Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Steam Roster

Published: October 22, 2026

Patrick Dorin tabulated the steam locomotives still on the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern in the final decade, and the archive roster supplies the construction numbers, class dimensions, and dispositions for those same engines. The table counts 244 frames. A 2-8-0 later rebuilt as an 0-8-0 is the same locomotive. The road numbers are the 1909 numbers. Switchers built as 0-6-0s are 64. Switchers built as 0-8-0s are 37. Consolidations are 67. The one Mogul and the 75 Mikados make up the rest.

Elgin, Joliet and Eastern 2-8-2 #765 at Joliet IL

Elgin, Joliet & Eastern 2-8-2 #765 at Joliet, Illinois, circa 1940. Photographer unknown. American-Rails.com collection.

On this page: At a glance · Switchers · Consolidations · Mikados · Roster

At a glance

Item	Detail
Railroad	Elgin, Joliet & Eastern. Company history
This table	Steam still on the roster in the 1940s. A rebuild is the same frame
0-6-0	64. The six-coupled engines of 1900–1910 that lasted, plus 121 and 122
0-8-0	37 built as switchers. Classes AS-1, AS, AS-2, AS-3, and USRA AS-4
2-8-0	67. Each was rebuilt as an 0-8-0 and is counted once
2-6-0	1. Number 123, bought in 1936
2-8-2	75. Classes 700–774. Twenty-six went to the Missabe in 1948
Total	244

Switchers

The final-decade 0-6-0s from 27 through 120 share one class line on the archive: cylinders 19 by 26 inches, 180 pounds pressure, about 126,000 pounds, and 28,158 pounds of tractive effort. Pittsburgh built 27 and 31. Baldwin built 34, 37, and 44. Alco’s Pittsburgh works built the rest through 90, and Alco’s Cooke works built 92–120. Number 37, photographed at South Chicago in May 1938, has a slope-back tender and slide valves. Number 63 was at Gary on August 31, 1937. Number 117, a Cooke engine of September 1910, was assigned to Gary when it was photographed in July 1934, and it was sold to Chicago Gravel in February 1943.

Numbers 121 and 122 came from the American Sheet & Tin Plate Company in August 1936, with the Mogul. Porter built 121 in May 1927, serial 7053, cylinders 20 by 26, weight 155,600 pounds. Baldwin built 122 in October 1917, serial 46528, cylinders 21 by 28, 190 pounds pressure, 181,620 pounds, and 36,270 pounds of tractive effort. Dorin’s photograph of 122 at Gary on April 29, 1937, shows piston valves and a larger tender.

The 0-8-0s built as switchers are five classes. AS-1 numbers 300 and 301 are Baldwin, October 1905, cylinders 22 by 28, 200 pounds, 194,000 pounds, and 45,200 pounds of tractive effort. Class AS, 302–311, uses the same cylinders and the same tractive effort at 200,680 pounds. AS-2 numbers 312–320, April 1916, are 24 by 28, 219,200 pounds, and 49,728 pounds of tractive effort. Number 312 was in service at Gary in April 1935. AS-3 numbers 321–328, September 1917, are the same size at 218,040 pounds. The USRA AS-4s, 329–336, are Baldwin, May 1919, cylinders 25 by 28, 175 pounds, 214,120 pounds, and 51,041 pounds of tractive effort. The last of these switchers were scrapped in January 1950.

Consolidations

Sixty-seven Consolidations were still on the roster in the 1940s, and the archive records a rebuild of each one into an 0-8-0. The dated rebuilds run from 1925 to 1939. Some cards leave the rebuild month blank. Dorin placed 600–602 in the 0-8-0 column as engines converted from 2-8-0s, and he left 549–599 in the 2-8-0 column. Number 559, rebuilt in July 1928, was an 0-8-0 at Waukegan in May 1937. Number 601 was still a 2-8-0 in the July 1934 photograph. Each of these engines is one frame.

Numbers 528–530, class B-2, are 21 by 28, 200 pounds, 179,200 pounds, and 41,160 pounds of tractive effort. Numbers 539 and 540, class B-3, are Pittsburgh engines of August 1900, the same cylinders, 177,400 pounds, and the same tractive effort. Numbers 541–544, class A, are Baldwin, June 1903, 22 by 28, 188,000 pounds, and 45,173 pounds of tractive effort. From 545 through 602 the class line is 22 by 28, 200 pounds, 183,000 pounds, and 45,173 pounds of tractive effort, except 566, 586, and 600. Those three are class AA: 23 by 28, 185 pounds, 191,600 pounds, and 45,670 pounds of tractive effort.

Five of the rebuilt Consolidations went to the Seaboard Air Line in February 1943 as 0-8-0s 1175–1179. They were 545, 549, 550, 553, and 568. Number 570 was the former 93, and 571 was the former 94. Both were Alco Pittsburgh engines of August 1905. Number 570 was at East Joliet in August 1928, and 571 was there in September 1937.

Mogul 123 is the one 2-6-0. Baldwin built it in 1915, cylinders 23 by 26, 180 pounds, 189,500 pounds, and 40,680 pounds of tractive effort. The construction number is blank on the card. It had been American Sheet & Tin Plate 49, it was purchased in August 1936, and it was scrapped in January 1947. The tender is a slope-back, and the engine was working at South Chicago in July 1930.

Mikados

The 75 Mikados are class AS, the same design the archive compares with Chicago & Eastern Illinois class N-1. Cylinders are 28 by 30, pressure is 200 pounds, and tractive effort is 63,467 pounds. The class weight on the Brooks engines is 313,900 pounds. Alco’s Brooks works built 700–755. Lima built 756–760 in 1923. Baldwin built 761–774 in 1929 and 1930. Later engines carried feedwater heaters and boosters. Number 742, photographed with a feedwater heater on the smokebox, is one of the 1918 Brooks engines. Number 739 was at Waukegan on October 11, 1936. Number 743, a Brooks engine, was at Porter on November 2, 1947.

Twenty-six of the Mikados went to the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range in 1948. Numbers 746–755 became 1312–1321. Numbers 756–759 became 1322–1325. Numbers 761–770 and 773–774 became 1326–1337. Number 760 was sold in October 1947 to South Inland Steel and kept its number. Numbers 771 and 772 were scrapped in 1946. Number 765, sold to the Missabe as 1330, is the engine the archive places on display at Lake Front Park in Gary. Dorin records a 2-8-2 on display along 4th Avenue, just east of downtown Gary. The last Mikado sales in the table are 710 and 714, in July 1950. Dorin has steam gone by the early 1950s.

The cabs carried the EJ&E initials. The tenders in Dorin’s photographs are lettered Chicago Outer Belt Line.

Roster

Type	Class	Numbers	Builder	Built	Cylinders	Qty	Notes
0-6-0	—	27	Pittsburgh	August 1900	19×26	1	Serial 2135. Former Chicago, Lake Shore & Eastern 38. Scrapped November 1940
0-6-0	—	31	Pittsburgh	June 1901	19×26	1	Serial 2326. Former Chicago, Lake Shore & Eastern 40. Retired June 1941. Scrapped January 1942
0-6-0	—	34, 37	Baldwin	November 1903	19×26	2	Serials 23127 and 23166. Former 21 and 24. 34 sold March 1941. 37 scrapped October 1941. Slope-back tender on 37
0-6-0	—	44	Baldwin	June 1903	19×26	1	Serial 22423. Former Chicago, Lake Shore & Eastern 48. Sold April 1941 to Material Services
0-6-0	—	46, 50	Alco (Pittsburgh)	July 1904	19×26	2	Serials 30040 and 30044. 46 sold April 1940. 50 scrapped May 1941
0-6-0	—	53, 54, 56, 57, 59, 60	Alco (Pittsburgh)	September 1905	19×26	6	Serials 38002, 38003, 38005, 38010, 38012, and 38013. Off the roster in 1940–1942
0-6-0	—	62, 63	Alco (Pittsburgh)	April 1907	19×26	2	Serials 42084 and 42085. Former 30 and 31. 62 sold November 1941. 63 scrapped February 1940
0-6-0	—	65, 66	Alco (Pittsburgh)	July 1907	19×26	2	Serials 43057 and 43058. Scrapped in 1940
0-6-0	—	69–73	Alco (Pittsburgh)	December 1906	19×26	5	Serials 40691–40695. Former Chicago, Lake Shore & Eastern 72–76
0-6-0	—	74, 75	Alco (Pittsburgh)	April 1907	19×26	2	Serials 42087 and 42088. 74 scrapped October 1944. 75 sold May 1942
0-6-0	—	77, 78	Alco (Pittsburgh)	July 1907	19×26	2	Serials 43055 and 43056. 77 scrapped July 1941. 78 sold March 1942
0-6-0	—	79–81	Alco (Pittsburgh)	August 1907	19×26	3	Serials 44396–44398
0-6-0	—	83–86, 88, 89	Alco (Pittsburgh)	August 1907	19×26	6	Serials 44400–44403, 44405, and 44406
0-6-0	—	92–99	Alco (Cooke)	May 1910	19×26	8	Serials 47742–47749
0-6-0	—	101, 102	Alco (Cooke)	May 1910	19×26	2	Serials 47751 and 47752
0-6-0	—	103, 104	Alco (Cooke)	September 1910	19×26	2	Serials 48389 and 48390
0-6-0	—	106–120	Alco (Cooke)	September 1910	19×26	15	Serials 48560–48574. 117 sold February 1943 to Chicago Gravel
0-6-0	—	121	Porter	May 1927	20×26	1	Serial 7053. Former American Sheet & Tin Plate 46. Purchased August 1936. Retired December 1945. Scrapped October 1946
0-6-0	—	122	Baldwin	October 1917	21×28	1	Serial 46528. Former American Sheet & Tin Plate 48. Purchased August 1936. Retired July 1946. Scrapped January 1947
0-8-0	AS-1	300–301	Baldwin	October 1905	22×28	2	Serials 26570 and 26571. Former Chicago, Lake Shore & Eastern 100 and 101. Sold August 1942 to Columbia Steel
0-8-0	AS	302–304	Alco (Pittsburgh)	July 1907	22×28	3	Serials 43046–43048. Former Chicago, Lake Shore & Eastern 102–104
0-8-0	AS	305–309	Alco (Pittsburgh)	June 1910	22×28	5	Serials 47759–47763
0-8-0	AS	310–311	Alco (Pittsburgh)	September 1910	22×28	2	Serials 48387 and 48388
0-8-0	AS-2	312–320	Alco (Pittsburgh)	April 1916	24×28	9	Serials 55747–55755. Scrapped August 1949 through January 1950
0-8-0	AS-3	321–328	Alco (Pittsburgh)	September 1917	24×28	8	Serials 58205–58212. 324 and 328 sold September 1948 to the Purdy Company
0-8-0	AS-4	329–336	Baldwin	May 1919	25×28	8	USRA. Serials 51599, 51600, 51622–51625, 51657, and 51658. Pressure 175 pounds
2-8-0	B-2	528–530	Alco (Pittsburgh)	April 1907	21×28	3	Serials 42075–42077. Former 95–97. Rebuilt as 0-8-0s. 528 and 529 sold July 1942 to Columbia Steel. 530 scrapped May 1942
2-8-0	B-3	539–540	Pittsburgh	August 1900	21×28	2	Serials 2139 and 2140. Former Chicago, Lake Shore & Eastern 551 and 552. Rebuilt as 0-8-0s in 1925
2-8-0	A	541–544	Baldwin	June 1903	22×28	4	Serials 22316, 22317, 22362, and 22464. Former Chicago, Lake Shore & Eastern 553–556. Rebuilt as 0-8-0s in 1929
2-8-0	A-1	545–548	Alco (Pittsburgh)	September 1904	22×28	4	Serials 30047–30050. Former Chicago, Lake Shore & Eastern 557–560. Rebuilt as 0-8-0s. 545 sold February 1943 to the Seaboard Air Line as 1175
2-8-0	A-2	549–554	Alco (Pittsburgh)	August 1905	22×28	6	Serials 37521–37526. Former Chicago, Lake Shore & Eastern 561–566. Rebuilt as 0-8-0s. 549, 550, and 553 sold February 1943 to the Seaboard as 1176, 1177, and 1178
2-8-0	A-2	555–558	Alco (Pittsburgh)	April 1907	22×28	4	Serials 42080–42083. Former Chicago, Lake Shore & Eastern 567–570. Rebuilt as 0-8-0s
2-8-0	A-2	559	Alco (Pittsburgh)	July 1907	22×28	1	Serial 43049. Former Chicago, Lake Shore & Eastern 571. Rebuilt as an 0-8-0 in July 1928. At Waukegan in May 1937
2-8-0	A-2	560–565, 567	Alco (Pittsburgh)	August 1907	22×28	7	Serials 44415, 44408–44412, and 44414. Rebuilt as 0-8-0s
2-8-0	AA	566	Alco (Pittsburgh)	August 1907	23×28	1	Serial 44413. 185 pounds. Rebuilt as an 0-8-0. Scrapped September 1945
2-8-0	A-2	568–571	Alco (Pittsburgh)	August 1905	22×28	4	Serials 38006–38009. Former 91–94. Rebuilt as 0-8-0s. 568 sold February 1943 to the Seaboard as 1179. 570 was former 93. 571 was former 94
2-8-0	A-2	572–577	Alco (Pittsburgh)	June 1910	22×28	6	Serials 47753–47758. Rebuilt as 0-8-0s
2-8-0	A-2	578–585, 587–599	Alco (Pittsburgh)	August 1907	22×28	21	Serials 48372–48379, 48381–48386, and 48575–48581. Rebuilt as 0-8-0s
2-8-0	AA	586	Alco (Pittsburgh)	August 1907	23×28	1	Serial 48380. 185 pounds. Rebuilt as an 0-8-0. Scrapped October 1946
2-8-0	AA	600	Alco (Pittsburgh)	August 1907	23×28	1	Serial 48582. 185 pounds. Rebuilt as an 0-8-0. Scrapped September 1945
2-8-0	A-2	601–602	Alco (Pittsburgh)	August 1907	22×28	2	Serials 48583 and 48584. Rebuilt as 0-8-0s. 601 was still a 2-8-0 in July 1934
2-6-0	—	123	Baldwin	1915	23×26	1	Former American Sheet & Tin Plate 49. Purchased August 1936. Scrapped January 1947. Slope-back tender
2-8-2	AS	700–719	Alco (Brooks)	March 1913	28×30	20	Serials 52964–52983. 710 and 714 sold July 1950
2-8-2	AS	720–737	Alco (Brooks)	March 1916	28×30	18	Serials 55729–55746
2-8-2	AS	738–745	Alco (Brooks)	March 1918	28×30	8	Serials 58213–58220. 742 carried a feedwater heater. 739 was at Waukegan on October 11, 1936. 743 was at Porter on November 2, 1947
2-8-2	AS	746–755	Alco (Brooks)	October 1923	28×30	10	Serials 64742–64751. Sold to the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range in 1948 as 1312–1321
2-8-2	AS	756–759	Lima	1923	28×30	4	Serials 6695–6698. Sold June 1948 to the Missabe as 1322–1325
2-8-2	AS	760	Lima	1923	28×30	1	Serial 6699. Sold October 1947 to South Inland Steel and kept number 760
2-8-2	AS	761	Baldwin	1929	28×30	1	Sold March 1948 to the Missabe as 1326
2-8-2	AS	762–766	Baldwin	1929	28×30	5	Serials 61077–61081. 765 sold April 1948 to the Missabe as 1330 and displayed at Lake Front Park in Gary
2-8-2	AS	767–770, 773–774	Baldwin	1930	28×30	6	Serials 61372–61375 and 61378–61379. Sold to the Missabe in 1948 as 1332–1335, 1336, and 1337
2-8-2	AS	771–772	Baldwin	1930	28×30	2	Serials 61376 and 61377. Scrapped in 1946

Sources

Patrick Dorin, The Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway, Signature Press, Chapter 7, “Steam Power.” The table “Steam Locomotive Roster: The Final Decade 1940s.” Tender lettering, the Gary display, and the photograph dates named above. The manuscript note in the book places the writing in early 2004.
EJ&E Archive, all-time steam locomotive roster, ejearchive.com/page_steam_roster.html. Construction numbers, class dimensions, earlier road numbers, rebuilds, and dispositions for the engines in Dorin’s final-decade groups. An engine inside one of those printed ranges is counted when this roster still shows it in 1940 or later.

Facebook X Pinterest Tumblr Reddit WhatsApp Messenger