T. D. Judah was the name of a 4-2-2 steam locomotive owned by the Central Pacific Railroad. It was named in honor of the railroad's first chief engineer, Theodore Dehone Judah, who had championed and surveyed a passable route over the Sierra Nevada for the Transcontinental Railroad.

T. D. Judah
T. D. Judah in its post-rebuild 4-2-2 configuration
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
BuilderCooke Locomotive Works
Build dateNovember 1863
Specifications
Configuration:
 • Whyte4-2-4T, later rebuilt to 4-2-2 with separate tender
Gauge4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Driver dia.54 in (1,372 mm)
Adhesive weight18,500 lb (8,400 kg; 8.4 t)
Loco weight39,000 lb (18,000 kg; 18 t)
Boiler pressure125 lbf/in2 (0.86 MPa)
CylindersTwo, outside
Cylinder size11 in × 15 in (279 mm × 381 mm)
Performance figures
Tractive effort3,571 lbf (15.88 kN)
Career
OperatorsCentral Pacific
Numbers4; renum 1882 in 1906
Official nameT. D. Judah
First runApril 9, 1864
DispositionScrapped 1912

History and career

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Like its sister engine, C. P. Huntington, T. D. Judah was originally built by the Cooke Locomotive Works in 1863 for a railroad that was unable to pay for it. Later, the two were seen in the Cooke shops by Collis Huntington and purchased for use on the Central Pacific Railroad (CP), becoming the road's third and fourth locomotives respectively. Two other, larger engines, Gov. Stanford (number 1, built by Norris Locomotive Works) and Pacific (number 2, built by Mason Machine Works) had been purchased earlier.

Originally built as a 4-2-4T Forney type, T. D. Judah was a locomotive and tender on one frame. In 1872 the engine was rebuilt as a 4-2-2 with separate tender and may have been given other mechanical upgrades like its sister engine. The rebuild reduced the locomotive's overall weight to 30,000 lb (14,000 kg), with 15,000 lb (6,800 kg) on the drivers.

T. D. Judah was sold to the Wellington Colliery Company on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, where it found service as Wellington Colliery Railway's Queen Anne. It was subsequently scrapped in 1912.

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In the 1991 film The Little Engine that Could, Tillie and Jebediah are based on this engine but are portrayed as 4-2-2 tank engines.

References

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  • Diebert, Timothy S. & Strapac, Joseph A. (1987). Southern Pacific Company Steam Locomotive Conpendium. Shade Tree Books. ISBN 0-930742-12-5.
  • Dunscomb, Guy (1963). A Century of Southern Pacific Steam Locomotives 1862–1962. Guy L. Dunscomb & Son.
  • Yenne, Bill (1985). The History Of The Southern Pacific. Bison Books Corp. ASIN B000ICKVU4.