American Tank Engines
- Thread starter nkp779
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nathanmallard
Well-known member
I was always under the impression that the US didn't use that many tank engines, besides the big express CNJ ones and the Baldwin 0-4-0s...
The Boston and Albany (part of the NYC but a separate entity) used them for commuter service out of Boston.
http://www.railarchive.net/nyccollection/ba306.htm
http://www.railarchive.net/nyccollection/ba306.htm
Pretty interesting locos you've found there, John. Not just due to it being a tank engine, but also having a standard-gauge 2-6-6 wheel arrangement, something incredibly rare here in the US. Those'd be a real treat for us steam fans.
Also found this one on the same site.
hauntedclipp
copper-crowned
I found a couple interesting ones.
This first one almost looks like it has a tender! But the site does confirm that it's a 2-4-4t:
This second one is plain pretty:
This first one almost looks like it has a tender! But the site does confirm that it's a 2-4-4t:
This second one is plain pretty:
Tank engines have limited capacity to carry fuel and water so applications tend to be a but limited in the US where stations, service facilities, and so on are often quite far apart. In Europe for example stations and service facilities tended to be closer together so fuel and water capacity weren't a problem so they (justifiably) used a lot of them. In the US they were used primarily for, commuter service, shunting around large industrial complexes, and an occasional RR yard.
Cute as they are can you imaging traveling from NY to San Fran on a train pulled by an 0-6-0T? As Trainzers we would love it - otherwise it would be the trip from hell.:hehe:
Ben
Cute as they are can you imaging traveling from NY to San Fran on a train pulled by an 0-6-0T? As Trainzers we would love it - otherwise it would be the trip from hell.:hehe:
Ben
That is one cool locomotive.
It looks almost British with the side panels the way they are.The B&A locomotives, that were gone long before I was born, were pretty stocky looking gems. It must've been awesome seeing these in operation from South Station, around the Newton Loop, and back via Needham Jct. and Riverside. This line today is the Newton branch of the MBTA "High Speed" trolley line, which once hosted PCCs instead of BREDA LRVs. The loop its self still exists with parts out of service and other parts still run as a freight branch.
The MBTA acquired this route in 1959, ending the service for these critters.
John
From one model, came many...
Back in the 1960s, Rex Engineering made a S Scale (freelance) model of similar 2-4-4T 2nd pic, below) by using the running gear (and cab) of the company's model of a B&O 0-4-0 Dockside loco (1st pic, below.)
And then a few years later, Rex made a freelance 2-4-0 and tender (pic below) based on their (freelance) 2-4-4T...
Which they soon "stretched" into a 2-6-0...
Which later was the basis for their 0-6-0 model...
...This second one is plain pretty:
Back in the 1960s, Rex Engineering made a S Scale (freelance) model of similar 2-4-4T 2nd pic, below) by using the running gear (and cab) of the company's model of a B&O 0-4-0 Dockside loco (1st pic, below.)
And then a few years later, Rex made a freelance 2-4-0 and tender (pic below) based on their (freelance) 2-4-4T...
Which they soon "stretched" into a 2-6-0...
Which later was the basis for their 0-6-0 model...
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Courtesy of:
http://espee.railfan.net/nonindex/steam-01/0217_sp-steam-shop-switcher-greg_bailey.jpg
This is a Sister Locomotive to US Plywood #11 out at the Northwest Train Museum. They have 3 of this locomotive class/type, all sisters owned/operated by Weyrhauser at some point or another, and there is a 4th floating around in someones personal collection out here, mostly all are rusting away though.
This last one operates out at the Mt Rainer Scenic Railway.
Anyway, point being, though no where near as mainstream as in Europe, America has had its tank engines too....
-Falcus
"Fireless" tank locos were also fairly common in the U.S., being used around various sorts of industries.
The last steam locomotives in use on the C&O Railway were three Class C-8, 0-6-0T "fireless cookers," built by the H.K. Porter Co. in 1949, which were used to switch cars at the chemical plants on Blaine Island near South Charleston, WV, until the mid-1960s. The C-8 was "fireless" in the sense that they had no firebox. Their boilers were "charged" with steam supplied by one of the plant's boiler systems. One full charging plus several partial recharging kept the "fireless cookers" working for a full day. The fireless steam locos were used, rather than conventional steam or diesel-electirc locos, due to the explosive environment of the chemical plants. The C-8 locos were serviced at the C&O's engine terminal at Handley, WV.
The last steam locomotives in use on the C&O Railway were three Class C-8, 0-6-0T "fireless cookers," built by the H.K. Porter Co. in 1949, which were used to switch cars at the chemical plants on Blaine Island near South Charleston, WV, until the mid-1960s. The C-8 was "fireless" in the sense that they had no firebox. Their boilers were "charged" with steam supplied by one of the plant's boiler systems. One full charging plus several partial recharging kept the "fireless cookers" working for a full day. The fireless steam locos were used, rather than conventional steam or diesel-electirc locos, due to the explosive environment of the chemical plants. The C-8 locos were serviced at the C&O's engine terminal at Handley, WV.
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BEAUSABRE23
New member
The Rahway Valley was a short line between the Lackawanna at Summit, NJ, the Lehigh Valley at Roselle and the Jersey Central and Staten Island (B&O) at Aldene Junction (Cranford).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahway_Valley_Railroad
https://sites.google.com/site/rvrailroad/route
It had one branch, going to the VERY upper crust Baltusrol Golf Club (which has hosted the PGA and US Open). It also did an excursion business to picnic grounds.
So it purchased its only brand new locomotive, No 7, in 1908 to serve both the carriage trade and the hoi polloi from Newark and New York City (clubs, fraternal organizations, etc).
http://www.trainsarefun.com/rvrr/images/rvrr7article9-1908.jpg
Business must not have so good as she was sold to the US Army's major artillery factory, Watervliet Arsenal (NY) in 1917 to aid the war effort. Supposedly, it then went to Spain and ended up as a logger in Brazil!
#7's little brother #6, an ex-SIRT engine http://www.trainsarefun.com/rvrr/images/sirt10_2-4-4-4TJosephASmithcollection.jpg
B&A's menagerie https://sites.google.com/site/bosto...-6-0/0-8-0/2-8-0/2-8-2/2-8-4/4-4-0/4-6-0/tank
CNJ https://sites.google.com/site/steamlocomotivephotographs/_/rsrc/1465070286537/j-l/IMG_0001-024.jpg and https://i0.wp.com/www.northeast.railfan.net/images/cnj225sa.jpg and (some ex LIRR) https://c8a75f68-a-62cb3a1a-s-sites...1F-IA9T3wHTe5cVF-eZH1E8DXanuE=&attredirects=0
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahway_Valley_Railroad
https://sites.google.com/site/rvrailroad/route
It had one branch, going to the VERY upper crust Baltusrol Golf Club (which has hosted the PGA and US Open). It also did an excursion business to picnic grounds.
So it purchased its only brand new locomotive, No 7, in 1908 to serve both the carriage trade and the hoi polloi from Newark and New York City (clubs, fraternal organizations, etc).
http://www.trainsarefun.com/rvrr/images/rvrr7article9-1908.jpg
Business must not have so good as she was sold to the US Army's major artillery factory, Watervliet Arsenal (NY) in 1917 to aid the war effort. Supposedly, it then went to Spain and ended up as a logger in Brazil!
#7's little brother #6, an ex-SIRT engine http://www.trainsarefun.com/rvrr/images/sirt10_2-4-4-4TJosephASmithcollection.jpg
B&A's menagerie https://sites.google.com/site/bosto...-6-0/0-8-0/2-8-0/2-8-2/2-8-4/4-4-0/4-6-0/tank
CNJ https://sites.google.com/site/steamlocomotivephotographs/_/rsrc/1465070286537/j-l/IMG_0001-024.jpg and https://i0.wp.com/www.northeast.railfan.net/images/cnj225sa.jpg and (some ex LIRR) https://c8a75f68-a-62cb3a1a-s-sites...1F-IA9T3wHTe5cVF-eZH1E8DXanuE=&attredirects=0