Steam & Excursion > Back In Her Day This Engine Must Have Looked To Be Simply Huge!

Back In the steam era there were certain locomotives that due to their size and features were bound to draw attention and bring out the early cameras. This was clearly just such a beast!

Built by Baldwin in 1910 for the Oregon Railway & Navigation Co. as their #452, this 2-8-8-2 sported 57" drivers and 200#s boiler pressure. She produced 94,880#s of tractive effort. Her tender carried 6,000 gallons of water and 13 1/5 tons of coal. She was quite a monster for her time.

In this photo, she is seen in the OR&N yards in La Grande, Oregon early in her short 18 year career. yes, that's right she would ply the rails for UP only until 1928 when they were cut from the roster because it was felt their compound cylinders require to much maintenance.

For the 18 years that the 3 engines of this series pulled their trains over the Blue Mountains of Oregon, they must have been quite a sight to behold.

Martin



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 06/17/18 04:20 by LoggerHogger.

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‘Hinged’ boiler, just ahead of the rear cylinders?

You can tell there is no superheater, —- the steam delivery pipes to the rear cylinders go directly to the rear ’engine’.

Two big problems: the boiler flex-section was made up of rings of rigid steel and flex-rings of thinner stuff, —-like accordion bellows....
Soon, the internal spaces between the flex rings soon packed* solid, with the products of combustion soot, cinders ( sand, if an oil-burner) , and as a
‘soaker’ ( non-superheated) running compound, steam to the front cylinders would have been hardly more than hot water!
[ upon reviewing the image...OMG, that looks like a coal pile in the tender...]

There’s not enough firebox volume, or crown sheet area, for generating the amount of saturated steam demanded by thie 4 cylinders and the small drivers..
Don’t forget that the steam pressure sent to the front cylinders, reduces the differential pressure across the piston in the rear cylinders...
If the boiler is set at 200 psi, and the engine running compound, its sending steam at 100 psi to the LP cylinders,—— that’s 100 psi as “back-pressure”
for the rear pistons to work against..so the effective effort to the rear engine’s pistons are running at 100 psi...

Like the Erie’s Tri-plex, you can’t get something for nothing....there’s too many cylinders for the small heating-area of the boiler & crown sheet.

Most of these under-performers were quickly converted into two separate locos, and presumably, superheated, & as 4 driving axles...with new cylinders..

Come-on Schmidt Superhesters...

W.

* When flex ring construction became packed solid, the front engine won’t pivot, and constant derailing is the consequence of solid “flex ring” boiler designs...
And you KNOW those derailments always occur at places that you can’t easily get to..tunnels, curved bridges/trestles .
Murphy’s Law is always at work ....BUT, he finds finds full-employment riding along on these beasts...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/17/18 04:56 by wcamp1472.

Hmmm... if those drivers are 57" then that man must likewise be huge! Or maybe this is an early photoshop job.

Andy

What is source of illumination, for the headlight?

W.

wcamp1472 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What is source of illumination, for the
> headlight?
>
> W.

Wes,

You can see the acetylene tanks for the headlight on the running board.

Martin

Wes...

That's not an articulated "flex" boiler. It's a separable boiler.

-John

Whatever it is , it’s a loser...

Funny, running as a soaker, complete with spool valves for the cylinders...
What’s wit dat?

W.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/17/18 06:31 by wcamp1472.

wcamp1472 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Whatever it is , it’s a loser...
>
> Funny, running as a soaker, complete with spool
> valves for the cylinders...
> What’s wit dat?
>
> W.

Wes,

Do you suppose that it really is superheated, but obviously NOT with a front-end throttle? Thus, the high pressure steam supply to the rear cylinders directly from the dome throttle?

OK????
So, where is the superheater located?

The front ‘separable section’ looks to be a smokebox feedwater pre-heater tank, complete with a pipe & check valve at the boiler.
I still think it’s a soaker...

W.

Is that TALL Oregonian standing next to the engine?
Wowsers...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/17/18 06:52 by wcamp1472.

LarryDoyle refreshed my memory about these beasts and similars built by Baldwin.

I guess after these things didn’t work out too well, ...
They went and built the 60,000, as a demonstrator ..never sold 1 copy.!!!
Three cylinder, crank axle, 3-Walschaerts valve gears, water-tube firebox , BEAST...
It’s in Philly’s Franklin Museum ...

Lost, competing against Lima’s A-1 original Berkshire....sold hundred of copies...

Thanks, LD

W.

Looks to me like the "man" was literally cut and pasted into the image. Not only is he awfully tall, but his contrast doesn't match that of the locomotive.

The angle of the photo was at near rail level apparently. As noted earlier: Something just is not right about the size of the man and his comparative size to the locomotive. The shadow could be a man or a building: Hard to tell. Intriguing photo.

bluesman Wrote:
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> The angle of the photo was at near rail level
> apparently. As noted earlier: Something just is
> not right about the size of the man and his
> comparative size to the locomotive. The shadow
> could be a man or a building: Hard to tell.
> Intriguing photo.

The shadow is of the photographer. The man is standing closer to the camera than it appears. That makes him look larger than he is.

Martin

You got it. One of the oldest photo tricks in the book. I took a photo of the neighbor kid "sitting" on another buddy's hand when I was 9. Jeez, have I been taking photos that long? (62 yrs). No plans to quit just yet.

Have fun, be safe,

Bruce "Doc" Jones Sierra Madre CA

aka "the thread killer"

That's an old trick that some fisherman use by holding the fish out and closer to the photographer... <G> though this was probably not intentional.

Victor A. Baird
http://www.erstwhilepublications.com

LoggerHogger Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>>
> The shadow is of the photographer. The man is
> standing closer to the camera than it appears.
> That makes him look larger than he is.
>
> Martin



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/17/18 20:20 by wabash2800.