Steam & Excursion > Lima Steam locomotives

Wern't Lima engines considered the cadillacs of Steam?
Didnt they have a finesse over the other two big builders?
After all take a look at some of their products!
Who could argue with an Allegheny and other C&O motive power!
And they knew how to extract a little more HP out of an ounce of steam too.
Baldwin: Big and brutal.
Lima: The connoisseurs locomotive
Alco: The engine that could.

Rogers and Brooks???

Lima=Chrysler  Superpower is like a HEMI. Shay like a Powerwagon or Ram.  Engineering                            innovator
Baldwin=Ford  Named for the founder, Dependable Sturdy Locos like an F-150 pickup or Crown Vic
Alco=GM   Many builders became one big company



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/26/23 07:48 by holiwood.

Don't know about "cadillac" engines but Alco made more steam locos than the others.  But, Lima had the first of what would become known as super-power engines after development of the  2-8-4 with elesco feedwater heaters and combustion chambers, and 4 wheel pony truck allowing for larger firebox.

All three major builders had their share of successes and failures.  I'll let the folks who have run and maintained all three talk about their performance but the thing I've always noticed is that the fit and finish of a Lima always seems to be a cut above the others.  Walk into the cab of a Lima and everything seems well thought out, clean and organized. Baldwin cabs on the other hand often look like a plumbing nightmare. Alco's are somewhere in between.

From my time on several Baldwins, they were the least ergonomic of any builder. As a crewman, you're either too tall, too short, too small...

Wouldn't all of these differences would have been railroad specifications based, or did the major builders put their own touch on some aspects?

I have several photos on a DM&IR Baldwin Yellowstone cab and backhead, but in typical "Trainorders" fashion, it wants to display it sideways, so I won't bother with that, but I don't think I ever saw a more crowded, confusing, or complex backhead on any other steam engine I've ever been around. If there was one more valve, lever, handle or pipe, I don't know where they would have put it. Even 4014 is less intimidating.

For the "Cadillacs" I'd say the the N&W Roanoke/ East End Shops turned those out. 

nathansixchime Wrote:
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> From my time on several Baldwins, they were the
> least ergonomic of any builder. As a crewman,
> you're either too tall, too short, too small...

Was this on steam or diesel?

PHall Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> nathansixchime Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > From my time on several Baldwins, they were the
> > least ergonomic of any builder. As a crewman,
> > you're either too tall, too short, too small...
>
> Was this on steam or diesel?

Steam. Don't you know who he is?

Actually, Baldwin still made awkward
diesels, too..

W.

Posted from iPhone

I remember someone saying that a Baldwin steamer looked like the back room of a plumbing shop. I seem to recall Rich Melvin having some unkind words about them.

Posted from iPhone



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/27/23 04:28 by junctiontower.

PHall Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> nathansixchime Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > From my time on several Baldwins, they were the
> > least ergonomic of any builder. As a crewman,
> > you're either too tall, too short, too small...
>
> Was this on steam or diesel?

Steam. It's such a night and day difference, and when I've visited other operating Baldwins, the second I climb up on the running board a sinking feeling always occurs that says I'm on a Baldwin without me even needing to read the builder's plate...

Old saying among est Master Mechanics of major railroads, 
"Baldwin and ALCo  make very nice locomotives but Lima produced time pieces."

Jim Leonard
Cheyenne, WY

How are the Locomotives from South Africa and China compare. If anyone knows.