mikado


The USRA Light Mikado was a USRA standard class of steam locomotive designed under the control of the United States Railroad Administration, the nationalized railroad system in the United States during World War I. This was the standard light freight locomotive of the USRA types, and was of 2-8-2 wheel arrangement in the Whyte notation, or 1′D1′ in UIC classification.
by the Chicago and Illinois Midland Railway
A total of 625 locomotives were built under the auspices of the USRA, with a further 641 copies built after the end of the USRA's control. The first, for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, was completed in July 1918 and given #4500. The locomotives were considered well designed and modern, and were popular and successful. Large numbers remained in service until replaced by diesel locomotives. It was also called the McAdoo Mikado after William Gibbs McAdoo, head of the USRA.
With later copies, over 50 railroads used the type, including the following:
RailroadQuantityClassRoad numbersNotes
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
100
Q-3
4500–4599
Chicago and Alton Railroad
10
L-4
875–884
to Alton Railroad 4385–4394, class Q-8
Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad
15
N-2
1925–1939
Chicago Great Western Railway
10
L-3
750–759
Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville Railroad
5
J-2
550–554
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad
9
K-55
2300–2308, 2309–2319
Grand Trunk Railway
15
M-3
440–454
to Canadian National Railway 3700–3714, class S-3-a
Grand Trunk Western Railroad
25
M-3
455–479
to Canadian National Railway 3715–3739, class S-3-a
Lehigh and Hudson River Railway
4
80
80–83
Louisville and Nashville Railroad
18
J-3
1500–1517
Maine Central Railroad
6
S
621–626
Missouri Pacific Railroad
15
MK-63
1301–1315, 1316–1325
Monongahela Railway
10
170-179
Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway
10
L2-55
650–659
New York Central Railroad
95
H-6a
5100–5194
Renumberd 1800–1894, less 11 to PM
New York Central subsidiary Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway
25
H-6a
6089–6113
Renumbered 1700–1724
New York Central subsidiary Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad
24
H-6a
400–423
10 to SLSF, others to PM
New York Central subsidiary Lake Erie and Western Railroad
15
H-6a
5540–5554
to Nickel Plate Road 586–600
New York Central subsidiary Michigan Central Railroad
20
H-6a
7970–7989
Renumbered 1770–1789
New York Central subsidiary Toledo and Ohio Central Railroad
15
H-6a
9732–9746
Renumbered 1732–1736
New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railway
10
H-6a
601–610
Pennsylvania Railroad
20006-20038
Refused; 10 to MP, 23 to SLSF
Pennsylvania Railroad subsidiary Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad
5
L2s
108-112
renumbered PRR 9627-9631
Pere Marquette Railway
K-8
1011–1040
Acquired secondhand from IHB, NYC and WAB. To C&O 2350–2379
Pittsburgh and West Virginia Railway
3
1000-1002
Rutland Railway
6
H-6a
32–37
Seaboard Air Line Railroad
10
Q-1
390–399
St. Louis – San Francisco Railway
4000
4000–4032
Southern Railway
25
Ms-1
4750–4774
4765–4775 to subsidiary Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway 6285–6294 in 1920
Texas and Pacific Railway
11
H-1
550–560
Refused; to Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific
Union Pacific Railroad
20
MK-Spl
2295–2314
Renumbered 2480–2499 in 1920
Union Pacific subsidiary Oregon Short Line Railroad
20
2535-2554
Wabash Railroad
20
K-2
2201–2220
5 to PM, replaced by 5 from WP
Western Pacific Railroad
5
MK-55
321–325
to Wabash in 1920
Totals625

Copies:
RailroadQuantityClassRoad numbersNotes
Akron, Canton and Youngstown Railroad
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
Canadian National Railway
18
S-3
3740-3757
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
Chicago and Alton Railroad
5
L-4a
885–889
to Alton Railroad 4395–4399, class Q-8a
Chicago and Illinois Midland Railway
Detroit and Toledo Shore Line Railroad
Florida East Coast Railway
15
701
701–715
Kansas, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway
Louisville and Nashville Railroad
75
J-3
1518–1592
Midland Valley Railroad
Missouri Pacific subsidiary International-Great Northern Railroad
10
MK-63
1101–1110
Mobile and Ohio Railroad
37
450
450–486
Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México
Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway
12
L2A-55
660–671
New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railway
61
H-6b–H-6f
611–671
Oklahoma City-Ada-Atoka Railway
Pere Marquette Railway
10
K-5
1041–1050
to C&O 1060–1069
Seaboard Air Line Railroad
118
Q-3
334–451
Southern Railway subsidiary Alabama Great Southern Railroad
10
Ms-1
6612–6621
Texas and Pacific Railway
11
H-2
800–810
West Point Route
3
F
425–427
West Point Route
7
F
320–326
West Point Route
4
F
375–378
Total641

7 USRA light mikados both originals and copies are preserved. These are Frisco 4003 at the Fort Smith Trolley Museum in Fort Smith, Arkansas, Frisco 4018 at the Sloss Furness in Birmingham, Alabama, Nickel Plate Road 587 at the Indiana Transportation Museum in Noblesville, Indiana, Baltimore and Ohio 4500 at the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, Maryland, Grand Trunk Western 4070 at Midwest Railway Preservation Society in Cleveland, Ohio, Union Pacific 2537 at Jefferson Park in Walla Walla, Washington, and C&IM 551 at the St. Louis Transportation Museum.