View source for Pennsylvania Railroad class H8

{{Short description|Type of steam locomotive}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2025}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name         = Consolidation Freight Locomotive No. 7688
| nrhp_type    =
| image        = Steamtrain PRR H10 7688.JPG
| caption      = PRR H10 #7688 at the [[Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania]]
| nearest_city = [[Strasburg, Pennsylvania]]
| coordinates  = {{coord|39|58|56|N|76|9|40|W|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin     = Pennsylvania#USA
| built        = 1915
| architect    = Pennsylvania Railroad Co.
| architecture =
| added        = December 17, 1979
| area         = {{convert|0.1|acre}}
| mpsub        = {{NRHP url|id=64000729|title=Pennsylvania Railroad Rolling Stock TR}}
| refnum       = 79002264<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2009a}}</ref>
}}
{{refimprove|date=October 2011}}

The [[Pennsylvania Railroad]]'s class '''H8''', '''H9s''' and '''H10s''' [[steam locomotive]]s were of the [[2-8-0]] "Consolidation" type, the last three classes of such built by the railroad.  The three classes differed only in [[cylinder (engine)|cylinder]] diameter and thus [[tractive effort]], each subsequent class increasing that measurement by an inch.  The first H8 was built in 1907 and the last H10 in 1916; within a few years they were replaced on heavy freight assignments by 2-8-2s and 2-10-0. They became the railroad's standard light freight locomotive, replacing all other class H 2-8-0s, and a number remained in service until the end of PRR steam locomotive operation in 1957.  968 class H8 of various subclasses were constructed, along with 274 class H9s and 273 class H10s.  A number of H8 locomotives were rebuilt to H9s specification.

Class H10s was built primarily for [[PRR Lines West]], and featured a typical Lines West tender with sloping side coal boards at the top, to enable a bigger load of coal to be carried.

Some locomotives of this type were leased to the PRR-owned [[Long Island Rail Road]], becoming the primary freight-hauling type on that system.

==Survivors==
7688, an H10s built in 1915 by the [[Lima Locomotive Works]], has been preserved by the [[Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.rrmuseumpa.org/about/roster/locomotiveroster.pdf| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130703151453/http://www.rrmuseumpa.org/about/roster/locomotiveroster.pdf| archivedate=July 3, 2013| website=Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania| title=Locomotive Roster}}</ref>  It joins two earlier examples of the H class at the museum.  #7688 was added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1979 as Consolidation Freight Locomotive No. 7688.<ref name=nrhpdoc>{{cite report|type=none|url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71993175 |title=National Register of Historic Places Registration: Pennsylvania MPS Consolidation Freight Locomotive No. 7688|publisher=National Archives and Records Administration |author=Susan M. Zacher and George M. Hart |date= March 1978| access-date=December 23, 2025 }} ({{NationalArchivesNote}})</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}
* {{cite web| url=http://broadway.pennsyrr.com/Rail/Prr/Rosters/steam_class.html| title=PRR Steam Locomotive Classification| website=The Broad Way| first=Bob| last=Berkey| date=April 2000| access-date=2015-05-29| archive-date=2013-02-16| archive-url=https://archive.today/20130216154011/http://broadway.pennsyrr.com/Rail/Prr/Rosters/steam_class.html| url-status=dead}}
*{ http://broadway.pennsyrr.com/Rail/Prr/Rosters/steam_class.html {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130216154011/http://broadway.pennsyrr.com/Rail/Prr/Rosters/steam_class.html |date=2013-02-16 }} }

==Further reading==
*{{Drury-North American Steam|pages=318–328}}
{{Commons category|Pennsylvania Railroad H8}}
{{PRR locomotives}}
{{National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania}}

[[Category:ALCO locomotives]]
[[Category:Baldwin locomotives]]
[[Category:Lima locomotives]]
[[Category:2-8-0 locomotives]]
[[Category:Steam locomotives of the United States]]
[[Category:Pennsylvania Railroad locomotives|H8]]
[[Category:Transportation in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Railway locomotives introduced in 1915]]
[[Category:Railway locomotives on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Freight locomotives]]
[[Category:Standard-gauge locomotives of the United States]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania]]

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