Col. Howard G Hill and the USA 0-6-0T Steam Locomotive

The magazine “Trains”, December 1964 edition, contained an article about Colonel Howard G Hill and his design of the 0-6-0T locomotives for the Supply Branch of the US Army, later to be assigned to the newly re-formed US Army Transportation Corps (USATC) during World War II.

Born in New Hampshire in 1895 and having first ridden in the cab of a steam locomotive with his father at the tender age of four, Howard G Hill began his long railway career as an apprentice machinist in the workshop of the Texas and New Orleans Railroad, based in Houston, in 1914. He quickly worked his way up the ladder via the Drawing Office to Instructor of Apprentices and then to Mechanical Engineer.

Serving as an Engineer in the Army in World War I, he later gained his commission in the Reserve in 1923. Between the two World Wars he travelled all over America with his work associated with a number of Railway firms. This often involved him riding in the cabs of locomotives and Howard G Hill was to become an experienced fireman.

In July 1940 Hill was contacted by the Railway Branch of the Office of the Chief of Engineers, U.S. Army, in Washington D.C. It was apparent that a situation was developing where US participation in the World War was looking likely and that large numbers of locomotives and rolling stock would be rapidly required. The Railway Branch consisted of just three people under the leadership of Colonel Lewis T Ross and clearly innovative fast thinking was needed using the experience of Hill.

By early November 1941 the British Army, through Major R Hart-Davies, had been in contact to establish a supply of motive power for the UK War Department and, specifications for various size steam locomotives were under discussion. Initial discussions between Hart-Davies and Ross indicated the distinct possibility that a further batch of Baldwin locomotives to a 1917 design would be initially constructed to satisfy the immediate need for 50 tank engines. However, Howard G Hill worked round the clock on a new design for a powerful but compact, 0-6-0 tank locomotive. He considered that utilising the most modern (at the time) materials and manufacturing techniques, rapid construction of a simple, easily maintained and operated engine with high availability was possible. By mid November 1941 the design (along with various types of rolling stock) was approved and the US Army specification ‘T1531’ set.

Drawing of Specification T1531 dated 29th November 1941. Note the title includes a comment "African Theatre" thought to be a possible decoy note. Other comments refer to "British & Middle East".

Although destined for European use, Hill’s design was of typical American style - cast iron bar or “stave” frames and a firebox fitted with a rocking grate, the whistle and safety valves mounted on the steam dome, with both sand boxes on top of the boiler using the heat from the boiler to keep the sand dry. Outside mounted cylinders, with motion driving the rear set of wheels also actuated Walschaerts valve gear and the mechanical lubricator. Along with a lever operated reverser and steam brake, mechanical and operational simplicity as well as ease of maintenance was provided. No steam heating was fitted. A turbogenerator powering a large headlamp completed the “American” appearance of these engines.

Hill, realising the USA’s participation in the War was imminent, moved quickly to place the construction order following approval of the design. Late November 1941, when asked by Ross how the design was progressing, Hill informed him that the order had been placed with the Supply Branch the previous week. His counter to Ross’s disapproval of taking such independent action, was to point out that with War looming, faster action than the usual bureaucracy allowed was necessary. In all, it took Hill less than one week to design, set material specifications and gain approval to manufacture. By mid 1942, 0-6-0T locomotives (by now designated as type “S100” by the USATC) were being shipped to Britain in quantity, the design specification having been put to tender and Vulcan, Davenport and HK Porter companies selected to construct.

As such, the locomotives were built straight from the drawing board with no prototype approval. Upon arrival in Britain at Newport docks, final assembly including the fitting of the locomotive’s motion took place. Subsequent trial use of the first batch showed some design deficiencies, which were changed in the subsequent production output. The most significant of these was the cylinder drain cocks, which were of insufficient diameter to clear water condensation fully from the cylinders. The first locomotives shipped therefore suffered badly from “priming” where incompressible water remained in the cylinders. At best the result was bent motion rods, at worst the cylinders could burst under water pressure. Fitting larger drain cocks cured this problem. Other changes to re-gauge the width of the engine (which has a very wide cab) lead to a slightly reduced fire box width (with no reported adverse affect on steaming). Coal capacity was also increased by adding rails to the top of the coal bunker, enabling an additional quarter ton of coal to be carried.

Overall, Hill’s opinion of the 0-6-0T locomotives, especially having ridden in them at the Army depot in Reading when visiting Britain in 1944, was that they were a significant advance on the 1917 Baldwin tank engine design both in operation and by having more “aesthetic” appeal. Probably at this time when in England, Hill was invited to lunch with the CME of the Southern Railway, OVS Bulleid. Bulleid had requisitioned a half dozen of the USA 0-6-0T locomotives to test in Southampton Docks to see if they would form a useful basis for a new design to replace the Drummond B4 0-4-0T locomotives which were around 50 years old. Finding Hill’s 0-6-0T locomotives superior in all aspects to the B4’s, Bulleid set to design a similar engine class for shunting, particularly with the tight radius curves of Southampton Docks in mind. In the event, Bulleid’s design, which was costed at around £5,000 per locomotive, worked out at roughly double the amount that the Southern Railway was able to purchase almost unused USA 0-6-0T’s from the USATC in 1946/7. Fourteen were eventually purchased at £2,500 each (plus one spare for £2,000) which were extensively modified and went on to form the Southern Railways/British Rail “USA Class” numbers 30061 to 30074.

The changes by the Southern Railway to Hill’s original specification, once the 14 locomotives were taken into stock, may well have caused the total cost of each locomotive to exceed that of Bulleid’s design, had that ever been manufactured. However, production and maintenance pressure on the Southern Railway’s locomotive works at Eastleigh and Brighton was so intense immediately Post War, it seems unlikely that resources would have been diverted to produce this further locomotive type.

A 15th member of the British Railways USA Class was created when, in 1990, the UK based Locomotive Owning Group "Project 62" imported the 1960 Djuro Djakovic built locomotive 62-669. 62-669 was subsequently rebuilt to Southampton Dock Tank specification at Swanage and given the next series number "30075" in the mid 1990's.

Photo shows Colonel Howard G Hill driving (Credit - unknown)

Colonel Howard G Hill’s “S100” Class numbered around 400 locomotives. After World War II, the Class continued in industrial service world-wide following the dispersion of surplus locomotives by the USATC and the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA). Sixty years later, there are still original USA built S100’s in industrial operation. Adding other USA 0-6-0T's preserved world-wide, plus the 1950’s Yugoslavian built patterns, means more than 100 exist today. Many are still in regular use including USA Type Class 62 "30075" (formerly JZ 62-669) owned by Project 62 and currently operational on the East Somerset Railway.