| Beatiful sepia photo of the St Louis & Hannibal 2-6-0 Mogul #18 as it sat loaded with coal in the Hannibal, MO, yard. The loco was built by Baldwin in June of 1912 and was the sole loco in its class 18. The short line to which the 18 was delivered covered 103 miles in 1917 but never a truly prosperous line. The "Short Line" was sold in November 1919 to John Ringling (of Ringling Brothers) who sank about $325,000 in the line over the next decade trying to improve its profitability. The Great Depression killed that hope. Specs - serial #37911, class 18, 57" drivers, 175 psi boiler pressure, 20x24" cylinders, engine weight of 128,000 lb, tractive effort of 25,053 lb, installed surperheater. No exact date was given so an approximate was used. Roy F. Blackburn photo |