I'm glad this little made it this late in life - but this looks like cruel and unusual punishment! If there was an animal protective organization for locomotives, this engine would qualify. All that said, thanks for sharing this unique image.
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While there may be a pilot truck hidden between the cylinders and the hopper car I can't see it. One thing is very clear and that is that only the rear two axles are powered. Thus if there is a pilot then this would be a gasoline 2-2-4 . Also I nominate this critter for the Rube Goldberg Award ! Tom did not state if this was an automatic or a stick shift but this is a true oddball.
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This contraption is strange with a capital S. I am surprised they kept the boiler intact on the outside and not go with a more practical arrangement of the machinery from the frame up. But, it appears to have worked, so who is laughing?
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On a fair number of steam locomotives the boiler itself is a major structural element, so leaving it more or less intact was probably the simplest way to keep this oddball from getting a case of the bends.
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OK. That one goes beyond odd.
It's lost several tons in water, tubes and rods. Yet retains counter weights that would keep it at a crawl or risk wheel hopping. How about an internal combustion designation rather than one from steam. Say a 1-1-B. Or perhaps there is another chain on the other side making it a 1-C.
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That's just wrong...
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We now have an internal combustion steam engine!
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| Posted by Dana M. on March 20, 2022 | |
Tom - I know this is now 12 years late... but here is a link to some information about this locomotive. https://digital.denverlibrary.org/digital/collection/p15330coll22/id/66760. Apparently it started out as a 2-6-2 and its Number was No. 8. There is a photo of this locomotive on the link I just shared. Unfortunately, I don not have any information about whether this "critter" or "Franken-loco monstrosity" survived the scrapper either.
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| Posted by Dana M. on March 20, 2022 | |
After doing a little more research - I found this interesting bit of information about this "critter"! From the Railway Preservation News website - Forum section. Someone posted this photo, referencing Tom Sink and this website, and there are a lot of comments about it. What I found interesting was this bit: It had the same roller chain drive on the engineer's side between the center and lead drivers. Proper nomenclature would be a 1-C, I suppose. Its primary purpose was shoving wood chip hoppers under the loading spout. My recollection is it had a stick shift with some long linkage to the transmission. It had an instrument panel which looked a lot to me like one in a 1941 Oldsmobile. I hope this provides some more information to clear up many questions.
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