#2914 is the first of ten TW-8 Class Twelve Wheeler type (4-8-0) locomotives built for the Southern Pacific by the Schenectady Locomotive Works in 1898 (#2024-#2033). Originally coal burners, the locomotives were soon converted to oil and renumbered #2914-#2923.
#2914 went into service in November 1898, arrived in Bakersfield, CA, in 1901 and worked on the San Joaquin Division until it was retired in 1955. It hauled freight as well as working as a helper over the Tehachapi Mountains, served on the McKittrick, Sunset and Oil City Branches of the SP and as a switcher in the SP’s East Bakersfield yard.
The SP donated #2914 to Kern County in 1955. It is on display in the Pioneer Village at the Kern County Museum in Bakersfield. To get the locomotive to its new location, tracks were laid off a line that still runs to the south of the museum. The museum is open Wednesday through Sunday 9.00-4.00. As well as #2914, it contains over fifty original buildings from around the county related to local life in the late 19th century
Over the years, the locomotive underwent a series of changes.
Built as a cross compound with one 23” x 32” high pressure and one 35” x 32” low pressure cylinder, #2914 was simpled in 1911 by the Southern Pacific with two 21” x 32” cylinders and the original Stephenson valve gear was replaced by Walschaert. Boiler pressure was dropped from 200 psi to 180 psi and the drivers from 55” to 54”. Total heating surface dropped from 3,026 sq ft to 2,815 but tractive effort rose from 36,543 lbs to 39,984 lbs.
In 1916, the TW-8s were superheated by the SP increasing the engine weight from 192,000 lbs to 201,500 lbs, from 155,000 lbs 161,000 lbs on their 54" drivers. With a 34.9 sq ft grate, 208 sq ft firebox and 467 sq ft of superheating, total heating surface dropped to 2,722 sq ft. Operating at a slightly higher boiler pressure of 190 psi, tractive effort rose to 42,205 lbs.
The original tender held 4,500 gallons of water and 10 tons of coal. After conversion to an oil burner, the 163,400 lb tender had a capacity of 8,828 gallons of water and 3,018 gallons of oil.
