Articulated Steam Locomotives of North America Volume 1 by Robert LeMassena

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Articulated Steam Locomotives of North America Volume 1 by Robert LeMassena
Articulated Steam Locomotives of North America by Robert A. LeMassena
Hard Cover
416 pages
Copyright 1979  First printing
Table of Contents Vol. I
--The Railroads--
Foreword, Introduction, History 6
Northwestern Railroads 15
Southwestern Railroads 59
Rocky Mountain Railroads 91
Midwestern Railroads 131
Central Basin Railroads143
Southeastern Railroads151
Northeastern Railroads215
Lumber And Mining Railroads279
Industrial, Switching And Tourist Railroads351
Canadian And Mexican Railroads363
Index And Color Catalog385
INTRODUCTION
THE MEANING OF THE TERM "ARTICULATED" DOES NOT LACK PRECISION; IT MEANS "jointed," and it implies mechanical flexibility. But when it is added to "locomotive" the combination embraces such a host of physical varieties that personal opinion finally decides what is and what is not an articulated locomotive. At one end of this indefinite spectrum there is the double locomotive-two separate machines coupled together more-or-less permanently-and this engine is generally accepted as an articulated locomotive. The other extremity is uncertain. Should ordinary locomotives having lateral-motion provisions for their driving axles be classified as articulated? We think not, and thus, they are not included in this book.
locomotive's trailing truck or tender truck? We feel that it should not be omitted. And then, there was an ancient device called the flexible-beam truck; where does it fit? Our opinion is that it straddled the fence, having been primarily a mechanism to produce lateral motion of driving wheels. It will be mentioned, but not explored in detail. By our definition, the few examples of non-articulated engines coupled to powered tenders qualify for inclusion, as does a solitary hybrid having both rod and geared driving machinery. Otherwise, if the locomotive was bendable anywhere-boilers, frames, drives or trucks-it falls within the scope of this work, and there are 60 distinct variations within a realm of fewer than 10,000 locomotives constructed over a span of considerably more than a century.
The origin of the articulated locomotive, as well as its further development, can be traced to the need for more tractive effort produced by a single locomotive operated by one crew. More power required more driving wheels; more drivers resulted in more length; and more length was possible only by the introduction of horizontal flexibility. This was recognized as early as 1832 in the U.S.A., but little was accomplished until the exportation of Fairlie-type articulateds from England to Mexico, Canada and the U.S.A. four decades later. Still another combination of operating conditions-slow speeds, steep grades, sharp curves and uneven track-provided the impetus for the invention of the geared articulated having pivoted trucks. It filled a need where rod-driven engines encountered severe handicaps.
The most common North American articulated was the Mallet configuration having two engines supporting a boiler, which was rigidly affixed to the rear engine. It combined adequate flexibility for negotiating switchwork and great power for the haulage of heavy trains on steep grades. These last two major types of articulateds co-existed and dominated their respective fields during the first half of the 20th Century.
Articulation was accomplished in several ways, depending on just what elements of the locomotive the designer wanted to make flexible. One unusual method, used on a McCloud River locomotive, joined two separate locomotives back-to-back with interconnected throttle-and-cutoff controls for bi -directional operation. The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe designed a few locomotives with both jointed frames and two styles of jointed boilers. The most successful system of articulation was that in which the firebox was attached to the rear engine; the smokebox rested on the forward engine, which was pivoted to the front of the rear engine. Steam-and-exhaust piping was arranged in several ways to accomodate the radial movement of the forward engine. Some Mexican Central locomotives avoided flexible piping between boiler and cylinders by attaching the cylinders to the boiler; the power was transmitted from the pistons to the driving wheels through a complicated system of rods and levers which could swing laterally as the wheels pivoted beneath the boiler. A very few locomotives were built with a single boiler supported by two pivoted engines, but several examples of the more successful version, having two boilers joined by a single firebox, were imported from England for use on the Mexicano.
One of the earliest articulateds embodied a geared leading truck driven by rods connected to the locomotive's driving
wheels. This lone hybrid had been forgotten by the time that the very successful geared/flexible-drive articulated appeared. In this design, the boiler, cylinders and fuel/water compartments were supported by a frame resting on two trucks. The cylinders drove a longitudinal shaft, provided with suitable slip- and universal-joints, which drove the wheels through gears in the trucks. There were a number of variations of this general arrangemnet, all intended to accomplish the same purpose without interfering with previous patents. Some of these mechanisms made provision for a rearward shaft-extension to drive third or fourth trucks. Although the geared articulateds were developed for lighter service than the gigantic Mallet type, several exceeded a total weight of 100 tons.
Territorial Distribution
The natural habitat of the articulated can be related in a general way to terrain, tonnage and traffic-though exceptions were numerous. By implication, the Rocky Mountains were practically synonymous with articulated motive power. Long steep grades demanded powerful engines for freight trains, and double-headed Mallets could be found everywhere on the mainlines. Even in contiguous areas, where profiles were moderate, the single-expansion articulated hauled freight at mile-a-minute speeds in the decade prior to their replacement by diesel-electric units. One early railroad assembled a sizeable fleet of single-truck articulateds, and geared engines were far more common on timber-hauling railroads than on those which depended on mining for their revenues.
The arid upland plateau-and-mountain country of the Southwest presented an anomaly; clearly, it was an area where articulateds should have been found-on long continuous grades, and on short, very steep climbs over sharp ridges. Yet, any kind of articulated was a rarity. Most of them worked on a rather level line across Oklahoma and New Mexico, and a few others were found in the mountains of southern Texas. California, however, was precisely the opposite; articulateds of many kinds prowled the long grades over the mountains, the irregular trackage in the forests of their western slopes, the great Central Valley and the Pacific seacoast.
Western Oregon and Washington were much like California; articulateds crawled over the rugged Cascade Range, and the prolific forests abounded with multitudes of huge geared articulateds and tiny Mallets. On the less-demanding alignments, single-expansion engines sped freight across the lonely countryside, running as far east as the Missouri River. Nor was it unusual for them to haul fast, heavy passenger trains on regular assignments.
In the northeastern sector of the U.S.A., the movement of heavily laden trains of coal and/or short, steep grades were operational impediments which brought articulateds initially as helpers; later, they were used as head-end motive power and humpyard engines. Only four railroads in this region owned modern single-expanison Mallet-type locomotives, inherently a high-speed, high-power machine; however, they were rarely assigned to service which fully utilized their capabilities. Geared articulateds were at home in the forests; and, to a lesser extent, in the neighborhood of coal mines.
Usage of both geared and rod-drive articulateds in the Southeast resembled that of the Northeast, but during the final three decades of the steam era in the U.S.A., the single-expansion Mallet was widely employed in its intended role as a hauler of fast freight trains. Those railroads which transported enormous tonnages of coal from the central Appalachian region acquired great fleets of Mallets, and utilized them in every kind of service from yard switchers to passenger runs, including operation across the relatively level piedmont area between the mountains and the Atlantic Ocean.
As could be expected, the articulated was uncommon in the central basin of the Mississippi River, a few Mallets having worked on lines which encountered the Ozark Mountains, and even fewer shuffled cars in major yards. Outnumbering them by far were the geared locomotives which infested the forests of every state in this wide territory. With but one notable exception, Midwestern railroads likewise avoided the articulated for mainline service, yet one of these railroads sought two kinds of 2-6 + 6-2's for service on two particular lines.
Canadian railroads procured a few Fairlie engines from England in their early years, but only half-a-dozen Mallets (home built) were operated in that nation. There, however, a vast number of geared locomotives were used in the forests of southwestern British Columbia. Mexico's first articulateds were several double-Fairlies imported from England to work on the steep ascent from the Gulf of Mexico to the capital city in the mountains. After some U.S.A.-built single-truck Fairlies had been tried, conventional Mallets were brought from the United States to haul freight on lines in the vicinity of Mexico City, and some of them remained active for several years after the last Mallet had been retired in the U.S.A. A few industrial companies operated articulated locomotives within the confines of their factory properties; most of these were of the geared variety. In more recent times, articulateds of both rod-and gear-drive types have been rescued from the scrapheap, and they are being operated by enthusiastic groups for tourists.
Builders and Production
Articulated locomotives were constructed by no less than 18 commercial builders in the U.S.A., each specializing in its own proprietary design almost exclusively. Baldwin produced the greatest variety of major types; Lima built two kinds, and all others concentrated on but one kind of articulated machine. Four railroads-Canadian Pacific, Great Northern, Norfolk & Western and Pennsylvania-built entire Mallets, and nine others possessed shops capable of major rebuilding and modification, but only five of them-Baltimore & Ohio, Great Northern, Southern, Southern Pacific and Union Pacific-indulged in this practice to a significant extent. Four commerical companies built but a single engine each, and five others turned out fewer than 10 examples of their own mechanical concepts. Seven plants-American, Baldwin, Climax, Heisler, Lima, Mason and the Norfolk & Western's shops-produced the great majority of North America's articulateds. With three exceptions, American constructed Mallets only, as did the N&W. Climax and Heisler manufactured only geared locomotives, and Lima built both varieties. Except for one two-truck Fairlie, the single-truck Fairlie was Mason's entire contribution. Nearly all of Baldwin's production was comprised of Mallets, and flexible-beam engines, although it did build half-a-dozen other types in insignificant quantities.
Until the single-truck Fairlie appeared in 1872, the production of articulateds in North America was confined to a handful of locomotives, most of which were of Baldwin's flexible-beam construction, a design abandoned in the mid-1860's. The principal manufacturer of those Fairlies-Mason-discontin-, ued production in 1889, but Baldwin, Taunton, Manchester and American built them in very small quantities until 1914. The first geared articulated made its appearance in the late 1870's at Lima's factory, and competitive engines were built by Crippen and Henderson in the early 1880's, but both promptly failed. The Climax configuration first appeared in 1888, and it was followed by the Dunkirk and Heisler engines in 1891. Dunkirk lasted only three years; however, the final Climax was not turned out until 1930, and Heisler persisted until 1941, followed by Lima's last geared articulated in 1945. Cowles delivered a single engine in 1892; and, in that same year, Rhode Island assembled their only articulateds-all for a Mexican railroad. Baldwin dabbled in the geared-articulated realm between 1912 and 1915, and Davenport did the same from 1913 to 1916. American and Baldwin both commenced the construction of Mallets about the middle of the 20th Century's first decade-while Lima followed some 10 years later, with the Norfolk & Western's shops right behind. American's final articulated was erected in 1947, Lima's in 1948 and Baldwin's in 1949; however, the N&W continued until 1952. The Eureka Foundry produced a lone articulated in 1910. Willamette manufactured a few Shay-type engines between 1922 and 1929; and, seemingly undeterred by the Great Depression, Vulcan built two-truck rod-drive articulateds between 1931 and 1934.
By mid-century, the North American articulated steam locomotive was on its way out, displaced by diesel-electric units, and at the end of the 1950 decade, none were in service on U.S. common-carrier railroads. Yet, Mallets could be found at work in Mexico until the early 1960's, and three species of geared articulateds clanked through the woods of the Appalachians and the forests of the Northwest in the U.S.A. and Canada. But there are always surprises in a contest for last place. The rack-and-pinion railroad up Mount Washington built a four-cylinder duplex, completing it in 1972; and, somewhat later, a man in Boulder, Colorado, finished a one-quarter full size 2-8 + 8-4, which was a very faithful replica of the real thing.
Though they may have been extinct for all practical purposes by 1970, the articulated steam locomotive was certainly not dead. Several examples have been preserved by railroads themselves or by various organizations, and a few are actually in service hauling tourists on a regular basis. The Cripple Creek & Victor in Colorado imported a German-built Mallet from Mexico and a single-expansion articulated from South Africa to run on its 24-inch-gauge rails. Other Mallets have been rescued from the forests, together with assorted Climax, Heisler and Shay engines, and all of them can be seen pulling trainloads of happy people who probably never experienced the incomparable thrill of watching and hearing and smelling and feeling a gigantic articulated at work on a railroad anywhere.
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