Dimensions and interior are taken from photographs and drawings of the originals, as well as other contemporary sources, and recent photographs taken at the National Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Mo. Some liberties have been taken to make the locomotive user friendly, and some innovation was necessary where there were no documents to guide us, and to insure adequate operation in the MSTS environment.

HISTORY:
The Illinois Traction System (later Illinois Terminal Railroad) was a large midwest railroad that operated from St. Louis to Peopia in the North, and Danville in the East of Illinois. It was built to typical interurban standards, and developed freight business early on. Most of the freight locomotives were built by the Company's own shops, and were thus unique. The Class B locomotives wore many paint schemes over the years, and there were some differences in the locomotives of this Class, determined by the service for which they were used. The electrified main line service was finally abandoned in 1956, at which time the last remaining Class B locomotives were scrapped, although 2 are preserved in Museums.

The Class B locomotives were 34' long, over the sills, 9' 3" wide, and 13' tall. The original frames were fabricated from castings and "I" beams, although the last 6 had stronger all cast steel frames for heavier service. The bodies were sheathed in riveted steel sheet. The interior was covered with tongue and groove yellow pine. The roof was wood sheathing, covered with canvas duck. The trucks were standard ALCO, which carrried 2-200HP General Electric 69C motors each. A GE type M controller was located at each end, on the left side. The various doors were provided for egress and maintenance, not freight. All of the electrical gear, including resistance banks, contactors, and switchgear were located inside. So also was the air compressor, the Lewis waycar stove, and coal bin. The hand brake and sand box were at each end on the right, opposite the motorman. In this era, the paint scheme was brewster green, including doors (the deep maroon side doors and sash were not used on the special), terra cotta roof, black frame and trucks, and light gray on the interior. Gold leaf was used for lettering. The pilots were mounted to the body until 1929. The MCB radial couplers had extra deep knuckles. The locomotive weight was 60 tons, and it was rated at 30,000 pounds of drawbar pull, which amounted to 12-18 cars, depending on the load. The #1578 was one of the first to have anticlimbers added between the poling pockets, and went through 3 paint schemes, before being scrapped in 1953.

Further information may be found in The FLYER, Volume 14, No. 1 of Spring 2000, published by the Illinois Traction Society, and in these books: THE LINCOLN LAND TRACTION by James D. Johnson (1965 author) and ILLINOIS TERMINAL-THE ELECTRIC YEARS by Paul H Stringham (1989 Interurban Press)