In 1940 the Gulf, Mobile & Northern and the Mobile & Ohio were merged to form the Gulf, Mobile & Ohio Railroad. This photo of Mobile & Ohio 4-6-2 No. 269, taken at East St. Louis on April 21, 1940, therefore comes from the last days of the M&O's operation as a separate railroad. No. 269 was the final member of a group of ten engines of class 260 outshopped by Baldwin Locomotive Works from 1923 through 1926, based on the light USRA design. With cylinder dimensions of 25x28 inches, they had 73-inch drivers and sustained 200 p.s.i. of boiler pressure. They developed 40,753 pounds of tractive effort and weighed 277,000 pounds. Evaporative heating surface was 3341 square feet and superheater surface was 794 square feet, and they had a grate area of around 67 square feet. With dieselization of the GM&O all members of the 260 class were retired by 1949. The photographer responsible for this view of No. 269, acquired from an eBay seller, is unknown.