Norfolk & Western Steam Roster (Post 1900)

Published: October 12, 2026

Roanoke built the last reciprocating steam locomotive an American common carrier put in service, and it built the last steam locomotive in the United States meant for road freight. The first of those is 0-8-0 No. 244, finished in December 1953. The second is class Y6b No. 2200, finished in April 1952. Between them, and behind them, is a coal railroad that designed its own power, roller-bearinged it, and then turned it in a lubritorium in 90 minutes or less. Regular road steam ended in the early hours of May 7, 1960, when class Y6b No. 2190 dropped its fire at Williamson, West Virginia.

The class grid is the roster of engines built since 1898 in George H. Drury’s Guide to North American Steam Locomotives, revised edition, pages 255–261. The quantity column totals 1,266.

Norfolk and Western 4-8-4 600, 2-6-6-4 1203, and 2-8-8-2 2133 at Shaffer's Crossing, Roanoke, in 1945

The pride of Roanoke. Norfolk & Western 4-8-4 No. 600 (J), 2-6-6-4 No. 1203 (A), and compound 2-8-8-2 No. 2133 (Y-6) at Shaffer’s Crossing, Roanoke, in 1945.

On this page: At a glance · Roanoke and the lubritorium · Switchers · Passenger power · Consolidations and Mastodons · Articulateds · A Shay and Jawn Henry · Roster built since 1898

At a glance

Item	Detail
Railroad	Norfolk & Western. Mark NW. Company page: Norfolk & Western
This roster	Engines built since 1898, after Drury, pages 255–261. The quantity column totals 1,266
Outside that total	One Lima Shay of 1907. Jawn Henry, No. 2300, class TE-1, May 1954. The Z-2, a 1928 rebuild of No. 1399, is listed with the Baldwin Z-1a it came from
Freight	286 twelve-wheel Mastodons in class M. 287 Consolidations in classes W, W1, W2, and B. 190 compound Z 2-6-6-2s. 43 class A 2-6-6-4s. The Y 2-8-8-2s, from the five Y-1s of 1910 through 30 Y-6bs
Passenger	Fourteen class J 4-8-4s, five of them built streamlined in 1941–1942, six built in 1943 and streamlined later, three built in 1950. Forty-eight class K 4-8-2s. The E-class Pacifics
Last new road freight steam	Y6b No. 2200, Roanoke, April 1952
Last reciprocating common-carrier steam	S1a No. 244, Roanoke, December 1953
Last road steam	Y6b No. 2190, Williamson, West Virginia, May 7, 1960
Preserved	J No. 611 and A No. 1218 at the Virginia Museum of Transportation. E2 No. 578 at the Ohio Railway Museum. Y3a No. 2050 at the Illinois Railway Museum. Y6a No. 2156 is preserved. No Z survives. No Y6b survives

Roster follows Drury, Guide to North American Steam Locomotives (revised edition), pages 255–261, with the class Z counts aligned to the class page. Information compiled October 12, 2026.

A shop that started again in 1900

Roanoke built locomotives from 1883, stopped for about ten years, and started again in January 1900 with Consolidation No. 830. After 1930 the shop’s own designs, roller bearings, cast frames, and feedwater heaters, replaced what the commercial builders had been supplying. The last steam the railroad bought from a commercial builder was the Y3a of 1923, Richmond engines with Worthington BL heaters and slant-front cabs. Everything heavy after that, the Y-4 through the Y-6b, the class A, and the class J, was Roanoke’s.

The lubritoriums stood at Shaffer’s Crossing in Roanoke, at Bluefield, Williamson, and Portsmouth, with a modified one at Pulaski. A locomotive could be lubricated, inspected, and coaled for the next call in 90 minutes or less. Between May 1952 and April 1954 the shops also built 91 auxiliary water tenders, so a road engine could run past the plugs that had paced the older Mallets. The tenders stand outside the locomotive count.

Two families of 0-8-0, and one that was secondhand

The big switcher of the last years was class S1a, Nos. 200–244, 45 engines built at Roanoke in 1951–1953. No. 244, outshopped in December 1953, was the last reciprocating steam locomotive built for common-carrier service on an American railroad. No. 218, in the photograph, is one of them. Class S1, Nos. 255–284, was a different group: 30 Chesapeake & Ohio 0-8-0s, built by Baldwin in 1948, bought in 1950, and left with their C&O numbers. Both classes were retired in 1958–1960. Five of the W1 Consolidations had earlier been rebuilt as 0-8-0 tank engines. They stay inside the W1 count.

Norfolk and Western 0-8-0 No. 218 at work in Roanoke, Virginia, circa 1950

0-8-0 No. 218, class S1a, at work in Roanoke, Virginia, circa 1950. Fred Byerly photo. American-Rails.com collection.

From the E-class Pacific to the J

The modern passenger engine before the J was a Pacific. Class E, Nos. 595–599, five Richmond engines of 1905, came first. The E1, E2, E2a, and E2b followed, the last of them built at Roanoke in 1913–1914. E2 No. 578 is preserved at the Ohio Railway Museum. Class E2a, Nos. 553–563, is eleven engines, six from Baldwin and five from Roanoke, all in 1912. The E3s, Nos. 500–504, were Pennsylvania K3s, built by Baldwin in 1913 and bought in 1930. Their 80-inch drivers were the highest on the Norfolk & Western. After the Roanoke shop worked them over, the lead truck was arranged for right-hand running. They were retired in 1946–1947.

The Mountains are class K. K1, Nos. 100–115, sixteen engines, Roanoke, 1916–1917. K2, Nos. 116–125, ten Alco-Brooks copies of the USRA heavy 4-8-2, 1919. K2a, Nos. 126–137, twelve Baldwins of 1923. K3, Nos. 200–209, ten Roanoke engines of 1926, were sold in 1944–1945, six to the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac and four to the Denver & Rio Grande Western. The specification card for the whole 4-8-2 family is the class K page.

The class J 4-8-4 is fourteen engines, and the numbers 600–613 had already been used by seven Baldwin 4-4-2s of 1903–1904, retired in 1931–1935. Roanoke built 600–604 in October 1941–January 1942, streamlined from the start. Nos. 605–610 were built in 1943 without shrouds, as class J1, and were streamlined in 1945–1947 and reclassed J. Nos. 611–613 followed in 1950. Drury’s figures for the streamlined engine are 70-inch drivers, safety valves set at 275 pounds (the boiler was designed for 300), a grate of 107.7 square feet, 73,300 pounds of tractive effort, and an engine weight of 494,000 pounds, on roller bearings. The unstreamlined 605–610 were built at 300 pounds and, once streamlined and reclassed, were rated at 80,000 pounds. The full card, and the later excursion life of No. 611, stay on the class J page and on No. 611. The City of Roanoke transferred 611, and class A No. 1218, to the Virginia Museum of Transportation on April 2, 2012. No. 1218 is not operational.

Consolidations first, then the twelve-wheelers

At the turn of the century the freight engine was a 2-8-0. Class W, Nos. 800–829, thirty Baldwins of 1898–1899, was retired in 1926–1934. Class W1 is Nos. 830–842 and 844–865, thirty-five engines, built by Roanoke, Baldwin, and Richmond in 1900–1901. No. 830 is the engine that reopened locomotive building at Roanoke in January 1900. Five of the W1s later became 0-8-0 tank engines. Class W2 is 212 engines, Nos. 673–799, No. 843, and Nos. 866–949, from Roanoke, Baldwin, Richmond, and Cooke, 1901–1905, retired across 1926–1952. Class B, Nos. 61–70, ten Baldwin cross-compounds of 1898–1904, were simpled in 1909–1912 and retired in 1933–1934.

The twelve-coupled freight engine, the N&W’s Mastodon, totals 286 locomotives, which is the figure Drury’s prose gives for the M classes together. Class M, Nos. 375–499, is 125, Richmond and Baldwin, 1906–1907. Class M1, Nos. 1000–1099, is 100, built in 1907. Class M2, Nos. 1100–1149, is 50 Baldwins of 1910. Roanoke then added M2a 1150–1152, M2b 1153–1154, and M2c 1155–1160, eleven engines in 1911–1912. The last of the M class was retired in 1958. M2 Nos. 1110 and 1112 were fitted as automatic switchers, in 1947 and 1948.

Z, A, and Y

The first articulateds were two experiments of 1910. Class X-1 was five Alco-Schenectady 0-8-8-0s, Nos. 990–994, Walschaerts engines finished as hump switchers and retired in 1934. Class Y-1 was five Baldwin 2-8-8-2s, Nos. 995–999, retired by 1924. The compound 2-6-6-2 that followed is class Z, 190 engines, Nos. 1300–1489. Z-1 is 1300–1314, fifteen Richmond engines with Walschaerts valve gear, in service in April and May 1912, retired in 1934. Z-1a is 1315–1489, 175 engines: Richmond 65 (1315–1379), Baldwin 40 (1380–1419, June–August 1914), and Schenectady 70 (1420–1489, 1915–1918). In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Roanoke converted 74 of them to class Z-1b, 17 Baldwin engines and 57 Alco engines, with piston valves in place of the low-pressure slide valves and a Worthington BL heater. The Z-2 is No. 1399 only, a Baldwin Z-1a rebuilt at Roanoke in 1928 with four simple cylinders, and retired about 1934. The last compound Z was retired in April 1958. None is preserved. The cylinders, weights, and works numbers are on the class Z page. Class A, the simple 2-6-6-4 that followed, was a new design.

Class A is 43 engines, Nos. 1200–1242, all Roanoke: 1200–1209 in 1936–1937, 1210–1224 in 1943, 1225–1234 in 1944, and 1235–1242 in 1949–1950. They took the time freights on the easier grades and, when assigned, a passenger train. No. 1218, built in 1943, is at the Virginia Museum of Transportation and is not operational. The card is the class A page. No. 1218 has its own page.

The compound 2-8-8-2 after the Y-1 is the Y the coal field knew. Y-2 Nos. 1700–1704, five Roanoke engines of 1918–1921, and Y-2 Nos. 1711–1730, twenty Baldwins of 1919, were later classed Y-2a. Y-2a Nos. 1705–1710, six Roanoke engines of 1924, were built with low-pressure cylinders a half-inch larger. That is 31 engines in the Y-2 line. The USRA Y-3 is fifty engines of 1919, forty-five from Schenectady (2000–2044) and five from Baldwin (2045–2049). In 1943 the Pennsylvania bought six of the Y-3s and reclassed them HH1. The Pennsylvania’s road numbers for those six stay on the Pennsylvania roster. Y-3 No. 2049 received a bridge-pipe front end in 1928, and 300 pounds became the boiler pressure the later classes were built to.

Y-3a Nos. 2050–2079, thirty Richmond engines of 1923, were the last steam locomotives the Norfolk & Western bought from a commercial builder. No. 2050 is at the Illinois Railway Museum. Y-3b Nos. 2080–2089, ten Richmond engines of 1927, were reclassed Y-4 and retired in 1958. Y-4 Nos. 2090–2109, twenty Roanoke engines of 1930–1932, were later classed Y-5. No. 2092 was wrecked in 1937. In 1940–1941 the nineteen survivors received roller bearings and one-piece cast frames, and engines from the 2090–2100 group were renumbered 2110–2119. The Y-6, Nos. 2120–2154, is thirty-five Roanoke engines of 1936–1940. The 1940–1941 rebuilding is what brought the earlier Y-4 and Y-5 frames up to the power. Y-6a Nos. 2155–2170, sixteen engines, followed in 1942. No. 2156 is preserved.

A photographer preparing to document newly completed Norfolk and Western 2-8-8-2 No. 2171, circa 1948

Photographing the photographer. Newly completed 2-8-8-2 No. 2171, class Y-6b, circa 1948. These were the last of the big compounds, built at the Roanoke Shops.

The Y-6b is thirty engines: 2171–2187 in 1948–1949, 2188–2194 in 1950–1951, and 2195–2200 in 1951–1952. They carried Worthington SA feedwater heaters, one-piece cast-steel frames, roller bearings, multiple front-end throttles, and a slanted smokebox door arranged for the superheater header. No. 2200, completed in April 1952, was the last steam locomotive built in the United States for road freight service. No. 2190, on a mine run out of Williamson, was the last road engine in regular service. The fire was dropped in the early hours of May 7, 1960. Link wrote that the boiler cooled that day. No Y-6b is preserved. The class narrative and the earlier specification cards are on the class Y page.

One geared engine, and a turbine scrapped in 1957

In August 1907 Lima delivered a 150-ton, four-truck Shay for the mine branches near Bluestone, West Virginia. It later went to the El Paso & Southwestern. The road number is unrecorded in this roster. The type is the Shay page. In May 1954 Baldwin-Westinghouse delivered No. 2300, class TE-1, the steam turbine-electric the railroad named Jawn Henry. A Babcock & Wilcox water-tube boiler worked at 600 pounds. The engine put 818,000 pounds on the drivers, was rated at 4,500 horsepower, and on test produced 199,000 pounds of tractive effort at one mile an hour. It was scrapped in December 1957. The full account is the Jawn Henry page. Both stand outside the 1,266.

Norfolk & Western steam locomotives built since 1898

Type	Class	Numbers	Qty	Builder	Built	Retired	Notes
0-8-0	S1	255–284	30	Baldwin	1948	1958–1960	Ex-Chesapeake & Ohio, acquired 1950, numbers kept
0-8-0	S1a	200–244	45	Roanoke	1951–1953	1958–1960	No. 244, December 1953, last reciprocating common-carrier steam built for an American railroad. No. 218 is one of these
4-4-2	J	600–606	7	Baldwin	1903–1904	1931–1935	Numbers later reused by the 4-8-4
4-6-0	V	950–961	12	Baldwin	1900	1929–1948
4-6-0	V1	962–966	5	Richmond	1902	1929–1933
4-6-0	A	86–90	5	Baldwin	1902–1904	1928
4-6-2	E	595–599	5	Richmond	1905	1934–1939
4-6-2	E1	580–594	15	Baldwin	1907	1931–1938
4-6-2	E2	564–579	16	Richmond	1910	1938–1958	Superheated. No. 578 is at the Ohio Railway Museum
4-6-2	E2a	553–563	11	Baldwin, Roanoke	1912	1940–1958	Baldwin built six, Roanoke five
4-6-2	E2b	543–552	10	Roanoke	1913–1914	1938–1955
4-6-2	E3	500–504	5	Baldwin	1913	1946–1947	Built for the Pennsylvania as class K3s. Bought 1930. 80-inch drivers. Right-hand lead truck after shop work
4-8-2	K1	100–115	16	Roanoke	1916–1917	1957–1958
4-8-2	K2	116–125	10	Alco-Brooks	1919	1957–1959	USRA heavy 4-8-2
4-8-2	K2a	126–137	12	Baldwin	1923	1958–1959
4-8-2	K3	200–209	10	Roanoke	1926	1944–1945	Sold. Six to the RF&P, four to the Denver & Rio Grande Western
4-8-4	J	600–604	5	Roanoke	1941–1942	1958–1959	Streamlined as built. October 1941–January 1942
4-8-4	J1	605–610	6	Roanoke	1943	1959	Built without shrouds. Streamlined 1945–1947 and reclassed J
4-8-4	J	611–613	3	Roanoke	1950	1959	Streamlined. No. 611 is at the Virginia Museum of Transportation
2-8-0	W	800–829	30	Baldwin	1898–1899	1926–1934
2-8-0	W1	830–842, 844–865	35	Roanoke, Baldwin, Richmond	1900–1901	1926–1934	No. 830 reopened locomotive building at Roanoke, January 1900. Five later became 0-8-0Ts
2-8-0	W2	673–799, 843, 866–949	212	Roanoke, Baldwin, Richmond, Cooke	1901–1905	1926–1952
2-8-0	B	61–70	10	Baldwin	1898–1904	1933–1934	Cross-compounds, simpled 1909–1912
4-8-0	M	375–499	125	Richmond, Baldwin	1906–1907	1926–1958
4-8-0	M1	1000–1099	100	Richmond, Baldwin	1907	1926–1947
4-8-0	M2	1100–1149	50	Baldwin	1910	1950–1957	Nos. 1110 and 1112 fitted as automatic switchers, 1947 and 1948
4-8-0	M2a	1150–1152	3	Roanoke	1911	1950–1956
4-8-0	M2b	1153–1154	2	Roanoke	1911	1950–1956
4-8-0	M2c	1155–1160	6	Roanoke	1911–1912	1952–1957
0-8-8-0	X1	990–994	5	Schenectady	1910	1934	Walschaerts. Finished as hump switchers
2-6-6-2	Z1	1300–1314	15	Richmond	1912	1934	Walschaerts. In service April–May 1912
2-6-6-2	Z1a	1315–1379	65	Richmond	1912–1913	1934–1958	Baker valve gear. Part of the 175 Z-1a engines
2-6-6-2	Z1a	1380–1419	40	Baldwin	1914	1934–1958	June–August 1914. No. 1399 rebuilt at Roanoke in 1928 as the Z-2
2-6-6-2	Z1a	1420–1489	70	Schenectady	1915–1918	1934–1958
2-6-6-2	Z1b	74 conversions		Roanoke	late 1920s–early 1930s		17 Baldwin and 57 Alco engines, from the Z-1a. Piston valves and a Worthington BL heater. A conversion. Last Z retirement, April 1958. None preserved
2-6-6-2	Z2	1399		Roanoke	1928	about 1934	Rebuilt from Baldwin Z-1a 1399. Four simple cylinders. Already inside the Baldwin Z-1a count
2-6-6-4	A	1200–1209	10	Roanoke	1936–1937	1958–1959	Simple cylinders
2-6-6-4	A	1210–1224	15	Roanoke	1943	1959–1961	No. 1218 is at the Virginia Museum of Transportation and is not operational
2-6-6-4	A	1225–1234	10	Roanoke	1944	1958–1959
2-6-6-4	A	1235–1242	8	Roanoke	1949–1950	1958–1959
2-8-8-2	Y1	995–999	5	Baldwin	1910	1924	Retired by 1924
2-8-8-2	Y2	1700–1704	5	Roanoke	1918–1921	1946–1951	Later classed Y2a
2-8-8-2	Y2a	1705–1710	6	Roanoke	1924	1948–1949	Low-pressure cylinders a half-inch larger than the Y2
2-8-8-2	Y2	1711–1730	20	Baldwin	1919	1948–1951	Later classed Y2a
2-8-8-2	Y3	2000–2044	45	Schenectady	1919	1957–1958	USRA. Six Y3s, from this class, went to the Pennsylvania in 1943 and were reclassed HH1
2-8-8-2	Y3	2045–2049	5	Baldwin	1919	1957–1958	USRA. No. 2049 received a bridge-pipe front end in 1928
2-8-8-2	Y3a	2050–2079	30	Richmond	1923	1958–1959	Worthington BL heaters, slant-front cabs. Last steam bought from a commercial builder. No. 2050 is at the Illinois Railway Museum
2-8-8-2	Y3b	2080–2089	10	Richmond	1927	1958	Reclassed Y4
2-8-8-2	Y4	2090–2109	20	Roanoke	1930–1932	1958–1960	Later classed Y5. No. 2092 wrecked in 1937. In 1940–1941 the 19 survivors received roller bearings and one-piece cast frames. Engines from 2090–2100 were renumbered 2110–2119
2-8-8-2	Y6	2120–2154	35	Roanoke	1936–1940	1958–1960
2-8-8-2	Y6a	2155–2170	16	Roanoke	1942	1958–1960	No. 2156 is preserved
2-8-8-2	Y6b	2171–2187	17	Roanoke	1948–1949	1959–1960	Worthington SA heater, cast-steel frame, roller bearings
2-8-8-2	Y6b	2188–2194	7	Roanoke	1950–1951	1959–1960
2-8-8-2	Y6b	2195–2200	6	Roanoke	1951–1952	1959–1960	No. 2200, April 1952, last U.S. steam locomotive built for road freight. No. 2190 dropped its fire on May 7, 1960

Outside the 1,266

Type	Class	Numbers	Qty	Builder	Built	Retired	Notes
Shay			1	Lima	August 1907		150-ton, four-truck. Mine branches near Bluestone, West Virginia. Later El Paso & Southwestern. Road number not recorded here
Steam turbine-electric	TE-1	2300	1	Baldwin-Westinghouse	May 1954	December 1957	Jawn Henry. Babcock & Wilcox water-tube boiler at 600 psi. 818,000 lb on drivers. Rated 4,500 hp. Test tractive effort 199,000 lb at 1 mph. Scrapped

Sources

George H. Drury, Guide to North American Steam Locomotives, revised edition, pages 255–261. The class grid, the lubritorium in 90 minutes or less, the grades, the Y-6b appliances, the J figures used above, No. 2200 in April 1952, and No. 244 in December 1953
Class Z page, for the 190 compounds, the builder split of the Z-1a (Richmond 65, Baldwin 40, Schenectady 70), the 74 Z-1b conversions, and Z-2 No. 1399, rebuilt at Roanoke in 1928 and retired about 1934. The works numbers stay on that page. Ron Rosenberg, Norfolk & Western Steam (The Last 25 Years), for the Y-2 line of 31 and for the Y-6 reading of Nos. 2120–2154
Norfolk & Western Historical Society account of May 7, 1960, and O. Winston Link’s note that the boiler of Y6b 2190 cooled that day
City of Roanoke, transfer of Nos. 611 and 1218 to the Virginia Museum of Transportation, April 2, 2012

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