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Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad No. 643 is the sole survivor of the class H-1 2-10-4 "Texas type" steam locomotives built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1944 for the Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad, primarily used for hauling heavy mainline freight trains in Pennsylvania and Ohio, until retirement in 1952. As of 2024, No. 643 is owned by the Age of Steam Roundhouse Museum in Sugarcreek, Ohio.
Between 1929 and 1944, the Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad, a class II company connecting Conneaut, Erie, and Bessemer, [1] ordered a fleet of 47 H-1 class 2-10-4 "Texas" types, [2] which were nearly direct copies of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy's own fleet of 2-10-4 "Colorado" types, from the American Locomotive Company in Schenectady, New York, and the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The H-1 class was divided into seven subclasses: a single prototype H-1a, number 601 in 1929; nine H-1bs, numbers 602-610 in 1930; ten H-1cs, numbers 611-620 in 1936; ten H-1ds, numbers 621-630 in 1937; five H-1es, numbers 631-635 in 1941; two H-1fs, numbers 636 and 637 in 1942; and ten H-1gs, numbers 638-647 in 1943 and 1944, with 643 among those built in 1944. The design varied little between subclasses with the exception of weight; the H-1a and H-1bs weighed 502,630 pounds, the H-1cs weighed 519,840 pounds, the H-1ds weighed 520,000 pounds, the H-1es weighed 519,740 pounds, the H-1fs weighed 524,382 pounds and the Class H-1gs weighed 523,600 pounds. The use of cast steel frames and different alloys in construction resulted in changes in weight between subclasses.
With a total tractive force of 102,106 pounds (or 115,206 pounds with boosters cut in), a boiler pressure of 250 pounds per square inch, and an average weight of over 500,000 pounds, these were some of the largest and most powerful non-articulated steam locomotives ever built in the United States. The H-1 series was assigned to heavy freight work on the B&LE, hauling trains of iron ore from lake freighters at docks on eastern Lake Erie to steel mills in the Pittsburgh area, and coal trains back to the lakefront.
In 1951, the B&LE decided to sell eighteen of their H-1s to the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway. [3] These H-1s were reclassified as E-4s, E-5s, E-6s, and E-7s, and they were renumbered 700-717; No. 643, however, remained on the B&LE with the rest of the class. At this time, diesel locomotives were gradually usurping steam as the primary motive power for many North American railroads, and around the time of the sale of several of the railroad's 2-10-4s, the B&LE made the decision to dieselize its roster. Although capable and modern examples of steam power, all the H-1s had completed their last revenue freight assignments and had their fires dropped for the final time by the end of 1952. By the end of the decade, almost all locomotives of this particular design were sold for scrap, including all the CB&Q's Colorado types and all the DM&IR's 2-10-4s.
Despite early dieselization, the B&LE decided to spare two of their steam locomotives from scrapping, No. 643 and 2-8-0 "Consolidation" No. 154. For safekeeping, the B&LE stored their steam locomotives inside their roundhouse [4] in Greenville, Pennsylvania with the intention of donating the locomotives to museums for future preservation. By the early 1980s, the B&LE had decided the time was right to auction off Numbers 154 and 643. Steamtown, U.S.A., which was still based in Bellows Falls, Vermont at the time, started bidding on No. 643 with the intent of moving it to Bellows Falls for static display, and eventually move it along with the rest of the collection to Scranton. The organization, however, was outbid by a man by the name of Glenn Campbell, who intended to restore No. 643 to operating condition for excursion service. Campbell would move the locomotive to the old Union Railroad shop in Hall in 1983 for storage until he would be able to purchase the former B&LE shops in McKees Rocks. [5]
In 1993, No. 643 was finally moved to McKees Rocks, where restoration work would begin in earnest. At one point, No. 643 was moved under compressed air to test its movement and running gear, and the locomotive was also test-fired to determine its steaming capabilities. By the late 1990s, although the restoration work was completed, No. 643 never ran on any railroad or pulled trains. Although more than capable of pulling long trains, the locomotive's long, rigid wheelbase and weight necessitated relatively straight and heavy trackage to operate on; similar problems had marked the excursion career of another 2-10-4, Texas and Pacific 610. [6] In light of this, [7] few railroads could accommodate, or were willing to accommodate, such a massive locomotive in excursion service. No. 643 remained in storage inside the McKees Rocks shops awaiting an uncertain future, [8] with further doubt cast after the McKees Rocks yard was isolated from live rail by CSX. In 2006, a snow storm caused cracks to form in the beams supporting the roof of the shops, forcing the movement of No. 643 outside before a potential collapse. From then on, No. 643 would be exposed to the elements while being put up for sale online with a high asking price for its purchase. [9] The locomotive, with such a high price attached, sat in McKees Rocks without a buyer for several years.
In the spring of 2019, however, Campbell decreased the price to $375,000 on EBay, [10] with the added publicity that the locomotive was at risk of being scrapped. [11] In the months following, a willing buyer came forth. On August 5, 2019, the Age of Steam Roundhouse purchased No. 643 as an addition to their own collection of steam locomotives in Sugarcreek, Ohio. [12] The acquisition was in tribute to the museum's late founder, Jerry Joe Jacobson, who nicknamed 643 “The King” and had long sought to add the locomotive to his roster. [13] With the McKees Rocks yard still landlocked, No. 643 would have to be disassembled to be moved by truck. No. 643's boiler was separated from its frame and running gear, and the tender and appliances such as the headlight were moved first to Sugarcreek. In late January 2024, the boiler and frame of No. 643 followed, being loaded onto a flatcar and moved via CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway to the Age of Steam Roundhouse. As of August 2024, 643’s frame and boiler have been rejoined and the locomotive is undergoing cosmetic repairs in the museum’s back shop.
No. 643 is the sole survivor of the H-1 series of 2-10-4's of the BL&E, and one of two surviving B&LE steam locomotives. It ranks among the heaviest and most powerful non-articulated steam locomotives to operate, and one of the largest surviving steam locomotives in preservation in the United States. 643 is also one of only two 2-10-4's to be restored to operating condition after retirement, the other being the aforementioned T&P 610.
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, a 2-10-4 locomotive has two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a Bissel truck, ten coupled driving wheels on five axles, and four trailing wheels on two axles, usually in a bogie. These were referred to as the Texas type in most of the United States, the Colorado type on the Burlington Route, and the Selkirk type in Canada.
A 2-8-8-4 steam locomotive, under the Whyte notation, has two leading wheels, two sets of eight driving wheels, and a four-wheel trailing truck. The type was generally named the Yellowstone, a name given it by the first owner, the Northern Pacific Railway, whose lines ran near Yellowstone National Park. Seventy-two Yellowstone-type locomotives were built for four U.S. railroads.
Lima Locomotive Works (LLW) was an American firm that manufactured railroad locomotives from the 1870s through the 1950s. The company's name is derived from the location of its main manufacturing plant in Lima, Ohio. The shops were located between the Erie Railroad main line, the Baltimore & Ohio's Cincinnati-Toledo main line and the Nickel Plate Road main line and shops.
The Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad was a class II railroad that operates in northwestern Pennsylvania and northeastern Ohio.
A camelback locomotive is a type of steam locomotive with the driving cab placed in the middle, astride the boiler. Camelbacks were fitted with wide fireboxes which would have severely restricted driver visibility from the normal cab location at the rear.
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The Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad, also known as the "Little Giant", was formed on May 11, 1875. Company headquarters were located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The line connected Pittsburgh in the east with Youngstown, Ohio, in the Haselton neighborhood in the west and Connellsville, Pennsylvania, to the east. It did not reach Lake Erie until the formation of Conrail in 1976. The P&LE was known as the "Little Giant" since the tonnage that it moved was out of proportion to its route mileage. While it operated around one tenth of one percent of the nation's railroad miles, it hauled around one percent of its tonnage. This was largely because the P&LE served the steel mills of the greater Pittsburgh area, which consumed and shipped vast amounts of materials. It was a specialized railroad, deriving much of its revenue from coal, coke, iron ore, limestone, and steel. The eventual closure of the steel mills led to the end of the P&LE as an independent line in 1992.
The USRA 0-6-0 was a USRA standard class of steam locomotive designed under the control of the United States Railroad Administration, the nationalized railroad system in the United States during World War I. This was the standard light switcher locomotive of the USRA types, and was of 0-6-0 wheel arrangement in the Whyte notation, or "C" in UIC classification.
Union Railroad is a Class III switching railroad located in Allegheny County in Western Pennsylvania. The company is owned by Transtar, Inc., which is a subsidiary of Fortress Transportation and Infrastructure Investors, after being acquired from U.S. Steel in 2021. The railroad's primary customers are the three plants of the USS Mon Valley Works, the USS Edgar Thomson Steel Works, the USS Irvin Plant and the USS Clairton Coke Works.
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The Confederation Locomotive type or the Canadian National U Classes is a type of Canadian steam locomotive with a 4-8-4 wheel arrangement used on Canadian railways. Most were built by the Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW) in Montreal, Quebec, and the Canadian Locomotive Company (CLC) in Kingston, Ontario, for the Canadian National Railway (CNR). The "Confederation" type was later given the more common designation "Northern" type. They were the backbone of the CNR locomotive fleet from the 1930s to the 1950s. Eight locomotives of this type have been preserved from the CNR and two from the CPR. They were built from 1927 until 1943 and 1944 during World War 2 against the Axis when Canada had to provide the UK with metal for the Allied Forces of World War II against the Axis Forces.
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Canadian Pacific 1278 is a G5d class 4-6-2 "Pacific" type steam locomotive built by the Canadian Locomotive Company for the Canadian Pacific Railway. After being retired from revenue service, the locomotive was purchased in 1965 by F. Nelson Blount for excursion trains at his Steamtown, U.S.A. collection. The locomotive was sold to Gettysburg Railroad in 1987, and it pulled excursion trains between Gettysburg and Biglerville, but it was subject to shoddy maintenance by inexperienced crews. The locomotive was retired from excursion service in 1995, after suffering a firebox explosion in June. As of 2024, the locomotive is on static display at the Age of Steam Roundhouse in Sugarcreek, Ohio.
The Age of Steam Roundhouse Museum, located in Sugarcreek, Ohio, United States, is a museum roundhouse housing steam and diesel locomotives, passenger cars and other vintage United States and Canadian railroad equipment.
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Reading 1187 is a camelback A4b class 0-4-0 "Switcher" type steam locomotive, built in 1903 by Baldwin for the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad. It was primarily used for yard switching services, until 1946, when it was sold to the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company's E&G Brooke Plant as No. 4. In 1962, it made its way to the Strasburg Rail Road in Strasburg, Pennsylvania to be used in hauling tourist trains, but due to its small size, it was reassigned to switching passenger cars. After being removed from service in 1967, No. 1187 sat on display at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, before sitting idle at the Strasburg yard. In 2020, it was acquired by the Age of Steam Roundhouse, were it is on static display and awaiting a cosmetic restoration at their location in Sugarcreek, Ohio.
Huntingdon and Broad Top Mountain Railroad and Coal Co. 38 is a preserved 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type steam locomotive. It was built by Baldwin in April 1927 for use on the Huntingdon and Broad Top Mountain Railroad and Coal Company in south central Pennsylvania in the United States, which commonly used the locomotive to pull short-distance freight trains, as well as occasional passenger trains, until the railroad shut down operations in 1954. The locomotive was subsequently acquired by the Rail City Historical Museum in Sandy Creek, New York for static display. In the late 1960s, No. 38 was sold to the Livonia, Avon and Lakeville Railroad in Lakeville, New York, who restored the locomotive to operating condition to pull their excursion trains.