Lackawanna Steam Locomotives: History, Roster & Photos

Last revised: September 17, 2026

The Lackawanna of the first half of the twentieth century was a prosperous road and looked it. It burned anthracite and ran Camelbacks, then switched freight to soft coal from the Mikados on, kept locomotives simple, and never bought an Atlantic or a Mallet. George H. Drury, in Guide to North American Steam Locomotives, makes those omissions the point: the wide firebox was already on the 4-4-0s, and Scranton sat on the main, not a branch.

In 1910 the railroad adopted a letter-and-number classification. It loaded the system with stokers, power reverses, and brick arches until the scheme became unwieldy, and dropped it in 1938. Even-hundred road numbers—200, 300, 1600—were skipped. Last steam was 0-8-0 232 at Scranton on July 13, 1953.

Delaware Lackawanna and Western 4-6-2 1136 in semi-streamlining at Scranton Pennsylvania in 1938

Delaware, Lackawanna & Western 4-6-2 #1136 in semi-streamlining, with English undertones, at Scranton, Pennsylvania, in 1938. One of four Pacifics given stainless-steel running-board skirts in 1936–37. Schenectady, 1923.

On this page: At a glance · Anthracite and what it omitted · Twelve-Wheelers, Consolidations, Mikados · Americans, Ten-Wheelers, Pacifics · Poconos and Hudsons · Switchers · July 13, 1953 · All-time roster (built since 1900)

At a glance

Item	Detail
Railroad	Delaware, Lackawanna & Western. Mark DLW. Company Lackawanna
This roster	Engines built since 1900, after Drury, pages 155–159. Classification dropped 1938; no class letters
Fuel	Anthracite, then soft coal from the Mikados on. Passenger Pacifics kept wide fireboxes
Omitted	No Atlantics. No Mallets. Paired single air pumps; compounding and feedwater heaters avoided
Freight after 1912	Mikados from 1912; freight Pacifics 1151–1193; thirty-five three-cylinder 4-8-2s, 2201–2235
Poconos	Fifty-five 4-8-4s, 1501–1505 and 1601–1650, 1927–1934. Lackawanna’s name for the type
Hudsons	Five 4-6-4s, 1151–1155, Schenectady, 1937. Last new steam. Numbers reused after freight Pacifics
Shop 0-8-0s	Sixty, 201–260, Scranton, 1929–1935, from surplus Mike and Pacific boilers. Tractive effort 67,300 lb
Last steam	July 13, 1953. 0-8-0 #232 at Scranton
Shops	Scranton, Pennsylvania

Roster follows Drury, Guide to North American Steam Locomotives (revised edition), pages 155–159. Information compiled September 17, 2026.

Anthracite, Camelbacks, and two types the roster never had

Drury’s chapter opens on the map. The main ran from Hoboken northwest through Scranton and Binghamton to Buffalo. Long branches reached north from Binghamton to Utica, Syracuse, and Oswego, and southwest from Scranton along the Susquehanna to Northumberland. It was the shortest New York–Buffalo route. It also ran a heavy New Jersey suburban service. In the early twentieth century, with an eye to speeding trains, the road built the cutoffs that still define the map: heavy earthworks and tall concrete viaducts. Those projects are the company page. They are why later Mikes and Pacifics could run faster than the 2-8-0s they replaced.

The route west crossed the ridges between the Hudson and Delaware, threaded Delaware Water Gap, climbed the Poconos into the Lackawanna Valley at Scranton, climbed again to Binghamton, followed the Susquehanna, Chenango, and Cohocton, and then ran level country into Buffalo. Scranton was on the main. The Erie and the Delaware & Hudson both used Mallets on the grades out of Scranton; those grades were on secondary lines. The Lackawanna did not. It was a fast railroad. It also preferred locomotives as simple as possible: paired single air pumps rather than cross-compound pumps, and no compounding or feedwater heaters as a matter of policy. Pacific 1135 was a test bed for a heater. The roster as a whole did not follow her.

The other omission was the Atlantic. The wide firebox that a 4-4-2 made possible was already present as a Wootten firebox over the 69-inch drivers of Lackawanna 4-4-0s and 4-6-0s. By the time the railroad wanted trailing trucks, passenger trains needed six driving axles. The Atlantic was not a mountain engine.

In 1900 the Lackawanna burned anthracite and was one of the principal Camelback users. Hard, clean-burning coal was the heart of the 1901 advertising campaign that put Phoebe Snow on the Road of Anthracite. The New York Central had a longer route to Buffalo but ran faster on sooty soft coal. By the Teens, mechanical stokers needed small-size coal, and small anthracite cost more than bituminous. From the Mikados on, freight engines were designed to burn soft coal. Passenger Pacifics kept wide fireboxes; after World War I they burned a mixture, then straight bituminous, and the advertising department stopped talking about Phoebe’s white dress. The character came back on a streamliner in 1949. That train is the Phoebe Snow page.

Twelve-Wheelers, two generations of Consolidation, then Mikados

In 1899 the DL&W took fifteen Camelback 4-8-0s from Brooks, then five from Dickson in 1900, similar to Twelve-Wheelers Brooks had built for the Central Railroad of New Jersey. They were too powerful for their weight, about 200,000 pounds, and slippery. For 33 more freight engines that year the road switched to the 2-8-0, which put more weight on the drivers. Those two groups, 801–820 and 821–853, spent most of their lives in secondary service after boiler pressure and cylinder diameter were cut. Except for two that lasted a few years longer, the 4-8-0s were scrapped in 1923.

In 1901 Schenectady turned out a 57-inch-drivered 2-8-0 at 186,000 pounds as a Camelback or 178,000 as a single-cab. The railroad ordered 30 Camelbacks, 855–884, and 30 single-cab engines, 740–769, then 30 more: 20 Camelbacks 885–899 and 301–305, and 10 conventional 770–779. By 1910 it had 91 Camelback 2-8-0s and 100 conventional 2-8-0s to the same specification except firebox and cab: 57-inch drivers, 21 × 26 cylinders, 186,000 to 190,000 pounds. In 1911 Schenectady built 15 larger 2-8-0s, 385–399, for Dansville Hill between Groveland and Wayland, New York: same 57-inch drivers and 200-pound boiler, 26 × 30 cylinders, 239,000 pounds, about 50 percent more tractive effort.

The 2-8-0s were for heavy, slow freight. Faster trains still needed something. In 1903 Schenectady delivered 25 2-6-0s with 63-inch drivers, 18 of them Camelbacks 570–587 and seven single-cab 550–556. Schenectady, Baldwin, and Rogers kept delivering Moguls through 1911: 20 Camelbacks and 46 single-cab engines in all. Ten, 501–510, Rogers 1906 and Schenectady 1908, had 57-inch drivers and matched contemporary 2-8-0 tractive effort.

In 1912 the railroad bought its first engines with trailing trucks. Schenectady built fifteen 2-8-2s, 1201–1215: 63-inch drivers, a deeper firebox, inside-bearing trailing trucks, and outside ashpan hoppers. Engineers disliked the screw reverse; firemen cursed the hard-fired boxes. Power reverses and stokers later fixed both. 1216–1227 followed in 1913. Later groups—1228–1237 in 1916, 1238–1252 in 1918, 1253–1262 in 1920—had outside-frame trailing trucks and were slightly heavier. They were about as successful as a USRA light Mikado, with 28 × 30 cylinders and 6,000 to 9,000 pounds more tractive effort. Twenty-two of the first Mikes, 1201–1222, were rebuilt into 0-8-0s.

In the early 1920s came 50 heavy Mikados, 2101–2150: about as much locomotive as a 2-8-2 with 63-inch drivers would hold. Cylinders 28 × 32, 356,500 pounds, 67,700 pounds tractive effort, 79,200 with the booster. They were in the class of a Chesapeake & Ohio K-3 and more powerful because of the booster. When dieselization started, seven were sold to Chicago & Illinois Midland, Alton & Southern, and Monon.

The 1912 Mikes were good for heavy freight, but the cutoffs then in progress meant trains could move faster. The railroad had just received its first passenger Pacifics and thought a medium-drivered 4-6-2 could replace the Moguls on fast merchandise. In 1913 Schenectady built seven freight Pacifics, 1151–1157, 69-inch drivers, 43,116 pounds tractive effort, 50 percent more than the Moguls. Lima built 14 more the next year, 1158–1171. Later freight Pacifics had 70-inch drivers: 1172–1183 from Schenectady in 1916 and 1922, 1184–1193 from Brooks in 1924. By then the 2100-series Mikes were almost as fast; 70-inch 4-8-4s in 1929 ended the need for freight Pacifics. Most of 1151–1193 were rebuilt into 0-8-0s. Four of the Brooks engines went to the Boston & Maine. The 1151–1155 numbers were reused in 1937 on Hudsons.

In the 1920s Alco pushed three-cylinder locomotives for heavy freight: lighter rods, six impulses per revolution instead of four, less surge in the rail. The center main rod, between the frames, was hard to lubricate—less of a problem in slow freight than in passenger service. In 1926 and 1927 the Lackawanna bought 35 three-cylinder 4-8-2s, 2201–2235, 63-inch drivers like the 2100 Mikes, outside cylinders 25 × 32, inside cylinder 25 × 28, 394,000 pounds, 77,600 pounds tractive effort. Gresley conjugating gear sat ahead of the cylinders. They remained three-cylinder engines until they were scrapped after World War II. Five passenger three-cylinder 4-8-2s, 1450–1454, are in the next section; those overheated and were rebuilt as two-cylinder engines.

Sixty-five Camelback Americans, Ten-Wheelers, then Pacifics

Between 1901 and 1911 the DL&W bought 65 Camelback 4-4-0s with 69-inch drivers. The first group, 973–981, continued an existing series; 18 more from Schenectady in 1903 and 1904 filled the numbers to 999. Later batches were 958–972, 944–955, 939–943, and 933–938, older 4-4-0s being renumbered to keep the new engines in one block. Baldwin 958–972 were among the few Lackawanna classes from a builder other than Alco or its predecessors. 953–955 of 1905 had experimental superheaters; 954 and 955 had piston valves. The rest were built with slide valves and superheated, with piston valves, between 1916 and 1921.

The Americans were main-line engines until trains outgrew them. Steel coaches from 1923 on were about 25 percent heavier than wood cars of the same capacity, and axle generators added drag. Between 1923 and 1925 the road rebuilt ten 4-4-0s with new cylinders and Baker valve gear. The decision that year to electrify suburban service put most of the 4-4-0s out of work; as others came due for repair they were scrapped. Nine of the ten rebuilds were streamstyled in 1937 with single cabs. One, 988, received running-board skirts.

Before those 65 Americans the railroad had tried the 4-6-0. In 1900 Brooks delivered seven heavy Camelback Ten-Wheelers similar to CNJ’s, 69-inch drivers, inside piston valves, Stephenson gear. They were slow. Four were rebuilt early; with slide valves, then superheated in 1919–20 with new cylinders and Walschaerts gear, they were the only 4-6-0s scrapped when the suburban lines were electrified. Schenectady tried again in 1905 with 1008–1012, Rogers with 1013–1016 the next year, heavier than the Brooks engines. Twenty more, 1017–1036, Rogers and Schenectady 1907–1910, had 69-inch drivers, Walschaerts, and piston valves. 1050–1052, Rogers 1907, were similar with 73-inch drivers. Nine Ten-Wheelers received single cabs in 1937–38. 1011 was streamstyled.

Between 1912 and 1914 Schenectady delivered 14 Pacifics, 1101–1114: wide fireboxes, single cabs, 73-inch drivers, 284,000 to 290,000 pounds. Somewhat heavier than a USRA light Pacific, they exerted the same tractive effort. All had 25 × 28 cylinders except 1110, built with 25 × 26 to see if shorter piston travel made a faster engine. Apparently not: the 1914 Pacifics went back to 25 × 28. Five heavier Pacifics, 305,500 pounds, with regular fireboxes for bituminous coal, came in 1915 for the Poconos. 1131 had an experimental watertube firebox; 1132 tried Baker gear briefly; 1135 tested a feedwater heater. Schenectady then delivered 79-inch-drivered Pacifics in groups: 1126–1130 in 1917, 1120–1125 in 1920, 1115–1119 in 1922, and 1136–1140 in 1923. In 1936 and 1937 four Pacifics received stainless-steel wing-shaped running-board skirts. 1136 at Scranton in 1938 is one of those four. 1123 was further painted bright green and red on the skirts and tender.

In 1924 Brooks built five 4-8-2s, 1401–1405, 69-inch drivers, to cut doubleheading east of Scranton. They were not particularly fast and lasted only a year on premier trains. During World War II, with a surplus of power, they were sold to Atlantic Coast Line. Five more 4-8-2s, 1450–1454, arrived from Brooks in 1925: 73-inch drivers, three 25 × 28 cylinders, two with Baker gear and three with Walschaerts, all with Gresley gear on the center cylinder. The center valve and main-rod bearings overheated at speed, partly because they were hard to reach for lubrication. In 1930 and 1931 the railroad rebuilt them with new drivers and two 28 × 32 cylinders.

Poconos, then five Hudsons

In 1927 Brooks delivered five 4-8-4s, 1501–1505, the second batch of 4-8-4s built in the United States, after Northern Pacific. They had 77-inch drivers and, unlike the NP engines, conventional frames under the firebox. Lackawanna called them Poconos. They were successful enough that Schenectady built 20 copies with 70-inch drivers for freight, 1601–1620, in 1929; ten more freight engines, 1621–1630, in 1932; and a final 20 dual-service locomotives with 74-inch drivers, 1631–1650, in 1934, despite the Depression. The last 20 had roller bearings on all axles and were among the most powerful 4-8-4s built. Tractive effort of 76,000 pounds was exceeded among 4-8-4s by only the Norfolk & Western class J. They carried air horns ahead of the sand dome instead of whistles. Fifty-five Poconos in all.

The last new passenger steam was five Hudsons, 1151–1155, Schenectady, 1937, 80-inch drivers. They were meant to run Scranton–Buffalo without change, 16 to 18 cars at 80 mph. The speed limit was 70, and the trains were rarely more than eight to ten cars. Diesels took the varnish shortly after World War II. The Hudsons went to suburban service. Their numbers had already been used on the 1913 freight Pacifics that Scranton had rebuilt into 0-8-0s.

One hundred twenty-five 0-6-0s, then sixty shop 0-8-0s

Between 1901 and 1911 the Lackawanna bought 125 0-6-0s of the same design: 57 Camelbacks and 68 single-cab engines. They had 51-inch drivers, slide valves, main rods to the second drivers, and only 170 pounds boiler pressure. In 1906 Dickson delivered five Camelback 0-8-0s, 151–155, for transfer between Hoboken and Secaucus. In 1909 four single-cab 0-8-0s arrived: 169 and 168, in that order, for Buffalo, and 184 and 185 for the humps at Secaucus and Hampton. Twenty-eight more, similar to 168 and 169, came from Lima and from Scranton shops between 1912 and 1916, numbered 156–169 and 170–185. The original 184 and 185 became 198 and 199.

By 1928 the railroad had not bought a new switcher in twelve years. The 0-6-0s could not move long strings of loaded hoppers, let alone the 70-ton cars then appearing. Between 1929 and 1935 Scranton shops used boilers from surplus Mikados and Pacifics, plus new running gear, to build 60 modern 0-8-0s, 201–260. They had 58-inch drivers, 27 × 30 cylinders, 258,000 to 265,500 pounds, and 67,300 pounds tractive effort—more than a USRA 0-8-0 (214,000 pounds, 51,000 pounds tractive effort). During the Depression those conversions kept the shop employed. One of them, 232, was the last Lackawanna steam locomotive under fire.

July 13, 1953

The Lackawanna dieselized quickly once it started. FTs arrived in 1945. Express passenger steam, including the Hudsons, was off the main shortly after the war. Last steam was 0-8-0 232 at Scranton on July 13, 1953. Some of the shop 0-8-0s were not cut up until 1955. The diesels that replaced this fleet—boxcabs and EMC SCs, then FTs, F3s, E8As, GP7s, RS-3s, and Train Masters—are the diesel roster. Erie Lackawanna began October 17, 1960. That story is the company page.

All-time roster (built since 1900)

Builder “Schenectady,” “Brooks,” “Cooke,” “Dickson,” and “Rogers” are Alco works or predecessors. “DL&W” and “Scranton” are company shops. Classification was dropped in 1938; there are no class letters included here. Number 1151 appears twice: freight Pacifics rebuilt to 0-8-0s, then Hudsons.

Type	Numbers	Qty	Builder	Built	Retired	Notes
0-4-0T	4	1	Rogers	1913	1949
0-4-0T	7	1	Baldwin	1922	1926	Ex-Brooklyn Dock & Terminal
0-6-0T	8	1	Baldwin	1904	1933–1940
0-6-0	78–84	7	Schenectady	1911	1926–1932
0-6-0	85–106	21	Cooke	1903, 1905	1927–1935
0-6-0	107–112	6	Dickson	1906	1927–1953
0-6-0	113–146	34	Schenectady	1908	1927–1953	Camelback
0-6-0	13–18	6	Dickson	1901	1930–1936	Camelback
0-6-0	19–26	8	Baldwin	1901	1926–1936	Camelback
0-6-0	27–31	5	Schenectady	1908	1932–1941	Camelback
0-6-0	32–43	10	Dickson	1906–1907	1929–1937	Camelback
0-6-0	44–69	6	Cooke	1902, 1906	1926–1937
0-8-0	156–161	6	Scranton	1913	1940–1946
0-8-0	162–167	6	Lima	1912	1937–1949
0-8-0	168, 169	2	Schenectady	1909, 1910	1939
0-8-0	170–185	16	DL&W	1914, 1916	1946–1953	To 198, 199 in 1916
0-8-0	184, 185	2	Schenectady	1910	1937
0-8-0	201–260	60	DL&W	1929–1935	1948–1955	Rebuilt from 4-6-2s and 2-8-2s
0-8-0	151–155	5	Dickson	1906	1937	Camelback
2-6-0	501–506	6	Rogers	1906	1930–1937
2-6-0	507–510	4	Schenectady	1908	1931–1937
2-6-0	534–556	23	Schenectady	1903–1911	1929–1947
2-6-0	557–562	6	Baldwin	1904	1926–1935
2-6-0	563, 564	2	Rogers	1906	1930, 1942
2-6-0	565–569	5	Schenectady	1908	1934–1947
2-6-0	570–587	18	Schenectady	1903	1926–1934	Camelback
2-6-0	588, 589	2	Rogers	1906	1927, 1929	Camelback
2-8-0	350–373	24	Schenectady	1910	1940–1953
2-8-0	385–399	15	Schenectady	1911	1937, 1940
2-8-0	724–739	16	Schenectady	1909	1937–1953
2-8-0	740–779	40	Schen, Dickson	1901–1902	1926–1935
2-8-0	780–783	4	Rogers	1906	1932, 1936
2-8-0	784–799	16	Schenectady	1908–1909	1932–1953
2-8-0	301–305	5	Schenectady	1902	1929–1934	Camelback
2-8-0	306–314	9	Baldwin	1904	1927–1935	Camelback
2-8-0	315–322	8	Schenectady	1905	1927–1935	Camelback
2-8-0	323–346	24	Rogers	1906–1908	1926–1936	Camelback
2-8-0	821–853	33	Dickson, Brooks	1900	1923	Camelback
2-8-0	855–899	45	Dickson, Schen	1901, 1902	1923–1935	Camelback
2-8-2	1201–1227	27	Schenectady	1912–1913	1936–1948	1201–1222 rebuilt to 0-8-0
2-8-2	1228–1262	35	Schenectady	1916–1920	1946–1953
2-8-2	2101–2140	40	Schenectady	1922, 1923	1946–1952
2-8-2	2141–2150	10	Brooks	1924	1946–1950
4-4-0	933–943	11	Schenectady	1910–1911	1931–1935
4-4-0	944–955	12	Schenectady	1905	1929–1937	Camelback
4-4-0	958–972	15	Baldwin	1904	1929–1946	Camelback
4-4-0	973–999	27	Schenectady	1901–1903	1929–1946	Camelback
4-6-0	1001–1007	7	Brooks	1900	1929–1946	Camelback
4-6-0	1008–1012	5	Schenectady	1905	1931	Camelback
4-6-0	1013–1023	11	Rogers	1906–1907	1932–1942	Camelback
4-6-0	1024–1036	13	Schenectady	1908, 1910	1932–1942	Camelback
4-6-0	1050–1052	3	Rogers	1907	1936	Camelback
4-6-2	1101–1114	14	Schenectady	1912–1914	1940–1948
4-6-2	1115–1130	16	Schenectady	1917–1922	1950–1953
4-6-2	1131–1135	5	Schenectady	1915	1953
4-6-2	1136–1140	5	Schenectady	1923	1948–1953	Photo: #1136 Scranton
4-6-2	1151–1157	7	Schenectady	1913		Rebuilt into 0-8-0s
4-6-2	1158–1171	14	Lima	1914		Rebuilt into 0-8-0s
4-6-2	1172–1183	12	Schenectady	1916, 1922		Rebuilt into 0-8-0s
4-6-2	1184–1193	10	Brooks	1924		4 sold to B&M, 6 rebuilt to 0-8-0s
4-6-4	1151–1155	5	Schenectady	1937	1951, 1952
4-8-0	801–815	15	Brooks	1899	1923	Camelback
4-8-0	816–820	5	Dickson	1900	1923–1929	Camelback
4-8-2	1401–1405	5	Brooks	1924		Sold to ACL, 1943
4-8-2	1450–1454	5	Brooks	1925	1946	Three-cylinder
4-8-2	2201–2235	35	Schenectady	1926–1927	1946–1950	Three-cylinder
4-8-4	1501–1505	5	Brooks	1927	1949
4-8-4	1601–1620	20	Schenectady	1929	1951
4-8-4	1621–1630	10	Schenectady	1932	1951, 1952
4-8-4	1631–1650	20	Schenectady	1934	1951–1953

ACL = Atlantic Coast Line. B&M = Boston & Maine.

Sources

Drury, George H. Guide to North American Steam Locomotives, revised edition, pp. 155–159. All roster rows, Camelback and soft-coal narrative, no Atlantics, no Mallets, Poconos, Hudsons 1151–1155, shop 0-8-0s, last steam July 13, 1953. Table photographed from the same edition
Taber, Thomas Townsend, and Thomas Townsend Taber III. The Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad in the Twentieth Century, Volume 2, 1981. Drury’s recommended reading
Published rosters cited by Drury: Railroad magazine, August 1933, p. 46; April 1948, p. 122; Railway & Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin No. 72
National Park Service / Steamtown. Last day of steam, 1953, 0-8-0 #232
American-Rails.com: Lackawanna company; Phoebe Snow; Camelbacks

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