Indiana Harbor Belt Steam Roster (Built Since 1900)

Published: October 25, 2026

The Indiana Harbor Belt’s steam was a switcher’s railroad, with a Mikado fleet behind it for the transfer jobs. The table below counts 182 locomotives built since 1900, each once. A mogul rebuilt into an 0-6-0 is listed as the switcher it became. Class H-6a and the later H-5u Mikados both used numbers in the 400s, and both groups are counted, because they were different locomotives.

Indiana Harbor Belt 2-8-2 421 at work in Chicago in 1942

Indiana Harbor Belt 2-8-2 #421 (Class H-5v) is seen here at work in Chicago in December, 1942. Jack Delano photo.

On this page: At a glance · Six-wheel switchers · Moguls · Eight-wheel switchers · Mikados · Roster

At a glance

Item	Detail
Railroad	Indiana Harbor Belt. Company history
This table	Steam locomotives built since 1900. The most recent Harbor renumbering is used, except possibly on the B-58 engines
0-6-0	49. Classes B-58, B-58a, B-58b, B-10a, B-10c, B-10p, and B-11j
2-6-0	4. Classes E-49 and E-49a, the moguls that stayed moguls
0-8-0	65. Classes U-1a, U-1e, U-2i, U-3a, U-3b, U-3e, U-3g, and U-4a
2-8-2	64. Classes H-5r, H-6a, H-5u, and H-5v
Total	182

Six-wheel switchers

The six-wheel switchers are 49. Classes B-58 and B-58a, ten engines together, were built as 2-6-0s at Schenectady and later rebuilt as 0-6-0s, the B-58 pair in 1911 and the B-58a engines in 1917. Class B-58b, numbers 133–135, was built at Schenectady in 1905 with 21×28-inch cylinders. Ten class B-10a engines came from the Michigan Central by way of the Chicago, Indiana & Southern, and reached the Harbor in 1916. Fifteen class B-10c engines came from the New York Central the same year. The B-10p and B-11j engines, Brooks of 1910 and Manchester of 1913, lasted until 1949 and 1950.

Moguls

Four moguls stayed moguls. Class E-49, numbers 13–14, Schenectady 1901, was retired in 1924. Class E-49a, numbers 11–12, Schenectady 1903, was retired in 1925. The rebuilt moguls are the B-58 and B-58a rows in the switcher table.

Eight-wheel switchers

The 0-8-0s are 65, and they carried the Harbor into the last years of steam. Seven U-1a engines came from Schenectady in 1913, and ten U-1e engines followed in 1916. Five U-2i engines came from Lima in 1918. The U-3 classes are United States Railroad Administration switchers: twenty Baldwin engines in 1919, ten Lima engines in 1921, and ten more Lima engines in 1924 and 1925. Those forty USRA switchers, and the U-1 and U-2 engines, were retired in 1950 and 1951.

Class U-4a is the late switcher. Brooks built numbers 100–102 in 1927, three cylinders, 23.5×32 inches and 23.5×28 inches, 58-inch drivers, and a tender booster. Simple tractive effort was 74,400 pounds, and the booster was rated at 12,000 pounds more. That simple figure already stood above the H-5u Mikados, at 55,300 pounds. The three engines were retired in 1951.

Mikados

The 2-8-2s are 64. Fifteen class H-5r engines, Schenectady 1918, numbers 250–264, went to the New York Central. Numbers 250–254 may have had boosters. Twenty-four class H-6a engines, Lima 1919, numbers 400–423, had been sold by 1923 to the St. Louis-San Francisco and the Pere Marquette, before the next Mikados took numbers in the 400s.

Those later engines are class H-5u, ten from Schenectady and ten from Lima in 1923, numbers 400–419, and class H-5v, five from Lima in 1924, numbers 420–424. The H-5v engines may have had tender boosters. All of them went to the New York Central, and the retirement dates run through 1950 and 1951. The last steam fire on the Harbor was out by 1951.

Roster

Driver diameter is in inches. Tractive effort is in pounds. Cylinder bore and stroke are in inches. Boiler pressure is in pounds per square inch.

0-6-0

Class	Numbers	Qty	Builder	Built	Pressure	Cylinders	Tractive effort	Drivers	Retired	Notes
B-58	9, 10	2	Schenectady	1900	170	19×24	22,800	51	1929, 1923	Built as 2-6-0s. Rebuilt as 0-6-0s in 1911
B-58a	111–113, 118, 119, 130–132	8	Schenectady	1903	170	19×24	22,800	51	1920–24	Built as 2-6-0s. Rebuilt as 0-6-0s in 1917
B-58b	133–135	3	Schenectady	1905	180	21×28	—	51	1919–1924	—
B-10a	30–39	10	Brooks	1905	180	21×28	33,140	57	1928–40	From the Michigan Central to the Chicago, Indiana & Southern, then to the Harbor in 1916
B-10c	15–29	15	Cooke	1906	180	21×28	32,570	57	1927–36	From the New York Central in 1916
B-10p	40–42	3	Brooks	1910	180	21×28	32,570	58	1949–50	—
B-11j	43–50	8	Manchester	1913	180	21×28	32,510	58	1949–50	—

2-6-0

Class	Numbers	Qty	Builder	Built	Pressure	Cylinders	Tractive effort	Drivers	Retired	Notes
E-49	13–14	2	Schenectady	1901	200	20×29	31,200	63	1924	—
E-49a	11–12	2	Schenectady	1903	200	20×29	31,200	63	1925	—

0-8-0

Class	Numbers	Qty	Builder	Built	Pressure	Cylinders	Tractive effort	Drivers	Retired	Notes
U-1a	150–156	7	Schenectady	1913	205	25×30	56,330	58	1950	—
U-1e	157–166	10	Schenectady	1916	205	25×30	56,330	58	1950	—
U-2i	167–171	5	Lima	1918	200	23.5×30	45,700	58	1950–51	—
U-3a	300–319	20	Baldwin	1919	180	25×28	51,490	52	1950–51	USRA design
U-3b	320–329	10	Lima	1921	180	25×28	51,490	52	1950–51	USRA design
U-3e	330–334	5	Lima	1924	200	25×28	57,210	52	1950–51	USRA design
U-3g	335–339	5	Lima	1925	200	25×28	57,210	52	1950–51	USRA design
U-4a	100–102	3	Brooks	1927	200	23.5×32 and 23.5×28	74,400 + 12,000 booster	58	1951	Three cylinders. Tender booster

2-8-2

Class	Numbers	Qty	Builder	Built	Pressure	Cylinders	Tractive effort	Drivers	Retired	Notes
H-5r	250–264	15	Schenectady	1918	200	25×32	53,970	63	1950	250–254 may have had boosters. To the New York Central
H-6a	400–423	24	Lima	1919	200	26×30	54,720	63	By 1923	Sold to the St. Louis-San Francisco and the Pere Marquette, before the H-5u and H-5v engines
H-5u	400–409	10	Schenectady	1923	205	25×32	55,300	63	1950–51	To the New York Central
H-5u	410–419	10	Lima	1923	205	25×32	55,300	63	1950–51	To the New York Central
H-5v	420–424	5	Lima	1924	205	25×32	55,300	63	1950–51	May have had tender boosters. To the New York Central

Sources

Indiana Harbor Belt Archive, steam locomotives built since 1900. Compiled chiefly by Ed Scarlett. The archive also consulted Bill Jernstrom’s roster in Alvin F. Staufer, Steam Power of the New York Central, Volume I; the W. D. Edson and Edward L. May roster in George H. Drury, Guide to North American Steam Locomotives; a data chart in Arnold Haas, Memories of New York Central Steam; a roster from Bob Zwiers; and a notebook from a retired Harbor employee. The class grid on this page is that list. Tractive effort is given in pounds. The H-6a engines were sold before the H-5u and H-5v engines were acquired.