Missouri-Kansas-Texas Steam Roster (Built Since 1900)

Published: October 28, 2026

The Katy never owned a 2-8-4, a 4-8-4, or an articulated. Flat country and rail that was often 90 pounds or lighter kept the engines small, and the 2-6-0 outlasted the type on most other railroads by a decade or two. For more than twenty years before the diesels arrived, the image was ordinary American railroading done cleanly. The Mikado and the Pacific were enough. The quantity column on the post-1900 list is 715, across 51 rows. Numbers 443–447 are written twice, so the road numbers, counted once, come to 710. The company history is a separate page. The diesels are another.

Missouri-Kansas-Texas 0-8-0 switcher 53 in Kansas City in 1950

Missouri-Kansas-Texas 0-8-0 switcher #53 (Class C-1-a) was photographed here in Kansas City in September, 1950. American-Rails.com collection.

On this page: At a glance · Moguls, Consolidations, and Mikados · Americans, Ten-Wheelers, and Pacifics · Switchers · Roster

At a glance

Item	Detail
Railroad	Missouri-Kansas-Texas. Company history
This table	Steam locomotives built since 1900, in the 1912 numbers
Narrow-gauge tanks	5. Class A. Two 2-foot and three 3-foot, carried as maintenance equipment
Six-wheel switchers	34. B-1 and B-2
Eight-wheel switchers	40. C-1-a, C-1-b, and C-2-a. The last steam the railroad bought
Moguls	218 in the quantity column. D-7, J-5, and class E. Five numbers are listed twice
Consolidations	71. Class G and K-6 through K-10. The class G quantity is 4 against numbers 676–669
Mikados	190. L-1 and L-2
Americans	16. Twelve shop rebuilds and four from the Wichita Falls & Northwestern
Ten-Wheelers	77. Includes five Baldwins dated 1899, the 1908 rebuild, and three from the Texas Central
Pacifics	64. H-1 through H-3-d
Quantity column	715
Road numbers, once	710
Last new steam	Lima 0-8-0s, 1925, later renumbered 70–79

Moguls, Consolidations, and Mikados

Until 1912 the railroad reused numbers. Beginning that year, like engines were given adjacent numbers, and those are the numbers in the table. The Mogul was the road freight engine longer than it had any right to be. Ten Schenectady 2-6-0s of 1902 had wide bituminous fireboxes set over the rear pair of 63-inch drivers, and that arrangement was repeated on most of the Moguls built through 1907. In 1923 the old D-8s were reclassified J-5, superheated, and given piston valves. Some were renumbered. In 1938 the J-5s still on the roster had the boiler pressure raised from 200 to 210 pounds and were converted to oil. Thirty-five 2-6-0s were in service in 1944, and most of them lasted into the 1950s. Preston George photographed No. 555 at Altus, Oklahoma, in April 1946, still a road engine in the wheat country.

The J-5 row for 476–600 is one line, quantity 125, Schenectady and Baldwin, 1902–1906, formerly class D-8. The D-7s are the other large Mogul group, Baldwin, 1900 and 1901. Numbers 443–447 are a D-7 row of five and also fall inside J-5 numbers 427–451. Both rows stay. Five small Moguls came with the Wichita Falls & Southern, 93 and 94 from Alco in 1908 and 99–101 from Baldwin in 1909.

The early Consolidations were just as modest. Between 1900 and 1902 the road bought ten 2-8-0s with 56-inch drivers, mostly from Baldwin. The K-6 engines had 21-by-28-inch cylinders. The K-8s had 22-inch cylinders. Three of them, and a fourth built in 1895 that sits outside this table, were Camelbacks with Wootten fireboxes, ordered for the low-grade coal mined near McAlester. They were later rebuilt with ordinary fireboxes and cabs. The Camelbacks that remain on this list are K-6-b engines 614 and 615 and K-8 engine 670.

Five Schenectady 2-8-0s of 1901, class K-7, carried the firebox over the rear pair of 60-inch drivers. They were superheated and given piston valves in 1912 and 1916, and in 1923 they were sold to the Louisiana Railway & Navigation, a Kansas City Southern predecessor. After a decade of hesitation the railroad bought 40 Consolidations in 1910, class K-10, 616–655, with 61-inch drivers and 22-by-30-inch cylinders. The first 2-8-2s, in 1913, put the 2-8-0s onto secondary trains. Most of the Consolidations were scrapped in the early 1930s.

Two groups of 2-8-0s came from the Texas Central and are class G. One row prints numbers 676–669 and a quantity of 4, Baldwin, 1901. The quantity is the figure added into the 715. The other is 682–693, twelve Schenectady engines of 1906 and 1907.

Schenectady delivered 70 Mikados in 1913 and 1914, classes L-1-a and L-1-b, numbers 701–770. They had 61-inch drivers, the same size as the K-10s, but 26½-by-30-inch cylinders. They weighed 287,500 pounds and were rated at 57,250 pounds of tractive effort, lighter than a United States Railroad Administration light Mikado and a little stronger. Alco followed with 35 more in 1915, class L-2-a, 801–835, and 25 class L-2-b engines in 1918, 836–860. Those had 28-inch cylinders and weighed 314,000 pounds. Grate area was 62.8 square feet on the L-2-a and 70.4 on the L-2-b. The L-2-as rode hard, slipped, and were scrapped in 1934. The L-2-bs lasted until the diesels.

Lima built the rest: 20 in 1920 and 40 in 1923, classes L-2-c and L-2-d, the same cylinder and driver dimensions as the Alco L-2s and about 10,000 pounds heavier, at 324,000 pounds. Four of the Lima engines tried feedwater heaters of one kind or another. The road decided they were not worth the maintenance. A number of Mikados received trailing-truck boosters, and the entire L-2-d class had them, five from the builder and the others soon after delivery. Tender boosters came off in the 1930s. The trailing-truck boosters came off in the early 1940s.

Americans, Ten-Wheelers, and Pacifics

Americans lasted on the Oklahoma branches until 1950. Twelve Baldwin 4-4-0s of 1890 were rebuilt in the company shops from 1923 through 1925 and are class E-3, numbers 306–317. The table’s builder cell is MKT, and the year is the rebuilding, not 1890. Six of them were still on the roster in 1948 and were later numbered 1301–1306, reusing the numbers of Wichita Falls & Northwestern Americans that had been scrapped in 1932. Those four purchased engines are the other American row, 1301–1304, Baldwin, 1910 and 1911. George photographed rebuilt No. 312 on Train 54 near Altus in May 1946.

Seven Atlantics arrived in 1895, close cousins of the Atlantic Coast Line’s 4-4-2s except for 70-inch drivers. They were scrapped in 1923 and 1924. They are older than this table.

The passenger Ten-Wheelers of 1899 through 1909 were a fleet of 73, with 68-, 69-, or 72-inch drivers and weights from 136,000 to 181,800 pounds, split almost evenly between Baldwin and Schenectady. The table’s Ten-Wheeler quantity is 77, because it also counts No. 289 and the three Texas Central engines. No. 289, class G-9, was built by the railroad in 1908 from a wrecked 2-6-0 and had 64-inch drivers. Nos. 295–297, former Texas Central, were the other small-drivered Ten-Wheelers. Baldwin’s 216–220 are dated 1899 and stay on the list. Once the Pacifics took the passenger trains, the Ten-Wheelers had nothing left to pull. Fifteen were left in 1930. By 1940 they were gone. Nos. 246 and 247, class G-6, were built as balanced compounds.

The Pacifics are roughly one size of engine. Drivers were 73 inches. Cylinders were 24 by 28 inches on the H-1 and H-2 classes and 25 by 28 on the H-3s. Weight ran from 242,000 to 281,000 pounds. The last of them, five Limas of 1923, class H-3-d, were a bit heavier and a bit stronger than a United States Railroad Administration light Pacific. Nine of the H-3-a engines, 377–388, built in 1915, had Baker valve gear instead of Walschaerts. Engines 409 and 410 were delivered with boosters, which came off during the 1940s. The Lima Pacifics had cast trailing trucks, and most of the earlier Pacifics received them on shop visits. Some of the H-3s were given Boxpok drivers in later years.

In the late 1920s ten H-3-a engines were given 12-wheel tenders so a passenger train could skip a water stop. Those tenders introduced the red-and-white enameled herald. C. W. Witbeck photographed Pacific 397 on the Texas Special east of Dallas in January 1948, a Schenectady engine of 1917, with a sheet-steel pilot, Boxpok drivers, a cast trailing truck, and one of those 12-wheel tenders.

Switchers

Until 1919 the yard fleet was 25 six-wheel switchers, Schenectady and Baldwin, 1904 through 1910, class B-2, numbers 14–38. They had 57-inch drivers, 21-by-26-inch cylinders, and weighed 148,000 pounds. That is one row. Nine smaller Baldwins of 1911, class B-1, numbers 5–13, had 51-inch drivers, 19-by-26-inch cylinders, and weighed 141,000 pounds. Six of the smaller engines were scrapped in the 1930s. Nearly all of the larger 0-6-0s stayed until dieselization.

In 1919 the United States Railroad Administration assigned the Katy ten 0-8-0s. The railroad sent them back as too big and too expensive. In 1920 it ordered 20 of its own from Lima, 39–58, class C-1-a. Alco built ten more in 1923, 59–68, class C-1-b. The chapter places that order at Alco’s Richmond Works. The table’s builder cell says Alco. In 1925 the road went back to Lima for another ten, 101–110, class C-2-a, 30,000 pounds heavier and good for about 10,000 pounds more tractive effort. They were the last steam locomotives the Katy bought, and they were later renumbered 70–79.

Five narrow-gauge tanks were carried as maintenance equipment, all class A. Nos. 90 and 91, Cooke, Mont, 1917, and No. 95, Lima, 1912, were 3-foot gauge. Nos. 92 and 93, Davenport, 1917 and 1922, were 2-foot gauge. The two-foot engines worked the tie-treatment plant at Denison. The three-foot engines worked a ballast quarry at Rich, Oklahoma.

Roster

The quantity column adds to 715. Numbers 443–447 are listed as a D-7 row and again inside J-5 numbers 427–451, so those five are in the column twice. Counted once, the road numbers come to 710. The class G row prints 676–669 and a quantity of 4. The quantity is the figure in the total. Ten-Wheelers 216–220 are dated 1899 and stay on the list. A blank cell is empty. Wichita Falls & Southern is WF&S. Wichita Falls & Northwestern is WF&NW. Louisiana Railway & Navigation is LR&N.

Type	Class	Numbers	Qty	Builder	Built	Notes
0-4-0T	A	90, 91	2	Cooke, Mont	1917	3-foot gauge
0-4-0T	A	92, 93	2	Davenport	1917, 1922	2-foot gauge
0-4-0T	A	95	1	Lima	1912	3-foot gauge
0-6-0	B-1	5–13	9	Baldwin	1911
0-6-0	B-2	14–38	25	Alco, Baldwin	1904–1910
0-8-0	C-1-a	39–58	20	Lima	1920
0-8-0	C-1-b	59–68	10	Alco	1923
0-8-0	C-2-a	101–110	10	Lima	1925	Renumbered 70–79
2-6-0	D-7	410–430	21	Baldwin	1900–1901
2-6-0	D-7	443–447	5	Baldwin	1900–1901	Also inside J-5 427–451
2-6-0	D-7	452–475	24	Baldwin	1901
2-6-0	D-7	1001–1005	5	Baldwin	1900
2-6-0	D-7	1204–1211	8	Baldwin	1900–1901
2-6-0	J-5	427–451	25	Schenectady	1907	Formerly D-8
2-6-0	J-5	476–600	125	Schenectady, Baldwin	1902–1906	Formerly D-8
2-6-0	E	93, 94	2	Alco	1908	Ex-WF&S
2-6-0	E	99–101	3	Baldwin	1909	Ex-WF&S
2-8-0	G	676–669	4	Baldwin	1901	Ex-Texas Central
2-8-0	G	682–693	12	Schenectady	1906–1907	Ex-Texas Central
2-8-0	K-6-a	608–612	5	Baldwin	1901
2-8-0	K-6-b	614, 615	2	Baldwin	1900, 1901	Camelback
2-8-0	K-7	671–675	5	Schenectady	1901	To LR&N, 1923
2-8-0	K-8	668, 669	2	Schenectady	1902
2-8-0	K-8	670	1	Baldwin	1902	Camelback
2-8-0	K-10	616–655	40	Schenectady	1910
2-8-2	L-1-a	701–760	60	Schenectady	1913, 1914
2-8-2	L-1-b	761–770	10	Schenectady	1914
2-8-2	L-2-a	801–835	35	Alco	1915
2-8-2	L-2-b	836–860	25	Alco	1918
2-8-2	L-2-c	861–880	20	Lima	1920
2-8-2	L-2-d	881–920	40	Lima	1923
4-4-0	C	1301–1304	4	Baldwin	1910, 1911	Ex-WF&NW
4-4-0	E-3	306–317	12	MKT	1923–1925	Rebuilt from 1890 Baldwins
4-6-0	F	216–220	5	Baldwin	1899
4-6-0	G-7	248–257	10	Baldwin	1902
4-6-0	G-5-a	221–230	10	Schenectady	1904
4-6-0	G-5-b	231–238	8	Baldwin	1905
4-6-0	G-5-c	239–245	7	Schenectady	1907
4-6-0	G-6	246, 247	2	Baldwin	1905	Balanced compound
4-6-0	G-8-a	258–267	10	Baldwin	1906
4-6-0	F	268–276	9	Schenectady	1909
4-6-0	F	277–288	12	Schenectady	1909
4-6-0	G-9	289	1	MKT	1908	Built from 2-6-0
4-6-0	F	295–297	3	Alco	1909	Ex-Texas Central
4-6-2	H-1	357–366	10	Alco	1910
4-6-2	H-2-a	350–356	7	Alco	1911
4-6-2	H-2-b	367–376	10	Alco	1912
4-6-2	H-3-a	377–388	12	Alco	1915
4-6-2	H-3-b	389–398	10	Alco	1917
4-6-2	H-3-c	399–408	10	Lima	1920
4-6-2	H-3-d	409–413	5	Lima	1923

Sources

George H. Drury, Guide to North American Steam Locomotives, revised edition. Missouri-Kansas-Texas chapter, pp. 215–217. The table is the railroad’s steam locomotives built since 1900.
Joe G. Collias and Raymond B. George Jr., Katy Power: Locomotives and Trains of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, 1912–1985. M M Books, 1986.
Katy Railroad Historical Society, katyrailroad.org.
Railway & Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin No. 63. Railroad magazine, October 1934, p. 46, and February 1948, p. 114.

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