Toledo, Peoria & Western Steam Roster

Published: October 30, 2026

The steam people remember from the Toledo, Peoria & Western is the six 4-8-4s of 1937, light engines on a railroad whose whole job was to get a train across Illinois. The list that can be set down runs from the Rogers Consolidations of 1895 through those 4-8-4s. The quantity column is 50. The company history is a separate page. The diesels are another.

Toledo Peoria and Western 2-8-0 10, Class H Consolidation

Toledo, Peoria & Western 2-8-0 #10, one of the road's early Class H Consolidations built by the Rogers Locomotive Works in the late 1890s. American-Rails.com collection.

On this page: At a glance · Consolidations · Prairies and Mikados · Ten-Wheelers · The 4-8-4s · Roster

At a glance

Item	Detail
Railroad	Toledo, Peoria & Western. Company history
This table	Documented steam from the Rogers Consolidations of 1895 through the 4-8-4s of 1937
Consolidations	26. Classes H, H-1, H-2, H-5, H-7, H-8, and H-9
Prairies	4. Class R-4, from the Burlington in October 1926
Mikados	4. Class H-6, Alco-Richmond, 1927
Ten-Wheelers	10. Class G-4-A, Baldwin, 1904 and 1905
4-8-4s	6. Class H-10, Alco-Schenectady, March 1937
Quantity column	50
Last new steam	Class H-10, 80–85, March 1937
Last steam run	4-8-4 No. 80, October 11, 1950

Consolidations

The freight engine for most of this railroad’s steam years was the 2-8-0. Ten of them, class H, numbers 1–10, came from Rogers between 1895 and 1898. That block includes the first No. 10. Four more, class H-1, numbers 11–14, came from Baldwin in 1910 and 1912, with Belpaire fireboxes. About 1933 the railroad renumbered No. 13 as 10, the second engine to carry that number, and it is one of these four. All four were scrapped in April 1937. Class H-2 was a pair, 15 and 16, Baldwin, 1914, superheated, and remained in service until April 1948.

Two older Consolidations joined from outside. Class H-5, numbers 20 and 21, was built by the Pennsylvania in 1898 and came to the Toledo, Peoria & Western in 1924. Class H-7, numbers 60–63, was built by Alco in 1903 for the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis, the Big Four.

Nos. 70–73 were new engines, from Alco-Brooks. Class H-8, 70 and 71, was built in 1907. Class H-9, 72 and 73, was built in 1910. They were scrapped in 1948 and 1949.

Prairies and Mikados

George P. McNear, Jr. took the railroad in 1926 and went looking for power that could move bridge trains. In October 1926 he brought in four 2-6-2s from the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, class R-4. Nos. 30 and 31 were Alco-Brooks, and 32 and 33 were Baldwin, all four built in 1905. The next year the new power arrived: four 2-8-2s, class H-6, numbers 40–43, from Alco’s Richmond works.

Ten-Wheelers

The passenger engine of the light years was the Ten-Wheeler. Class G-4-A is ten of them, numbers 50–59, built by Baldwin in 1904 and 1905, when the firm was still Burnham, Williams & Co. They were never superheated. The class was scrapped between 1926 and 1929, which is the same stretch of years in which the mail contracts were about to end and the caboose was about to become the passenger car.

The 4-8-4s

In March 1937 American Locomotive at Schenectady delivered six 4-8-4s, class H-10, numbers 80–85. They were the largest steam the railroad owned. They were also light for the wheel arrangement: 361,000 pounds on an engine with 69-inch drivers, cylinders 23½ by 30 inches, 250 pounds of boiler pressure, and 51,023 pounds of starting tractive effort. Order S-1764, works numbers 68781–68786.

Their job was the one in the middle of the name. A refrigerator train off the Rock Island at Keokuk could be re-iced at East Peoria and handed to the Pennsylvania at Effner, with Chicago left off to the side. All six were sold for scrap in 1950. No. 80 was the last, on October 11, 1950, and that was the last steam run.

Roster

Type	Class	Numbers	Qty	Builder	Built	Notes
2-8-0	H	1–10	10	Rogers	1895–1898
2-8-0	H-1	11–14	4	Baldwin	1910–1912	Belpaire fireboxes. No. 13 was renumbered 10 about 1933. Scrapped in April 1937. Works 35160–35161 and 37625–37626
2-8-0	H-2	15–16	2	Baldwin	1914	Superheated. In service until April 1948. Works 41107–41108
2-8-0	H-5	20–21	2	Pennsylvania	1898	Acquired in 1924
2-6-2	R-4	30–31	2	Alco-Brooks	1905	Ex-Burlington. Acquired in October 1926
2-6-2	R-4	32–33	2	Baldwin	1905	Ex-Burlington. Acquired in October 1926
2-8-2	H-6	40–43	4	Alco-Richmond	1927
4-6-0	G-4-A	50–59	10	Baldwin	1904–1905	Burnham, Williams & Co. Saturated. Scrapped 1926–1929. Works 23587, 23598, 23613, 23622, 23636, 26637, 26650–26652, and 26688
2-8-0	H-7	60–63	4	Alco	1903	Ex-Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis
2-8-0	H-8	70–71	2	Alco-Brooks	1907	Works 44081 and 44120. Scrapped 1948–1949
2-8-0	H-9	72–73	2	Alco-Brooks	1910	Works 47698 and 47704. Scrapped 1948–1949
4-8-4	H-10	80–85	6	Alco-Schenectady	March 1937	Order S-1764. Works 68781–68786. No. 80 made the last steam run, on October 11, 1950

Sources

Steve Llanso, Locobase, steamlocomotive.com. Baldwin and Alco works numbers, the scrap years he records, and the weight, drivers, cylinders, pressure, and tractive effort of the 4-8-4s.
Paul Stringham, Toledo, Peoria & Western: Tired, Proven & Willing. McNear’s purchase, the Prairies of 1926, and the Mikados of 1927, in the account the company history follows. The class letters and number groups are the railroad’s.
J. David Ingles, “Toledo, Peoria and Western Railway remembered,” Classic Trains, 2022. The 1927 Mikados, the light 4-8-4s, and the end of steam.

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