Although famous for its cab-forward, oil-burning 4-8-8-2 articulateds, the Southern Pacific also owned a class of coal-burning 2-8-8-4s that were oriented "normally." They initially operated in the Southwest, where the lack of long mountain tunnels or snowsheds obviated the need for the cab-forward configuration. No. 3800, the "class engine," appears in this Lima Locomotive Works builder's photo from 1939. The AC-9 class had 63½-inch drivers, four 24x32-inch cylinders, and a boiler pressure of 250 p.s.i. Their grate area was a large 139½ square feet, their evaporative heating surface totaled 6918 square feet, and they had 2831 square feet of superheater surface. Their skyline casing made them appear speedy, and in fact they are said to have been capable of 75 miles per hour despite their relatively low driver diameter. In their last years of service they were converted to burn oil and operated on the Modoc Line in California-Nevada. By 1956 all had been retired.