Central of Georgia "Big Apple"

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**Central of Georgia “Big Apple“**
Power type	Steam
Builder	Lima Locomotive Works
Serial number	8254–8261
Build date	October, 1943
Configuration	4-8-4
Gauge	4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm)
Driver size	73½ inch diameter
Weight on drivers	260,000 lb
Locomotive weight	447,400 lb
Boiler pressure	250 lbf/in²
Cylinder size	27 in bore × 30 in stroke
Tractive effort	63,200 lbf, 74,710 lbf with booster
Career	Central of Georgia Railroad
Class	K
Number in class	8
Number	451–458
First run	October, 1943
Retired	1953
Disposition	scrapped

The Central of Georgia Railway (CofG), like most other railroads, were in need of motive power during World War II. Freight and passenger traffic soared to new heights. Part of the wartime traffic consisted of “mains” as troop trains headed to and from the numerous Military Bases located on the line , namely Fort Benning, near Columbus, Georgia. The CofG had freight and passenger power that had been overhauled into tip top shape. However, it left it wear and tear on the existing steam engines. The Central decide they needed a new locomotive to replace their 4-8-2’s in existing service handling trains like the “Seminole” and the “Flamingo” bought in from the Illinois Central and the Louisville and Nashville Railroad from Birmingham, Alabama. They decided that the class M Mountain could not handle those trains unassisted to Albany, Georgia.

The answer to this problem was answered by the Lima Locomotive Works in October 1943, when they delivered eight new dual service 4-8-4 locomotives. The engines were nicknamed “Big Apples” by engine crews on the western end of the railroad. Locomotive numbers were 451–458. Because of the War Production Board’s restriction on designing new engines., They were patterned after the Southern Pacific GS-2 type 4-8-4’s.

It was noted in the 1944 Railway Mechanical Engineers the CofG K-Class 4-8-4’s that fuel performance was well under 100 lb of coal per 1,000 gross ton miles and averaged 11.4 lb per passenger-train car mile in service

The “Big Apples” operated in passenger and freight service from Albany, Georgia to both Birmingham, Alabama and Atlanta, Georgia . They could handle 1,500 tons between Birmingham and Columbus, Georgia, unassisted and 2,350 tons from Macon, Georgia to Americus, Georgia. It is also believed that they could handle as many as 17 passenger cars on the “Seminole” and the “Flamingo”

They lasted in service for 10 years. They were retired and were later scrapped.