This engine was built in 1918 by the American Locomotive Company as Russian State Railways E1198. These specific types of engines were referred to as Decapods due to their wheel alignment of 2-10-0, and were commonly used for heavy slow speed service. Just prior to the Russian Revolution the Russian government placed orders for these specific engines. About 2,000 of the engines were shipped to Russia but due to all the turmoil nearly 200 were stranded in the United States .In 1918 the United States Railroad Administration was leasing the railroad to aid in the war effort so the Decapods were assigned to their controlled lines. So engine E1198 became No. 1088 and was assigned to the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad. In 1926 it was sold to the Detroit, Toledo & Ironton Railroad and became No. 311. In 1935 the Seaboard Airline Railroad purchased the engine and renumbered it to 544. The Decapod was commonly seen on Seaboards Tar River Line carrying logs from Lewiston to a sawmill in Virginia. In 1946 Seaboard began to retire their Decapods and in the early 1950’s the engine became No. 206 on the Gainesville Midland Railroad. In 1980 the North Carolina Railroad purchased the engine from the state of Georgia and donated it to the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer, North Carolina where it is displayed as Engine No. 544. |
