Winter 2001

Volume 21 Number 1

A Quarterly Publication of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society, Inc.

Newsletter Notes

Newsletter Autumn 2000, issue 20-4 page 9 missing text: Watch for coverage on the roundhouse in the November [2000] issue of Sunset magazine.

I didn’t have a cover photo on hand for this feature on 4-8-4s for the last issue, so I used a different feature plus a current event item, both by the same author.

Now I’m faced with the 4-8-4 article with four nice photos to choose from for the cover thanks to Norm Snow of the NPRHA and Harold K. Vollrath. To keep the information that appears next in this issue from being out of date, I again have two items by the same author. These photos match the text referenced in sequence.

Author Bob LeMassena uses the plus sign to denote the location of articulation points within what would otherwise be the Whyte System, which was developer prior to articulated steam engines. Please accept his point of view.

As promised, here are the final details on the Lake at E’ham. The engine is a Vandalia VG5 4-6-0 followed by a lot of head end cars, notably a class MM letter car, class BN, or BB, or ML postal storage car, class BD baggage/express car, class BN, or BB, or ML postal storage car and more. All going from St. Louis to Indianapolis. Thanks to PRRT&HS member John Sanders. See page 9. 

H. Lansing Vail sent me pictures of Deward, Michigan, that was my subject in issue 20-1. The buildings are gone after 58 years, but the foundation to the sawmill is still there, and there is still nothing but scrub trees and grass. We have lost a mighty white pine forest and a hundred years of regrowth.

You will find a brochure included in this issue and all of us on the staff of the R&LHS encourage you to put it to good use. I know that many of the Trading Post responses are from nonmembers which means the Newsletter is shared with others. You may suggest they join in the support for the organization which provides that service. They will also get two issues of RAILROAD HISTORY.

The Chicago, New York, Pacific Coast, Southeast, Southwest and Southern California Chapters all publish newsletters on a regular basis. Consider joining a chapter even if you cannot attend meetings. You may add chapter memberships by using the chapter addresses shown on the back pages of RAILROAD HISTORY.

And, come to Jacksonville and join me in celebrating 80 years of the R&LHS. We’ll be glad to see you.

FRONT COVER: Northern Pacific #2611, one of the first 4-8-4s, taken at Tacoma, Washington, May 1952. Collection of Harold K. Vollrath.

R&LHS Newsletter
Copyright © 2001 R&LHS
Published by
The Railway & Locomotive Historical Society, Inc.

Editor/Publisher
Clifford J. Vander Yacht
2363 Lourdes Drive West
Jacksonville FL 32210-3410
<CliffVDY@JUNO.COM>

Assistant Editors
Vernon J. Glover 
[invalid
address]

R&LHS MEMBER SERVICES
Membership Matters

Membership applications, change of address and other membership status inquiries should be sent to R&LHS Membership, William H. Lugg, Jr., PO Box 292927, Sacramento CA 95829-2927.

Trading Post

Society members may use, without charge, the Trading Post section of the quarterly Newsletter and the R&LHS WebSite to advertise items they wish to sell, trade or acquire or to seek information from other readers. This service is intended for personal, not general commercial, use. All items should be sent to Clifford J. Vander Yacht, see address at left.

Locomotive Rosters & Records of Builder’s Construction Numbers

The Society has locomotive rosters for many roads and records of steam locomotive construction numbers for most builders. Copies are available to members at twenty five cents per page ($5.00 minimum) from R&LHS Archives Services, see address below. A list of available rosters may be obtained for $2.00.

Back Issues of Railroad History

Many issues of Railroad History since No. 132 are available at $7.50 per copy.

For information on the availability of specific issues and volume discounts, write R&LHS Archives Services, see address below.

Articles from the Bulletin & Railroad History

Copies of back issues of these publications of the Society are available to members at twenty cents per page ($5.00 minimum) from R&LHS Archives Services, see address below.

Research Inquiries

Source materials printed, manuscript and graphic are included in the Society’s Archives. Inquiries concerning these materials should be addressed to R&LHS Archives Services, R&LHS Archives Services, PO Box 600544, Jacksonville, Florida 32260-0544. To help expedite our response, please indicate a daytime telephone number where you can normally be reached.

[Note: MilePost 1 and James L. Larson addresses no longer apply.]

The first three USA 4-8-2s were built at the Richmond, VA, works of the American Locomotive Company, and delivered to the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad in 1911-1912. This new wheel arrangement was superior to the 4-6-2 because its additional driving wheels produced greater drawbar pull and the larger firebox provided more horsepower at operating speeds. It quickly became popular with many Class One railroads for heavy passenger service, though a few assigned their 4-8-2s to fast freight service. During World War I, the United States Railroad Administration designed twelve standard locomotives, two of which were 4-8-2s. A total of 47 engines of the light version were built, but only 15 of the heavy design. Through 1924, 26 railroads had added 4-8-2s, ranging in weight from 287,000 lbs (Canadian Pacific) to 377,000 lbs (Denver & Rio Grande Western), to their rosters of motive power. There were two notable exceptions: Northern Pacific and Erie. They would soon provide the impetus for a major change in steam locomotive development. The Baltimore & Ohio initiated the transition by constructing two 4-8-2s in 1925 and 1926, using the huge boilers from Baldwin built 2-10-2s. They weighed 400,000 lbs, and had a grate area of 90 square feet. Meanwhile, Baldwin had been designing a monstrous three cylinder 4-8-2 for the D&RGW, and in early 1926, it erected ten of the huge engines which

weighed 419,000 lbs. The first two driving axles carried a 73,000 lb load, 4000 lbs greater than that of the (1927) 2-8+8-2’s loading. The stoker engine was placed on the tender to reduce the excessive weight supported by the trailing truck beneath the firebox with 95 square feet of grate area. These engines should have been constructed as 4-8-4s, the first of that wheel arrangement, instead of an overweight 4-8-2 which literally crushed the Rio Grande’s inadequate track. The Norfolk & Western joined this super heavy 4-8-2 movement later in the year when it built ten 402,000 lb engines with an 84 square feet firebox intended for fast freight trains. Meanwhile, the NP was working with ALCO to develop a 4-8-2 having a very large firebox to burn easily available low grade coal. It was obvious that a two wheel trailing truck could not support the weight of a 115 square feet firebox, hence the 4-8-4 was conceived. The first one of twelve was delivered in late 1926. The D&RGW had missed its opportunity to possess the first 4-8-4. Lima did not participate in this super 4-8-2 development; instead it reversed the 4-8-2 chassis, making it a 2-8-4 which could be provided with much larger fireboxes without overloading the trailing truck. It erected a demonstrator locomotive in 1924, and filled orders from the Boston & Albany and Illinois Central during 1926 and 1927. This new wheel arrangement appealed to the Erie, which

handled a large tonnage of perishable freight. The engine was big: 100 inch diameter boiler, 100 square feet grate area, 70 inch drivers, and 443,000 lbs weight; and a 82,000 lb drawbar pull with a trailing truck booster. American built 25 in 1927, followed by 25 more from Lima; Baldwin produced 35 in 1928 and Lima delivered a final 20 during 1929. By rejecting the big 4-8-2 philosophy, the Erie had procured a large fleet of fast and powerful engines which would enable it to compete successfully with the New York Central, Lackawanna, Nickel Plate and Pennsylvania for the Chicago/New York City perishable traffic.

While Baldwin was assembling the Erie 2-8-4s, its designers planning an even more powerful single expansion locomotive, a 2-6+6-4 having breathtaking specifications. The boiler diameter was 106 inches, and the cavernous firebox enclosed 126 square feet of grates. The engine weighed 610,000 lbs, and its rated tractive effort was 108,000 lbs with 70 inch drivers. Baldwin presented its proposal to the Erie management in January 1929, two months before the last order for 2-8-4s had been given to Lima. The railroad declined the opportunity to acquire this first of a new wheel arrangement, perhaps because it was not impressed with the performance of the two single expansion 2-6+6-2 conversions made by the C&O and N&W in 1927 and 1928. [This was not the first time Erie turned down a new wheel arrangement. In 1843, its own John Brandt had suggested a ten-wheel 4-6-0 type locomotive. His design was built instead for the Philadelphia and Reading in 1847 by Norris. (Erie Power) —Ed]

Five years later Baldwin constructed three somewhat

smaller 2-6+6-4s for the Pittsburgh & West Virginia, and in the following year five more for the Seaboard Air Line. These seventeen locomotives (P&WV - 7, SAL -10) constituted the entire commercial production of 2-6+6-4s with one notable exception, the N&W. Its home built 4-8-2s could not be operated fast enough for merchandise service, and the experimental single expansion 2-6+6-2 could not develop sufficient power. The N&W solved this serious motive power problem by designing and constructing an incredible engine which outperformed and outlasted everything else powered by steam.

The N&W’s designers accomplished this by utilizing the basic dimensions and specifications of the 2-6+6-4 which Baldwin had proposed to the Erie seven years earlier. They enlarged the firebox and increased the boiler pressure thereby increasing the drawbar horsepower. They mounted the boiler on integrally cast machinery beds and cylinders, and installed roller bearings on all of the engine’s axles. It was an incredible locomotive, hauling long passenger trains at 65 mph., fast freights at 50, and heavy coal trains at 35. The N&W was so impressed with its performance that it constructed 48 of them over a fifteen year period. These locomotives were among the most versatile and successful steam engines ever built. The first one, after 24 years of continuous operation and with only minor modifications, was still in excellent running contrition when it was retired.

Fortunately, one of them, No. 1218, was not scrapped, and after several years of storage was restored to active service for special excursions. It is now on permanent exhibition at Roanoke, VA, not far from its birthplace in the N&W’s shops.

D&RGW 1600 D&RGW 1600, a ponderous three cylinder 4-8-2 designed by ALC but constructed by BLW could have been the first 4-8-4. If its stoker engine and machinery had been located beneath cab instead of on the tender, the engine would have weighed almost as much as Northern Pacific 2600, thus requiring a two axle trailing truck. The 1600s driving-axle load was 291,000 pounds, 31,000 pounds more than that of the NP 4-8-4.
NP 2600 After 23 years of service, the first 4-8-4 NP No. 6000 looks like a new locomotive. Its rear frame extension surrounding the trailing truck to accommodate the large ashpan was a distinctive feature.

DL&W 1502 The DL&W’s earliest 4-8-4s were the first 8-coupled locomotives to have 77-inch drivers. Their small tenders riding on two 4-wheel trucks were found on only one other railroad. The pair of single-stage air pumps was common to all Lackawanna engines until 1934.
CNR 6100 Canada’s first 4-8-4 incorporated some new elements: feedwater heater, outside-bearing leading truck, enclosed cab, and cylindrical tender. This engine was 31 years old at the time of this 1958 photo.
AT&SF 3759 Baldwin’s first 4-8-4s, resembling the AT&SF’s 4-8-2s, incorporated a cast frame, 100-inch diameter boiler, and 108 square feet of grate area which necessitated the 4-wheel trailing truck.

CPR 7100 Undistinguished in their appearance, Canada’s only home-built 4-8-4s (CPR 3100, 3101) were exceptionally well designed locomotives. They were the first ones to have a high steam pressure (385 psi).
DL&W 1609 The Lackawanna’s freight service 4-8-4s were the first ones to have the frame and cylinders cast integrally and the only ones without outside steam supply pipes between the smokebox and valve chamber.
GN 2550 The GN’s freight service 4-8-4s were the only ones constructed with a boiler having a Belpaire firebox.
GN 2577 The GN’s passenger service 4-8-4s type provided with radial-staybolt fireboxes and the were the first ones having 80-inch drivers.
C&NW 3004 Baldwin’s huge 4-8-4s for the C&NW were the heaviest ones thus far weighing just under 500,000 pounds with the first boiler larger than 100 inches in diameter. Boxpok driving wheel centers had replaced the original spoked variety on the 3004.

NYC 800 This unique compound-expansion, triple-pressure, experimental locomotive was the NYC’s first 4-8-4. Its high-pressure water-tube firebox required constant maintenance nullifying any savings of coal and water.
DL&W 1641 At the time of their construction the, Lackawanna’s last twenty 4-8-4s incorporated several advanced features: cast bed, roller bearings, Boxpok drivers, firebox siphons and feedwater heater. Airbrake reservoirs cast into the engine bed were supplied by two compound compressors.
C&O 601 Lima’s first 4-8-4s, delivered to the C&O, were enormous and powerful engines. Equipped with roller-bearings on its driving axles and a trailing truck booster, they were capable of exerting a drawbar-pull of almost 90,000 pounds.
UP 800 The UP’s 4-8-4s were the first ones to carry a 300 psi boiler pressure. The unusual round-bottom tender was used on only the first twenty engines, superseded by much larger ones having a 4-10 wheel arrangement.
N&W 600 After having built an amazing 2-6+6-4, the N&W shops constructed a superlative 4-8-4 having the largest boiler diameter. Fitted with 70-inch drivers, these locomotives were able to deliver 5300 drawbar-

horsepower and operate regularly at 90 mph. AT&SF 3751
The AT&SF rebuilt and modified its original 4-8-4s so completely that the engine shown here was actually a new locomotive and did not at all resemble those constructed by Baldwin. Compare this photo with that of the 3759 and note the manifold differences.
NYC 6000 After relying on 4-6-4s and 4-8-2s to pull its passenger trains, the NYC finally developed a very excellent 4-8-4, the first of which is seen here on what may have been its initial trip to Chicago in 1945. This engines was tested with different driver sizes and boiler pressures before the railroad decided to order 26 more of these remarkably successful locomotives, the last of which was ALCO’s final 4-8-4.
WM 1404 Baldwin’s last 4-8-4s went to the Western Maryland. Their boiler diameters were the largest of any 4-8-4, and they weighed more than 100,000 pounds. Because the WM converted to diesel-electric motive power rather early, these excellent locomotives worked nly a very few years before being retired.

B&O 5600 At first glance B&O 5600 looks like a normal 4-8-4, but actually its propulsion was divided into two 2-axle engines. The rear one with its cylinders beneath the firebox operated backwards. It was the only one of its kind with a water-tube firebox.
Not shown are Timkin’s 111 and PRR 6110, a divided drive 4-8-4, as these were included with issue #182. All photos Collection of Harold K. Vollrath.

E’ham (again)
by Ye Editor

Effingham, Illinois, historian, Phil Lewis, has settled the question of the Lake at E’ham. Prof. William H. Wallace suggested that it was Eastham, Massachusetts, due to the fact that no lake could be found on current maps of Effingham, Illinois. I initially concurred with him, but many members of the PRRT&HS identified the train in detail and maybe the engineer as “Dutch” Andy Ospring. Phil came up with photos and the statement that in 1910 there was a lake two miles west of Effingham. A small creek was dammed by the PRR railroad to make a lake for employees’ use.

In further checking the original photo, I was able to determine that the train was leaning towards the camera while on a curve. There is no such curve in the Eastham location and there is one at the Effingham location. Phil’s postcard photo shown above clearly shows the same leaning, three-crossbar, telephone pole (far left) and the single crossbar poles just to the right. The lake was shallow, about three feet at most, ideal for family swimming and boating.

Dog Law
by Jim Brown

Ah, the “dog” law, wherein at the end of sixteen hours you were forced by federal regulations to stop work. Many interesting things happened on the railroad when this swung into play. I bought a new motorcycle because of this law. I was called to work Glen Echo North of Springfield, Ohio, one night on the Cincinnati Northern back in 1948 or ’49. It was snowing and the operator had to be relieved. It was really coming down. I told the Chief Dispatcher, “I can’t get there on my motorcycle.” So he had me come to the depot and took me out on the yard goat (an 0-6-0). I reported in and was told I would have to stay until relieved, and the blizzard by then was such that only weasels were moving (Military track vehicles, remember?).

With the trains moving, the goat was no longer in service for some reason. Obviously, I would “dog” at the end of the second shift and I would have to close the tower. The NYC and, I believe, the ERIE were serviced by the tower, so it had to be kept open. Being a young and bright whippersnapper, and trained in railroad thought, I conjured up a plan and presented it to the chief. “I will close the station after each train, and open it for the next one when reported.” Minimum time on duty, eh? No “dog.”

They bought the idea, and for two days I would open for five or six minutes and then close. You should understand that each time I did this I could payslip for a “call” which was 3 hours at time and a half. I was making $1.25/hr, and a new bike cost about $600! When I got the check, I was called into the office and told, “NEVER DO THAT AGAIN!” I didn’t.

What’s this? Just a strange load? Guess again.

TRADING POST

Submissions should be made to the Newsletter editor to arrive by April 1, 2001, for inclusion in the next issue. All items subject to available space and editorial decisions as to content. Logos and photographs are limited to 7/8 inches high if space permits. New Trading Post items are posted every week on our WebSite.

FOR SALE: One Pullman Berth Ladder from the sleeping car American Falls. $100.00 plus shipping. Tom Heinrich, 4186 Irish Highland Dr., Powder Springs GA 30127-1747.

SELLING - Moody’s Steam Railroads for 1925. 2000 pages, covers worn but pages are in good condition. $100, postpaid. My book Colorado’s Mountain Railroads is out of print, I have a few copies remaining at $45, autographed and postpaid. WANTED - My books American Steam Vol. 1, & Articulated Locomotives Vol 2. Robert A. LeMassena 1795 S. Sheridan Blvd., Lakewood CO 80232- 7252.

WANTED - Original negatives, slides, transfers, tickets, and any other paper items of the Scranton Transit Co. or its predecessors. Charles Wrobleski , 206 Green St., Clarks Green PA 18411-1212.

WANTED - All issues of Pennsylvania Railroad Mutual Magazine, Pennsylvania News, and The Pennsy. Also seek agent’s lantern with composite green-white globe used for flagging trains, with any of the following lettering: PFtW&C, PCC&StL, or Pennsylvania Lines. Please state prices in first letter. SELLING - Lake Shore & Michigan Southern 2-wheel freight and baggage truck marked with company initials and inventory number, excellent condition, approximately a century old. Bob Hess, 295 Hunters Road, Gore VA 22637-3006.

WANTED - Steam locomotive number plates, builder’s plates, name plates, and emblems for private collection; especially

 is the 118-page biography, Franz Anton von Gerstner, Pioneer Railway Builder, by Mikhail and Margarita Voronin. $28.00 USA, $32.50 foreign. Books shipped postpaid. Checks payable to Languages of Montour. John C. Decker, 112 Ardmoor Avenue, Danville PA 17821.

SELLING - Dozens of Locomotive Quarterly magazines, from Vol. 1 to current. Advise interests. C. K. Marsh, Jr., PO BOX 3712, Kingsport TN 37664-0712.

SEEKING - Public timetables from Bullfrog & Goldfield , Colorado Midland and Elgin, Joliet & Eastern. James Prokes, 7505 W. Ute Lane, Palos Heights IL 60463-2047. (708) 448-3152.

SEEKING - Bangor and Aroostock public and employee timetables issued prior to 1925. Jerry Angier, 69 Brentwood Rd., Cape Elizabeth ME 04107-2224.

FOR SALE - Collection of 800 railroad and trolley postcards. Subjects cover US and Canada. Majority published by Audio-Visual Designs from about 1970 to 1995. Very few are available today. $110.00 for the entire collection, including shipping. Thomas C. Heinrich, 4186 Irish Highland Dr., Powder Springs GA 30127.

WANTED - Home movies of the Fonda, Johnstown & Gloversville RR for a video of the FJ&G to sell as a fund raiser for the Box Car Museum in Gloversville. Will buy or rent films. Walt Danylak, 115 Upland Road, Syracuse NY 13207-1119. (315) 479-5879 or (518) 725-2085.

WANTED - Original Howard Fogg paintings, both oil and watercolor. John J. Atherton, 16 Coachlight Dr., Poughkeepsie NY 12603-4241, (845) 471-8152.

SELLING - Original railroad art. Over 300 engines and trains in charcoal, ink and colored pencil, and watercolor. Affordable prices. Elsie Voigt, HC 74 Box 44, Fort Davis TX 79734-9702. (915) 426-3414.

WANTED - Boomer Jones by Earp, Two Million Miles on the Railroad by Kilman, There Were No Heroes by Ogden, His Personal Record - Stories of Railroad Life by Pinkerton, Along The Line - Western Railroad Stories by Swan, Adventures of a Boomer Op by Smith, Memories of a Retired Pullman Porter by Turner, and Humors of the Railroad Kings by Small. Willing to pay $50 each for books in decent condition. Also want anything from Central RR of New Jersey or predecessors. Dan Allen, 147 Atsion Rd., Medford NJ 08055. <njsouthrr@aol.com >.

Carstens Collection

— Bill Howes, Jr. President

R&LHS 2001 ANNUAL MEETING