About: Maine Central class S 2-8-2

Maine Central Railroad Class S locomotives were intended for heavy freight service. They were of 2-8-2 wheel arrangement in the Whyte notation, or " 1'D1' " in UIC classification. They replaced earlier class W 2-8-0 locomotives beginning in 1914. They were the largest and most modern steam freight locomotives built for Maine Central; although former Boston and Maine Railroad 2-10-2s were later purchased to handle World War II freight traffic. Class S locomotives pulled freight trains over the main line between Portland and Bangor, Maine; and are best remembered for service on the Mountain Division from 1929, when the class X Mallet locomotives were scrapped, until replacement by diesel locomotives in the early 1950s.