CLASS: J - Mogul Type. 2-6-0.

Text taken from Spanner Magazine, Collectors' Item - 19 by Omer Lavallée

In the evolution of the steam locomotive the 2-6-0 type represented one of the first trends away from the 4-4-0 type locomotive, the standard engine for freight and passenger service alike in the North America of 80 or 90 years ago. The type name evolves from the fact that a number of units for China were among the earliest of their type built, the name honoring the Mogul emperors.

The Mogul was, in effect, the first widely-produced freight locomotive, using most of its available weight for adhesion, guided by a two-wheeled leading truck. The type was introduced on Canadian Pacific lines in 1888 by Locomotive Superintendent Brown, himself a former Works Manager at Montreal for the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada, an extensive user of 2-6-Os. Canadian Pacific, however, did not possess the multiplicity of lightly-constructed spurs and consequent large number of short-distance mixed train and way freight runs as the GTR, and the application of 2-6-Os to the Company's lines was short-lived. After ordering less than 50, Canadian Pacific turned its attention to the 2-8-0 type, its standard freight locomotive for nearty three decades.

Typical of the Moguls built for our lines in 1888-90 were 15 constructed by the Canadian Locomotive Works. No. 1287 illustrated above shows one of this class as it appeared when about 20 years old, and after the engines had been refined by the application of larger boilers and piston valves.

Most 2-6-Os were scrapped between the wars. Among the few that lasted into the diesel era were Nos. 3011 and 3063, scrapped in 1954 and 1950 respectively, which were specially assigned to Smiths Falls, Ont., because they were the only steam locomotives that would fit the clearances of the 1860-vintage tunnel on the wharf spur under the town of Brockville.