New York, Ontario & Western Steam Locomotives: History & Roster
Published: September 22, 2026
By: Adam Burns
The Ontario & Western’s steam was a mountain railroad’s fleet: camelback Consolidations and Moguls for the coal and the branches, twelve Class X 2-10-2s the men called Bull Moose, and twenty 4-8-2s that were the last new power the company ever bought. Alco-Schenectady delivered the last of them, Class Y-2 451–460, in July 1929, works 67986–67995. Nothing newer came. Diesels finished the steam in the summer of 1948. None of it was saved.
The class list below is the O&W’s own roster from the years after the 1880 reorganization, drawn from the class compilation long posted from the railroad’s diagram books and from William D. Edson’s builder numbers where a continuous series is published.
Class X 2-10-2 #359 at Middletown, New York, August 13, 1939. The twelve Bull Moose engines, 351–362, came from Alco-Schenectady in 1915. Joseph Schick photo.
At a glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Railroad | New York, Ontario & Western |
| Shops | Middletown, New York. Rebuilds to Class I-1, U-1, and W-2 were done there |
| Last new steam | Class Y-2 4-8-2s 451–460, Alco-Schenectady, July 1929, works 67986–67995 |
| Finished | Summer of 1948, after the 1945 and 1948 diesels |
| Preserved | None |
| Diesels | All-time diesel roster |
Class totals follow the O&W class list. Works numbers are given only where a published series exists. Information compiled September 22, 2026.
What the classes were for
The New York & Oswego Midland’s own engines were a separate numbering: on the order of 53 Americans, 37 Moguls, five 0-4-0s, and two Consolidations, built from 1869 into the early 1870s by Rhode Island and Baldwin. A few of those machines were rebuilt and stayed. Inspection engine 26 began as a Midland American. No. 7, a Baldwin American of 1871, came from the Port Jervis, Monticello & New York and, before that, the Allegheny Valley. The class table on this page starts with the Ontario & Western’s own classes.
Anthracite fireboxes made camelbacks of the early road power. Class S (151–192), Dickson Consolidations of 1890–1894, opened the Scranton coal job. Class P (201–220), Cooke camelback Consolidations of 1900–1904, followed them. Camelback Moguls, Classes R, J, T, U, and V, covered the branches and the lighter road freights. Class U engines rebuilt at Middletown between the middle 1910s and 1924 became 4-6-0s and were reclassed U-1. Class I Moguls 30–35, Cooke of 1903–1904, became 4-6-0s and Class I-1 in 1919–1921. The 1942 roster still showed only 33 and 35 of that rebuild.
Single-cab power arrived with the heavier freight. Class W 2-8-0s 301–326, Alco-Cooke, 1910 and 1911, were the road Consolidations. All but a handful were later given a front-deck air pump and reclassed W-2. Class E 4-6-0s 225–228, Alco-Brooks, 1911, were the light passenger engines with a cab in the ordinary place. Switchers were camelback 0-6-0s, Class L, Cooke and Brooks, 1910–1911.
Class W 2-8-0 #316 at Middletown. The air pump on the pilot deck is the W-2 arrangement. Date and photographer were not recorded with this file.
The Bull Moose engines, Class X 2-10-2s 351–362, came from Alco-Schenectady in 1915. One works number is firm: 354 is Schenectady 55270, October 1915. The other eleven are the same class and the same year. Their individual construction numbers are not filled in here from that one plate.
Class Y and the Mountaineer
Ten 4-8-2s, Class Y, 401–410, came from Alco-Schenectady in 1922 and 1923. They were the fast freight and passenger engines. No. 402 later received a trailing-truck booster and was reclassed Y-1. No. 405, still Class Y, was the engine Otto Kuhler shrouded for the Mountaineer Limited in 1938. In June 1945 the railroad sold 401, 404, 406, 407, and 409 to the Savannah & Atlanta as 445, 448, 447, 449, and 446. Those five were scrapped in the second half of 1948.
Class Y 4-8-2 #406 at Middletown, still lettered for the O&W. In June 1945 this engine became Savannah & Atlanta 447. Date and photographer were not recorded with this file.
Class Y-2, 451–460, followed in July 1929, the same general design as a New York Central L-2, with 27×30-inch cylinders, 69-inch drivers, and 225 pounds of boiler pressure. Works numbers run 67986 through 67995 in order. They were the last steam locomotives built new for the railroad, and 460 was the last of the ten. In June 1945 five of them went to the Bangor & Aroostook as Class M-2: 452 became 120, 454 became 121, 455 became 124, 459 became 122, and 460 became 123. The five that stayed were scrapped in 1947 and 1948. The Bangor & Aroostook engines were gone by 1949.
One outsider arrived at the end. In 1947 the railroad bought a former Delaware & Hudson Consolidation, built by Dickson in 1903, and numbered it 701 for the Mayfield yard. It was gone within two years. By the summer of 1948 the F3s and NW2s had the railroad, and the steam roster was finished.
Class roster
| Class | Numbers | Qty | Type | Builder | Built | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B | 1–3 | 3 | 4-4-0 camelback | Cooke | 1895–1898 | |
| B | 4 | 1 | 4-4-0 camelback | Norwich Shops | 1898 | |
| F | 7 | 1 | 4-4-0 | Baldwin | 1871 | Ex-Port Jervis, Monticello & NY 7; nee Allegheny Valley 42 |
| C | 10–11 | 2 | 4-4-0 camelback | Cooke | 1896 | |
| C | 12 | 1 | 4-4-0 camelback | Dickson | 1897 | |
| C | 13–16 | 4 | 4-4-0 camelback | Cooke | 1897–1898 | |
| A | 20–24 | 5 | 4-4-0 | Cooke | 1899–1908 | |
| — | 26 | 1 | 4-4-0 | Rebuilt | — | Inspection engine. Began as a New York & Oswego Midland American. Rebuilt twice |
| I | 30–39 | 10 | 2-6-0 | Cooke | 1903–1904 | 30–35 rebuilt 1919–1921 as 4-6-0s, Class I-1 |
| I | 40–44 | 5 | 2-6-0 | Baldwin | 1907 | 42 was the engine still listed in 1942 |
| L | 50–54 | 5 | 0-6-0 camelback | Alco-Cooke | 1910–1911 | |
| L | 55–56 | 2 | 0-6-0 camelback | Alco-Brooks | 1911 | |
| J | 115–121 | 7 | 2-6-0 camelback | Cooke and Rome | 1898–1902 | |
| R | 126–136 | 11 | 2-6-0 camelback | Dickson | 1889–1890 | |
| T | 139–142 | 4 | 2-6-0 camelback | Dickson | 1893 | |
| T | 143–147 | 5 | 2-6-0 camelback | Cooke | — | |
| S | 151–192 | 42 | 2-8-0 camelback | Dickson | 1890–1894 | Scranton Division coal engines |
| P | 201–220 | 20 | 2-8-0 camelback | Cooke | 1900–1904 | The 1942 survivor list had already lost 206, 212, and 216 |
| E | 225–228 | 4 | 4-6-0 | Alco-Brooks | 1911 | Single-cab passenger engines |
| U | 240–248 | 9 | 2-6-0 camelback | Cooke | 1901–1905 | |
| U | 249 | 1 | 2-6-0 camelback | Dickson | 1901 | |
| U | 250–256 | 7 | 2-6-0 camelback | Alco-Cooke | 1905 | |
| U-1 | See note | — | 4-6-0 camelback | Middletown Shops | 1916–1924 | Rebuilt from Class U. Still listed in 1942: 244–246, 250, 251, 253, 256 |
| V | 271–285 | 15 | 2-6-0 camelback | Alco-Cooke | 1908–1909 | |
| W | 301–326 | 26 | 2-8-0 | Alco-Cooke | 1910–1911 | Most rebuilt with a front-deck air pump and reclassed W-2. 316, in the photograph, is that arrangement |
| X | 351–362 | 12 | 2-10-2 | Alco-Schenectady | 1915 | Bull Moose. 354 is works 55270, October 1915 |
| Y | 401–410 | 10 | 4-8-2 | Alco-Schenectady | 1922–1923 | 402 later Class Y-1 with a booster. 405 styled for the Mountaineer. 401, 404, 406, 407, 409 to Savannah & Atlanta 445, 448, 447, 449, 446 in June 1945 |
| Y-2 | 451–460 | 10 | 4-8-2 | Alco-Schenectady | July 1929 | Works 67986–67995. 452, 454, 455, 459, 460 to Bangor & Aroostook 120, 121, 124, 122, 123 in June 1945 |
| — | 701 | 1 | 2-8-0 | Dickson | 1903 | Former Delaware & Hudson engine, bought 1947 for Mayfield Yard. Gone within two years |
Quantity on Class S is the 42-engine Dickson series numbered 151–192. A later summary lists 151–188 and 191–192 and leaves two numbers out. Both accounts are Dickson camelbacks of 1890–1894. Class T 143–147 is Cooke; the build year was not on the class card used here.
Related reading on American-Rails.com
Sources
- Neusser, A. V., and C. E. Pearce. “The NYO&W.” Trains, August 1942. Survivor list, used here only to show which rebuilds were still on the roster that year, and for the Mountaineer styling of 405
- O&W class compilation published as the steam roster at nyow.railfan.net. Class, road numbers, wheel arrangement, builder, and year for the Ontario & Western proper, including the Bull Moose, the Ys, and the note that 402 became Y-1
- NRHS Wisconsin Chapter, selected NYO&W steam summary (the 60th-anniversary shutdown handout). Class duties; W-2 air-pump rebuilds; L 55–56 as Brooks; Y and Y-2 sales; 701 as a 1947 Mayfield engine
- Locobase 218 (Steve Llanso), citing William D. Edson, Railroad History Bulletin 175. Y-2 works 67986–67995, July 1929; dimensions; Bangor & Aroostook sale of five
- Steamlocomotive.com camelback roster for the NYO&W. Classes B, C, J, R, S, T, and the early Moguls
- Classic Trains, “Remembering the New York, Ontario & Western,” October 29, 2020. Steam out of service by the summer of 1948
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