Southern Pacific 4-8-2 Lt. Mountain question... - Model Railroader Magazine

My sources (Diebert/Strapac's Southern Pacific Steam Locomotive Compendium and Robert Church's The 4300 4-8-2's) show the following.

#4308 was in the Mt-1 class, the first order of SP Mountains.  It's built date was October 1923 and put into service on December 27, 1923.  It was vacated on July 27, 1955.  Skyline casings were installed on June 30, 1941.  It came orginially came with a 4-axle cylindrical tender of the 120-C-2 tender, but in March and April of 1924 its tender was replaced with the 6-axle cylindrical tender of the 120-C-3 class (of like capacity) that came with a batch of F-5s (2-10-2s). They were all oil fired.  #4310 (also an Mt-1) was built March 1924, started service on May 6, 1924 and had skyline casings installed May 19, 1950.  It was vacated May 21, 1954 and came originally equipped with a 120-C-3 tender.

The locomotives were designed for general purpose operations.  Later 4-8-4s replaced the Mts on premier passenger trains, but the Mts continued to haul passenger trains in addition to freight trains.  The Mts were more "general service" than the GS class (General Service) 4-8-4s.  The Mts also hauled commute trains in the San Francisco Bay Area because they had both good acceleration and adhesion, necessary for such a demanding role.

I've never seen a photograph of a Daylight-painted Mt.  I feel deprived.

The Mt-2s differed from SP's other Mts as they were acquired from the El Paso & Southwestern when SP took control of that line.  Mt-2s had rectangular tenders.  The SP converted them from coal to oil fuel.  The Mt-2s were heavier and more powerful than the other Mt classes.

I hate to burst your bubble, but your SP-labeled Bachmann model is based on an USRA design, not an SP design.  Still, rumor has it that Athearn is planning to produce models of the SP engines, with and without casings, etc.

Mark Pierce