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Development Of The Locomotive 1925 Central Steel Compan
Development Of The Locomotive
Copyright 1925 Central Steel Company
Hard Cover
64 pages
THAT history repeats itself is axiomatic and indisputable, and if its repetitions were only those of correct and well founded statements of fact, they would not only be unobjectionable, but also could, to a greater or less extent, serve to impress themselves more fully upon the reader it is unfortunately the fact that misinformation, or insufficient information, of authors in many instances results in causing their statements to be materially misleading. The history of the locomotive engine does not differ, in this particular, from that of any other subject, and there are but few, if any, authorities, even those of acknowledged high standing, that are not properly subject to correction. The failure to make records of many instances of early practice; the loss or destruction of records of later practice; and the passing away of those upon whose personal knowledge and recollection alone the facts can be fixed, render complete accuracy as to them, impossible of attainment, and reasonable approximation to it difficult.
With a full recognition of these conditions, it has been the endeavor, in this monograph, to meet them as far as data available warrants, and to illustrate, and briefly note, the leading and characteristic examples of the progress of locomotive development. The primitive designs of automotive vehicles, dating from that of Cugnot, in 1769, to Stephenson's "Rocket" of 1829, are of interest no further than as items of history and illustrative of the trend of mind of the designers. The most important advances, in design and construction, as evidenced by their results and continued application, have been made in the United States, and summarized as follows:
The first, and doubtless the most radical and universally approved one, was the swivelling truck, in the absence of which high speed service would be impossible.
There does not appear to have been any denial that this improvement is to be credited to John B. Jervis, who first applied it on the Mohawk & Hudson R. R., in the summer of 1832, and again on the Saratoga & Schenectady Ry., in 1833, the latter application being in the "Experiment", illustrated on page 22.
The unparalleled performance of a locomotive of this type, the "George Washington", built by William Norris, of Philadelphia, on July 10, 1836, opened a new era in railroad construction, in demonstrating the capability of a locomotive to operate, by its own tractive force, on grades so heavy as to have been termed "inclined planes"; and considered to be operable only by cable haulage. As reported in the American Railroad journal, of July 30, 1836, this locomotive hauled a load of 31,720 pounds, up an inclined plane 2800 feet in length, with a grade of 369 feet to the mile, or I in 14 at the speed of 151/2 miles per hour. Zerah Colburn, than whom there is no better authority on locomotive history, said of this performance, that in 1836, such a "feat as was achieved by the George Washington took the engineering world by storm, and was hardly credited". Succeeding it, and prompted by it, railroads were built over mountain grades both here and in Europe.
No illustration of the "George Washington" is believed to be in existence, although several have been published so entitled, all of which fall within the category of historical errors. Its principal structural features are, however, generally similar to those of the "Pioneer", of 1836, shown on page 26.
The next development of importance was the "American", or 4-4-0 type, which was patented by Henry R. Campbell, of Philadelphia, in 1836, completed under his order in 1837, and was followed by a perfected one, built by Eastwick and Harrison, later in the same year, which was similar to the "Mercury", shown on page 31.
Ross Winans built the first eight coupled or o-8-o type locomotives, two in 1842, and twelve more, the "Mud Diggers" (see page 32), between 1844 and 1846. These were succeeded by his "Camel" engines (see page 36), the first in 1848.
In 1844, Eastwick & Harrison introduced, in a number of locomotives which they built for the Russian Government, a new type, having six driving wheels, and a pair of leading wheels, which were not, however, in a swivelling truck, which was later applied, for the first time, in the "Mogul" type. A number of locomotives of the Eastwick & Harrison design were built for the Pennsylvania R. R., by Smith & Perkins, M. W. Baldwin, and Richard Norris & Sons, and for the Philadelphia & Reading R. R., by James Milholland.
The "ten wheel", or 4-6-0 type, was introduced by Norris, the first being the "Chesapeake" (see page 35), placed on the Philadelphia & Reading R. R. in 1847. This type met with general favor, and, while practically superseded by locomotives having more than six driving wheels, has been recently revived in a heavier class.
Locomotives having more than eight driving wheels were next applied, the first of these being the "Pennsylvania" (see page 40), built for the Philadelphia & Reading
R. R., in 1863, from the designs of James Milholland, and having twelve driving wheels. The "Ant" and the "Bee", of the Lehigh Valley R. R. (1867), shown on page 42, had ten driving wheels. The first of the "Santa Fe", or 2-10-2 type (page 53), was built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works, in 1903.
The first locomotive of the "Mallet", or articulated type, that was put in service in the United States, No. 2400, Baltimore & Ohio R. R., illustrated on page 54, was built by the American Locomotive Co., in 1904, and was shown at the St. Louis Exposition. The wheel arrangement was 6-6-o. Many larger and heavier engines of that type have since been constructed, among them being one for the Virginian Ry., 2-10-2 type, weighing 684,000 pounds.
The first "Mogul", or 2-6-o type (page 39), which was built by the Rogers Locomotive Works, in 1863, corresponded, in wheel arrangement, with Eastwick & Harrison's Russian locomotives, but differed therefrom in having its leading wheels mounted in a truck, instead of in the engine frame. The natural successor to this design was the "Prairie", or 2-6-2 type, shown on page 51, in which, by the addition of a trailing truck, the "Mogul" was rendered adaptable to the application of a wide firebox. The "Consolidation", or 2-8-o type (page 41), was the outgrowth of Winans' eight coupled locomotive, the most material structural defect of which was the absence of a leading truck. The first of this type that was adapted to service other than that of a helper on heavy grades was built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works, for the Lehigh Valley R. R. in 1866. The same trend of design succeedingly developed the "Mikado", or 2-8-2 type (page so).
While the wide firebox was not, per se, original with John E. Wootten, its design, in form adaptable for application, specially, in locomotives having driving wheels of sufficiently large diameter for passenger train service, and, generally, in all other classes, is clearly due to the ability and experience of Mr. Wootten. His first passenger engine, shown on page 44, was built by the Philadelphia & Reading R. R., in 188o, and its results made the wide firebox the standard of present practice.
A review here of other and subordinate types, which are largely structural modifications of those that have been above considered, would needlessly consume space, particularly as their characteristics are noted in the descriptive matter accompanying the illustrations. With full recognition of its probable insufficiencies, and the hope that these may not be found to be accompanied by any substantial inaccuracies, this retrospect of the development of the locomotive is submitted to the favorable consideration of those interested in the subject.
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