| Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad 4-4-2 class P-3-Compound 2718 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, sometime in 1905, photo by the Baldwin Locomotive Works, Chuck Zeiler collection. The following is from the book, Steam Locomotives Of The Burlington Route, by Bernard G. Corbin and William F. Kerka: The P-3-C engines were of the balanced-compound type. Twenty of these were built by Baldwin in 1904 and 1905, and were assigned to the road as 2700-2719. The first ten has 78 inch drivers while the rest were fittted with 74 inch drivers. The locomotives had all four of their cylinders in the same horizontal plane. The high-pressure cylinders were placed between the frame and drove the first pair of drivers through a cranked axle. The outside low-pressure cylinders were coupled to the second pair in the usual manner. Stephenson link motion controlled the steam distribution through piston valves. The inside and outside cranks on the same side were positioned 180 degrees apart so as to neutralize the disturbing forces. The first engine of this class had a one-piece, forged-steel crank axle. The rest had axles built up from nine separate pieces, this type proved more satisfactory. In general appearance, the P-3-C engines were similar to the P-2-C Atlantics except that the cylinders were located further forward to accommodate the inside driving rods to the first axle. This also resulted in a somewhat longer boiler and tube length, 19 feet for the P-3-C compared to 16 feet 9 inches for the P-2-C. Apparently there was a design change in the tenders, as this photo shows the roll-top design, and the photo of 2700 shows a rectangular design. Number 2718 was rebuilt to class P-5 and given road number 2574 during 1924. This was accomplished by adding new (single expansion) cylinders, new front engine frame, Schmidt-type superheater, new tube sheets and tube arrangement, and the application of Walschaerts valve gear. The eight foot long cabs were eventually replaced with shorter ones. Number 2574 was retired in May 1947. |