Autumn 2002

Volume 22, Number 4

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

Newsletter Notes

Duotone printing is in two colors and gives an extended range of tones as this cover shows.

The narrow gauge steam engine trains are running at Chama, New Mexico, and Durango, Colorado, as I can personally attest.

All Newsletter issues since 2000 are available on our website as downloadable PDF files which you can read and print using a free copy of Acrobat Reader. You can get a preview as early as the deadline date or at most a few days later.

This is a great place to see yourself in print. Personal experiences in railroading and older histories are the most popular, but don’t forget new histories. Illustrate them with photos, maps and other “paper” from your collection. Endnotes, footnotes and/or a bibliography are not needed, but are welcome. If you are writing an article, or a book, please submit an overview of it. Then add a few illustrations. The Newsletter is an ideal format to smoke

out corrections, affirmations, and new information from our readers.

Errata
Corrected text

“The Two Footers” by H. T. Crittenden: Reprint of Bulletin No. 57 (1942) covering two-foot gauge railroads in the US Includes additional illustrations: $20.00 (members and nonmembers).

2003 Convention

Do not contact Kevin Tankersly by phone or e-mail. The information published was in error. Use:

www.starspangledrails.org
info@starspangledrails.org

COVER: The 1709 with a six car train has just crossed the Eagle River at Dotsero and is heading up the Cutoff toward Bond, the junction with the D&SL Railway. By this date, 1939, the D&RGW’s new herald had been applied to the tender. Photo by Otto. C. Perry.

American designed them, but Baldwin built them. The railroad didn’t purchase them, they were leased. Management didn’t want them, but the engine crews liked them.

After its reorganization in 1921, the D&RGW relied on a fleet of thirty big-boilered, small-drivered, 4-8-2s built by American Locomotive to haul mainline passenger and freight trains. Though they performed well enough upgrade, their 63-inch drivers and long, ponderous, mainrods prevented them from running downhill fast without damaging the “less than adequate” track. The remedy for this situation arrived in 1926 in the form of ten 3-cylinder 4-8-2s with 67-inch drivers, the 1600s. These new engines were more powerful. They could run faster and they could accelerate a train to schedule speed more rapidly. But they possessed one drawback: enormous axle loadings which wrought further damage to the track. The arrival of ten 2-8-8-2s, the world’s most powerful locomotives, in 1927 compounded track deterioration because their axle load was 70,000 pounds, only somewhat less than that of the big 4-8-2s.

The obvious solution to the difficulties was the transfer of the 1600s to lower speed freight duties and their replacement by an engine having larger drivers. The railroad did not want one having a booster, five driving axles or three cylinders. The only possibility was a 4-8-4, but all of those constructed thus far (Northern Pacific, Lackawanna, Santa Fe, Canadian National, Grand Trunk and Canadian Pacific) had drivers too large (73 or 77 inches) for the maximum power needed on 1.4% grades. Nevertheless, there appeared to be one possibility, a 4-8-4 with 70 inch drivers which American was designing for the Lackawanna. It weighed 66,000 pounds per driving axle and it possessed the same horsepower and weight as the 1600s, but it lacked the 4-8-2’s great tractive effort at low speeds.

Actually the Rio Grande had no choice but to accept American’s 4-8-4 design and it placed an order

(in reality a 5 year lease/purchase contract, a rather uncommon arrangement). American may have clinched the deal by saying that what the 4-8-4s lost during uphill acceleration at low speeds could be regained by faster downgrade operation. The next surprise came when American subcontracted their construction to Baldwin, whose giant Eddystone factory was operating at only one third of its capacity while American’s two-engines-per-day facility at Schenectady was inundated with large orders from New York Central System (100 4-8-2s), Cleveland Union Terminal (30 2+C+C+2 electrics), Lackawanna (20 4-8-4s), Rock Island 4-8-4s and Union Pacific 3-cylinder 4-12-2s.

After Baldwin had commenced work on the order, it appears that someone in the railroad’s top management may have exclaimed, “I’m supposed to believe that the ten new engines will maintain schedules which had been established for the powerful 4-8-2s?” Level-track-rated tractive effort figures of 64,000 versus 75,000 pounds seemed to support the contention, but the disparity was much greater on a 1.4% grade. The drawbar pull available for accelerating a train was only 44,000 pounds for the 4-8-4 and 60,000 for the 4-8-2. On the basis of these figures, someone decided that four more engines were needed and the order was amended accordingly.

In this era locomotives were evaluated by their rated slow speed tractive effort. The concept of horsepower (the ability to haul trains at track speed) had not yet been accepted as a criterion of performance.

The new engines were dimensional duplicates of the Lackawanna’s fast freight locomotives with a few appliance variations: two compound air pumps, feedwater heater, multi-valve front-end throttle, and slab type frame to reduce weight. Firebox syphons were installed later. Most significant was a tiny plate reading “American Locomotive Co. Lessor” attached to the smokebox below the construction number plate. After they went into service on the Scenic Limited,

the 1700s did reduce the running time downgrade from Tennessee Pass to both Salida and Glenwood Springs. And, as predicted, they consumed 15 minutes more accelerating the 1.4% grade on the eastern side of the pass. Schedules on the western side showed a half hour reduction on the 1.6% grade which indicated that a 4-6-0 helper was used there. One could say that they did not replace the 1600s on a one-for-one basis. But they were “rescued” by a severe business calamity which reduced train lengths from fifteen cars to eight, which was now well within their capabilities. Moreover, the engine crews liked them for their easy riding characteristics. In 1934, when the lease ended, the railroad finally bought the fourteen “unwanted” engines and assigned them to mainline passenger trains.

Completion of the cutoff along the Colorado River between the Rio Grande and the Denver Salt Lake railway in 1934 opened a shorter transcontinental route for freight but passenger service was not commenced until 1936. Initially, double headed 2-8-2s were used, but they were replaced by one of the 1700s or the 5000 horsepower 1800s delivered in 1938 for the Scenic Limited.

By 1950, the Rio Grande’s passenger trains were being pulled by diesel-electric power. Two of the 1700s were scrapped, followed by two more in 1952. The others were modified for local freight service. The 1701 an 1709 were retained for ski train service out of Denver and made their last runs in 1956 outlasting the newer modern 1800s.

In the early decades of the 1800s, western Pennsylvania had no real way of transporting bulky produce to distant markets like Philadelphia, other than down the Ohio River toward New Orleans. Unbelievably, goods as close as Pittsburgh, only 400 miles away from Philadelphia, would take the long southern route of a couple thousand miles and up to six weeks to the Gulf of Mexico and up the east coast, simply because it was cheaper and more established than crossing the torturous Allegheny Mountains. By 1825, something had to be done to improve the state’s poor trade routes and at the same time promote growth and development in the heartland of America. Businessmen in Philadelphia and legislatures in Harrisburg came up with an idea. They would build a massive state owned and operated canal route the entire distance from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. The center piece of the canal system was a 36-mile railroad up and over the steep Allegheny Mountains in Cambria County. The railroad was called the Allegheny Portage Railroad (APRR), and it was quite a controversial project during the 1830s.

Although the APRR was one of the first railroads in America and one of the first state owned railroads, it also was one heck on an engineering marvel in its day. The mountain railroad took two years, millions of dollars, and 2,000 men to construct through the thick virgin forest. A swath 120-feet wide was cut with nothing but crude hand tools, brute force, and tons and tons of black powder. During construction in 1832-33, it was one of the largest public projects of its time. The multimillion dollar railroad project was a huge gamble for Pennsylvania, and businessmen as well. In 1834, the railroad and the entire Pennsylvania Main Line System of Canals was finally open for business from Philadelphia to the Ohio River. The Portage RR had 10 incline planes and 11 levels and hoisted rail cars and sometimes whole canal boats (on flat bed cars) up and over Allegheny Mountain by hemp ropes, for a total length of 36 miles. The dangerous and

unreliable hemp ropes were later replaced by safer wire rope in 1844 by engineer John A. Roebling, the first such use in the United States. [John Roebling and his son, Washington, later designed and built Suspension Bridge at Niagara Falls, the Roebling Bridge in Cincinnati and the Brooklyn Bridge in New York with similar steel wire cable]. In between the inclines, the cars were hauled on “levels” by horses, then by locomotives in 1835. This rail voyage still took the good part of a day to get from Hollidaysburg to Johnstown.

The Portage RR was not just part of the industrial age — it was the start of the industrial and transportation age in America. From the 1830s to the 1850s, it hauled thousands of tons of freight such as pork, beef, tobacco, wheat, and wool to eastern markets, just as envisioned by state officials during the late 1820s. And added bonus were the thousands of paying emigrants from Europe traveling west on the railroad to their destinations on Midwestern farms and towns. Traffic was paying in both directions. However, by 1850, the wear-and-tear on the mountain railroad along with the overall yearly maintenance cost was financially strangling the Commonwealth. Competition from the upstart Pennsylvania RR in the early 1850s also threatened the railroad’s existence. The great engineering marvel of 1834 was now becoming a “white elephant.” Even politicians in Harrisburg were having their doubts about the state owned railroad after 15 years of operation.

To counter act the complaints, and the new competition from the Pennsylvania RR, the 10 inclines and 20 stationary engines were removed, and new tracks were laid for a more level grade around Allegheny Mountain. This made for a longer but more level route of 45 miles on the “New” Portage RR. With the removal of the incline planes and their worn out stationary engines, movable locomotive engines were used to haul cars for its entire length. This sped up operations on the Portage but came

too late in the competitive railroad game to save it from economic ruin. The new construction and runaway maintenance cost was in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and state debt was mounting higher and higher.

By 1854, the Pennsylvania RR had finished the now famous Horseshoe Curve and Gallitzin Tunnels to cross over the Alleghenies on its own, toward Pittsburgh. This new railline spelled the end of the slower Portage RR and the entire state canal system, which it paralleled. By 1855, the Portage RR was put on the auction block for sale. In 1857, after years of loosing thousands of state and tax payers dollars the Portage RR was sold to its competitor, the Pennsylvania RR, for about 5 million dollars — and then shut down. The closing of the Allegheny Portage RR marked the end of a great engineering feat, and an ambitious dream in American engineering history; of crossing the great eastern divide for the first time by rail. In 1987, in recognition of its contribution to American engineering, the Allegheny Portage Railroad was named a “National Civil Engineering Landmark” by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Today, portions of the original 36-mile railroad are now under the protection of the National Park Service, named the Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site (NHS). Near Gallitzin is a visitors center, walking trails, restored engine house, and Inn. In 2001, the National Park Service restored and reopened to the public the Staple Bend Tunnel — the first railroad tunnel in America, and two miles of bike trails, near Johnstown. The NHS is located 12 miles west of Altoona and Interstate 99, and can be accessed off of US 22, Gallitzin Exit. Also, located nearby is the famous Gallitzin Tunnels, and Horseshoe Curve NHS. For more information, call the Allegheny Portage RR NHS at (814) 886-6150, or view their website at <www.nps.gov/alpo>.
 

Chris J. Lewie, AICP, is an award winning planner from Columbus, Ohio, and is the author of Two Generations on the Allegheny Portage Railroad. The book, about this extended family and their association with this railroad for twenty five years, is available from the Burd Street Press. Mr. Lewie can be contacted at
<www.twogenerations.com>.

Who can identify the builder and original function of the car in the foreground? The photo was made in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1954 when the car was used by the Amusement Corporation of America, a carnival that traveled by rail. The lettering touting Hot Springs, Arkansas, refers to the show’s winter quarters.

The car was used by the carnival for storing supplies, personnel quarters, and to house a generator. The small hole cut in the side (under the “S”) was to admit air to cool the radiator of the gasoline engine used to supply electric power. The opposite end of the car could be opened completely from floor to roof since that end was a double door. Back door unit could be swung outward. The unusual underframing would indicate that the car was originally designed for heavy loads.

Could it have been designed to transport aircraft components, particularly wings to B-52 Liberator bomber assembly sites during World War II? Such aircraft components were produced in quantity by Ford’s River Rouge plant during the war.

The loss of a locomotive in the flooded Rio Grande [not “Rio Grande River” - that would be redundant, VJG] has become the southern New Mexico version of an urban legend. The story of a locomotive buried in the river’s sands comes to light from time to time in that region and is usually followed quickly by proposals to dig up the ancient machine. Unfortunately for treasure or locomotive seekers, No. 196 was recovered from the washout near Dona Ana, New Mexico, rebuilt and put back in service within two years of its falling into a deep washout in one of the river’s then regular floods. There is, however, more to the story than simply that.

The recent discovery of a letter from the railroad’s Auditor, H. C. Clements, goes far to explain the confusion surrounding this incident. It seems that the railroad management quickly renumbered sister locomotive No. 194 as No. 196 and spread the word that No. 194 was lost in the flood in an attempt to eliminate its “hoodoo” status in the eyes of railroaders. No. 194, according to the Las Vegas Daily Optic of July 20, 1885, had acquired a reputation as a hoodoo locomotive, credited with killing seven men in its short lifetime. This reputation accounts for the renumbering of No. 194 as 196 shortly after the wreck as described in the Auditor’s letter. The letter also explains the origins of A. T. & S. F. RR. locomotive No. 361, itself something a mystery in most company locomotive rosters.

Both locomotives 194 and 196 were members of a group of sixteen 37-ton 4-4-0 American type locomotives built

by the Hinkley works in July and August, 1881. Sister locomotive No. 195 is shown in the accompanying photograph.

The letter describing the incident was found in the Santa Fe Railway Archives at the Kansas State Historical Society in Topeka, Kansas.

Las Vegas Daily Optic 07/20/85 Engine No. 194, which went into the washout below Wallace, is now known to have been “hoodooed” as train men term it. Seven men have been killed by that locomotive, which used to run out of Las Vegas.
Las Vegas Daily Optic 07/23/85 The wrecked Santa Fe cars this side of Bernalillo are being removed as rapidly as possible, but it will take a steam derrick sent out from Topeka to manage the overturned engine.
Las Vegas Daily Optic 07/30/85 The wreck ... below Wallace has all been cleared away at last ... engine to the shops...baggage car burned, as it was broken up too badly to be repaired.
Las Vegas Daily Optic 08/01/85 ... a new locomotive for the Raton grade ... the 90-ton “black-bird” arrived this morning. No. 883 of the Philadelphia and Reading came from Laramie City... specially arranged for burning waste coal ... Engineer E. A. Rauch ... engine rented at $50 per day.

OPPOSITE: No 49. Lamy Junction, N. M. By J. R. Riddle” This image shows A. T. & S.F. RR. locomotive No. 195 at Lamy, the junction of the Santa Fe branch with the main line in the western foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the southern most extension of the Rockies. The particular occasion of this gathering was not recorded. A Topeka photographer, Riddle made a number of circuits along the railroad’s lines during the 1880s. Courtesy Fred Springer Collection.

Trading Post

Submissions should be made to the Newsletter editor to arrive by April 1,2002, 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.

WANTED - Picture post cards showing PRR subjects (identification preferred), pre-1947. Send information and price first. Please keep this ad on file as it is a permanent want. John Maye, 1320 W. Lincoln Highway G12, Schererville IN 46375. (219) 865-8967 (9:30-8 CT).

Railroad Historical Resources
 Thomas T. Taber, Administrator
504 S. Main Street
Muncy, Pennsylvania 17756
Providing answers and assistance to finding answers on railroad subjects of any kind prior to 1970. No charge.

SELLING - Russian Rail Transport, 1836-1917, colorful history of Russian railways beginning in 1836 until the Bolsheviks took power during WW1. $32.00 USA, $36.00 foreign. Also available is the 118-page biography, Franz Anton von Gerstner, Pioneer Railway Builder, by

Mikhail and Margarita Voronin. $28.00 USA, $32.50 foreign. Checks payable to Languages of Montour. John C. Decker, 112 Ardmoor Avenue, Danville PA 17821.

THANKS - To all who helped find a bulb for my Sears film editor. Jim MacAuliff, Southbend, IN.

NEEDED - Water column for museum railroad. Any information about surviving examples would be greatly appreciated. Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village. Marc Greuther, 21708 Audrey St., Dearborn MI 48124-2909, (313) 982-6093

STILL LOOKING for builder's and number plates for my personal collection. Looking for Taunton Locomotive Works, any Pre-Alco number plate, any UP shield style number plate, esp. the 7000 and 5000 series, a WM 4-8-4 Baldwin plate, an original PRR T-l and E-6 keystone, any Alco PA or DL-109, any F-M Trainmaster, and any Baldwin cab unit or transfer locomotive. I have some plates to trade or will purchase outright. Ron Muldowney, 52 Dunkard Church Rd., Stockton NJ 08559-1405, (609) 397-0293.

LOOKING to purchase: Bangor and Aroostook pre-1920 employee and public timetables. Jerry Angier, 69 Brentwood Road, Cape Elizabeth ME 04107.

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

WANTED - Photos and written information for research and possible book project about the Hoosac Tunnel & Wilmington RR and Deerfield River RR in Vermont. Especially looking for images of logging operation, locomotives, and equipment during the time of narrow gauge operation. Unpublished Maine narrow gauge images to trade. Jerry DeVos, 99 Stonybrook Road, Towaco NJ 07082, (973) 335-6797

FOR SALE - In celebration of the 150th anniversary of the first train on the

Chicago & Rock Island Railroad, the Chicago Chapter has reprinted in an edition of 500 copies, the CRI&P’s General Roster book of September 1, 1925, from the peak of the Rock Island’s prosperity. The 5 x 7, 297-page, soft cover book contains lists and tables of every conceivable element of the system, including analyses of line segments; lists of coal, water, and icing facilities; detail lists of locomotive, freight, passenger, and work equipment; line clearances; junction points; down to such obscure data as length of turntables needed to handle business cars, and location of mail crane between stations. The usual names of officials, including local station agents, are also provided. Price $20, plus $2 shipping. Order from Don Davis, Secretary, Chicago Chapter, 2945 Everett St., Blue Island IL 60406.

WANTED - Original negatives of Chicago/Chicagoland commuter rail operations including steam roads, electric interurbans, streetcars, “L” and horse drawn. Also books and articles on subject. James G. Caya, 8156 Stagecoach Rd., Cross Plains WI 53528, (608) 798-1936.

New RR Books

Press releases for new railroad oriented books appear here. They are not paid advertisements and carry no endorsement by the R&LHS. All items subject to available space and editorial decisions as to content. Photographs are limited to 7/8 inches high.

Illustrated Treasury Of The American Locomotive Company 1837-1969. The only book about ALCO to portray the company’s achievements over it’s entire history with all North American customers represented, and the great coverage of the Canadian production in Montreal to 1979. 224 pages, 8x11, 700 photos, $59.95 + $6.20 s/h, hardcover. DPA-LTA Enterprises Inc., PO Box 1236, Lewiston NY 14092-8236.

The Chicago & Alton Railroad - The Only Way by Gene V Glendinning. It grew to link three key Midwestern cities — Chicago, St. Louis, and Kansas City — and set the standard for efficient service and luxurious passenger travel. The first complete history of one of America’s most famous small railroads. 283 pages, 80 photos, 8.25 x 10.75, hardcover, $49.95. Northern Illinois University Press, Dekalb IL 60115-2854.

The Trams of Tallinn - Tallinna Trammid by Hal Wanaselja. A fascinating photo journey by tram around Tallinn, the Capitol of Estonia. $24.95 + $2.95 s/h. Hal Wanaselja, 3450 21st Street, San Francisco CA 94114-3027.

Travel by Train: The American Railroad Poster, 1870–1950 by Michael E. Zega and John E. Gruber focuses on the artists, railroad men, and advertising agencies that created and produced the work. It is an illustrated history of the American railroad poster from 1870 to 1950, the era of the rails’ ascendancy with 160 poster images. 156 pages, index, 55 b&w and 110 color photos, 11 x 11-1/4 Cloth, $49.95. Indiana University Press, 601 North Morton Street, Bloomington IN 47404-3797. (812) 855-8817. Web: iupress.indiana.edu.

Not so long ago in Iowa City, Iowa, the Rock Island Railroad was a household name, the Great Depression was a recent memory, and family farms dotted the landscape. In Central Standard: A Time, a Place, a Family, Patrick Irelan vividly recaptures a remarkable era in Midwestern history. 175 pages, 10 photos, $24.95, University of Iowa Press, 100 Kuhl House, Iowa City IA 52242-1000.

Set Up Running: The Life of a Pennsylvania Railroad Engineman, 1904-1949 tells the story of Oscar P. Orr. Told by Oscar’s son, John W. Orr, it includes stories of Oscar’s first encounter with an automobile, train operation in a blizzard and the difficulties

of stopping a trainload of oil filled tank cars. 480 pages with 12 photos and 3 maps, 6½ x 9½, cloth, $38.50. Penn State University Press, 820 N. University Drive, USB 1, Suite C, University Park PA 16802-1003.

Rails Under the Mighty Hudson by Brian J. Cudahy tells a story that begins in the final years of the nineteenth century with the first attempts to build rail tunnels under the Hudson River, linking New Jersey with New York. An updated edition with new photos and a Preface on the World Trade Center Terminal. 112 pages, 5¾ x 8¾, $30.00 hardcover, $20.00 softbound. Fordham University Press, University Box L, 2546 Belmont Ave., Bronx NY 10458.

Sherman Hill: A Railfan’s Perspective (33 pages - $18.95 ppd) and Colorado’s Joint Line: A Railfan’s Perspective (150 pages - $39.95 ppd) are Allan G. Clarke’s first and second books on the best train watching and photo spots for the handicapped and able bodied. With many maps and photos. 8½x11, spiral bound. Flagstop Railbooks, PO Box 4697, Parker CO 80134-1460.

C&TSRR logo courtesy of Roger Hogan of the Hotel & Shops, Chama, New Mexico.

 Friday the 13th
proved to be a bad day for the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad. On this September day in 2002, one-of-a-kind K-27, #463, broke her right side rod. A square break indicating a previous weld. This put
2-8-2 K-36, #487, with 488’s tender, alone on the trip the next day from Chama to Antonito. Conductor Ray Martinez, fireman Tracy Caraway, and engineer Jeff Stebbens hauled tonnage up the 4% past
the empty Cresco water tank to Cumbres 
Pass at 10,015 feet altitude then down into Antonito with at least four inches of
water in the tender. I checked for pedestrians from the fireman’s seat (Tracy had already banked the fire) before Jeff turned the engine on the balloon loop and parked her for the night while Vern Glover kept a careful eye on us. It was a very enjoyable trip for this flatlander. Photos by Jay Wimer, otherwise known as Jaybawb of <www.goatbbs.com>

— Cliff Vander Yacht