| This beautiful, massive machine was originally built by the Alco-Richmond plant in January of 1918 as Seaboard Air Line 2-8-8-2 #514. The loco was sold to the B&O in 1920 after Seaboard Air Line found the loco too much trouble. It was renumbered BO #7314. In 1923, the B&O Shops undertook to simplify the compound Mallet into a simple-articulated one, removed the trailing truck and reclassified BO 2-8-8-0 #7314 as EL-6a. With the advent of diesel, this massive machine was sold for scrap in July of 1950 after nearly 32 years of service. Simplified EL-6a specs - 63" drivers, 210 psi boiler pressure, four 25x32" cylinders, engine wt of 492,000 lb and impressive tractive effort of 108,000 lb. This is a Ralph G. Dunn photo. |