Norfolk and Western J Class (1903)

The second Norfolk and Western J class was a set of seven 4-4-2 steam locomotives purchased by the Norfolk and Western Railway before the far better known J class of 1941. The retirement of the first J class in 1900 had left the letter unused, so the railway applied it to these engines. They served until the early 1930s and were retired between 1931 and 1935, which freed the designation once more for the streamlined 4-8-4 Northerns that arrived in 1941. The class matters mostly as a link in the chain of three unrelated locomotive groups that carried the same letter on the Norfolk and Western roster.