#2759
Southern Pacific class AC-12
🇺🇸 United States ·built by Baldwin Locomotive Works· from 1943· class of 20 American 4-8-8-2 Cab-forward locomotives
what is it?
Southern Pacific Railroad's AC-12 class of simple articulated 4-8-8-2 cab forward steam locomotives was the last class of steam locomotives ordered by Southern Pacific. They were built by Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) during World War II, with the first, number 4275, entering service on October 27, 1943, and the last, 4294, on March 19, 1944. Each locomotive was effectively a conventional 2-8-8-4 locomotive running in reverse, the tender being coupled at the smokebox end of the locomotive.
who runs it
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- First built 83 years ago, in 1943.
- Weighs about as much as 50 African elephants (~6 t each).
- Served for 15 years (1943–1958).
steam locomotive: Burns coal, wood or oil to boil water; the steam drives pistons that turn the wheels.
spec sheet
- built
- 1943–1944
- in service from
- 1943
- retired
- 1958
- status
- preserved
- number built
- 20
- kind
- Steam
- traction
- steam
- origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- builders
- Baldwin Locomotive Works
- operators
- Southern Pacific Transportation Company
- top speed
- —
- power
- —
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- wheel arrangement
- 4-8-8-2
- weight
- 298 t
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q7570294, Wikipedia: Southern Pacific class AC-12 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.