Steam & Excursion > Whazzit???? (Anatomy 101 1/2)

Well, it IS steam.

It DOES move things about cross-country.

It's "Shay" driven (with a few extra gears).

But - - - crawler tracks?

Where are the rails???


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Is it a steam thresher engine or some similar animal? A fellow in Greenville, OH, has something that resembles this that he actually drives in state highways.

> But - - - crawler tracks?
>
> Where are the rails???

It's a logging locomotive for winter use. Perhaps a Lombard or clone? It runs on ice worn into an icy ditch. The fellow on the front gets the joy of steering. I'd guess that back in the days the steering fellow was someone much more agile!

I've not seen photos with front wheels rather than skids, but I'd guess some enterprising logging company figured why not use the locomotive in the summer.

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It's a Phoenix. Here is a URL to operations on a preserved Lombard.
http://www.robertjohndavis.com/aott/archive/lincoln/lombard.html

NYCSTL8 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Is it a steam thresher engine or some similar
> animal? A fellow in Greenville, OH, has something
> that resembles this that he actually drives in
> state highways.


Similar? - Yeah, sorta. But can anyone be more specific?

I know Ohio boiler laws are lax (hence, Medina), but IIRC they do require that vehicles on state highways have rubber, not steel, tires. I'm surprised he's gotten away with it.

My guess would also be a Lombard log hauler, or similar machine.

Yeah, it's a log hauler. She has her summer shoes on, that is, there are rollers on the steering mechanism rather than sleigh runners for running on ice roads.

But, it's not a Lombard. It's a ------------- oooops, I almost told ya.

How's it differ from a Lombard? Who built her? Where? And, for extra credit, how does the difference between this machine and a Lombard compare to a similar difference between two well known steam locomotive designs?

Need a hint?

;-)

Ohio's boiler reg's have gotten a lot more strict in the past 2 years, they now require a more stringent boiler test as well as an operator test before you can run there.

KRH

Now, if they put rubber tracks on a Big Boy, they wouldn't have to worry about finding a railroad to run it on :>

LarryB @ mp308, UP Canyon Sub

It looks like a Phoenix, built right here in the great state of Wisconsin. Lombard log haulers had horizontal cylinders mounted under the boiler, like most steam locomtives. and the Phoenix had vertically mounted cylinders on either side of the boiler. much like a shay, but on both sides of the boiler. There were usually two mounted on each side.

Good job, Ed!

A Lombard was geared pretty much like a Climax, while a Phoenix was more like a Shay, as you pointed out.

Very cool. Where is the Phoenix in the photo located, and is that a recent picture? (still steaming?) Thanks.

Saw on the History channel once that the treads were inspiration for the tank.