When I put together Burlington Bulletin No. 45 on the modern American types of the CB&Q in 2007 I felt fairly sure that there were more of the A-2 engines with 54-inch extended wagontop boilers than the 13 I listed in the roster as being rebuilt to that
configuration prior to 1900. I was pretty certain that the number of such rebuilt A-2s produced in the years between 1915-18 was correct at 105; it was only the pre-1900 conversions/rebuildings that were in question.
Sure enough, photos have emerged showing at least one more early A-2 rebuild, which became CB&Q 228 in 1904 and was retired in December 1922, and also what is probably a "modern" A-2 precursor, outfitted with a low wagontop boiler -- though not an extended
one but one with the wagontop above the firebox -- and domes that were modern in the late 1880s. This locomotive was built by Hinkley & Williams in 1870 as CB&Q 270, renumbered 1270 in 1898, became CB&Q 203 in the 1904 renumbering and was retired sometime
during the 10 years after that renumbering. Photos of both these locomotives are attached, the 203 somewhere in Illinois about 1906 and the 228 at Bridgeport Iowa, about 1907.
Now a third photo has appeared for sale on eBay that depicts what is truly a mystery locomotive. It is clearly one of the modern A-2s with the 54-inch extended wagontop boiler, and the photo is clearly taken before the turn of the 20th century, because
the locomotive still has link-and-pin couplers and carries a pre-1898 number: Hannibal & St. Joseph 49. In the attached image copied from eBay it is very difficult to discern the H. & St. J. lettering beneath the cab windows, but it is there. The locomotive
looks freshly shopped in the photo, which may well have been taken when it came from the shop with its new boiler. So what's the mystery? H&StJ 49, in 1897, was an H-2 2-6-0 that was built by Rogers in 1892, renumbered 649 in 1898 and became Q 1136 in 1904.
Ironically, H&StJ 50 was an A-2 turned out by the Hannibal shops in 1891, renumbered 650 in 1898 and then changed to CB&KC 650 before becoming CB&Q 355 in 1904. The locomotive was retired in 1911. A 4-4-0 built in the company shops in 1891 would have been
of the modern A-2 type, and my best guess is that when the Hannibal shops turned out the new 4-4-0 (although it was most likely a rebuild of an older locomotive, complete with new boiler and cylinders), the shop force was unaware that a new H-2 Mogul was being
built at Rogers (it would have been ordered by the Burlington purchasing department in Chicago), with instructions to number it 49. When the new Mogul showed up wearing the same number as the months-old 4-4-0, something had to give, and the 4-4-0 was renumbered
H&StJ 50. If that is indeed the case, this photo does show the locomotive just after its rebuild was completed at Hannibal. Perhaps Archie Hayden will recognize the distinctive cupola roof visible just ahead of the locomotive's sand dome in the photo. If
anybody has any better ideas as to this locomotive, I'd certainly love to hear them.
Hol