An inspection locomotive was a special type of steam locomotive designed to carry railroad officials on inspection tours of the railroad property.
An inspection locomotive was a special type of steam locomotive designed to carry railroad officials on inspection tours of the railroad property.
These were fitted with passenger car-like bodywork and seating. Many railroads in the nineteenth century owned one, but their use dwindled in the twentieth century. They were replaced with converted passenger-car inspection cars, or HiRail trucks, automobiles fitted with steel flanged wheels.
Some were especially built for this service, while others were rebuilt from obsolete locomotives. Many were quite small; the locomotive pictured is in fact one of the largest and most modern inspection locomotives ever constructed. They were generally well cared for and highly decorated. [1]
In 1928, the Leopoldina Railway (de) purchased an inspection steam railcar by Sentinel Waggon Works. [2] [3]
In 1907, the South Manchuria Railway in Manchuria (today northeastern China) bought two inspection locomotives built by Baldwin Locomotive Works. [4] An engine of the same class was delivered to Rochester & Pittsburg Coal & Iron Company in 1903. [5]
The 3 ft narrow gauge Chimbote Railway (de) had an inspection locomotive built 1880 by Baldwin Locomotive Works. [6] The special feature was that it was equipped with a sleeping compartment. [2]
The Russian Railways still has two inspection locomotives A ChS2 540 & 549, which are converted electric locomotives of the ChS2 series. [7] Since 2018, A ChS2 549 has been in the museum at the Moskovsky Rail Terminal.
Railway companies in the United Kingdom rarely used inspection locomotives. Instead dedicated carriages (known as Inspection Saloons) were used. These were either rebuilt from obsolete coach stock or, occasionally, were newly built. However many companies maintained dedicated locomotives to haul Inspection Saloons. These were usually elderly engines that had been famous top-rank express locomotives when new but had since been surpassed. Examples of such engines include the Caledonian Railway Single, LNWR No.3020 'Cornwall' and NER No. 66 'Aerolite'.
Dugald Drummond, when Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London and South Western Railway had a small 4-2-4T tank locomotive classed F9 with a small saloon body mounted on its rear as his personal transport around the L&SWR system on inspections and visits. [8]
The Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway (E&GR) also had an inspection locomotive built in 1856. On 1 August 1865 the North British Railway absorbed the E&GR. The engine got the No. 312, in 1895 No. 879, in 1901 No. 1079. It was withdrawn 1911. [9]
In 1890, the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway built an inspection locomotive called Inspector. It was withdrawn in 1899. [10]
By 1900, many railroads in the United States had inspection locomotives. A few examples:
The only known surviving U.S. example is the Reading Railroad's "Black Diamond", a tiny 2-2-2 with fully enclosed bodywork, at the National Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri. It was used by the President of Philadelphia & Reading Coal and Iron Co. and other railroad executives on short business or inspection trips. [11]
Rail transport is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road transport. It is used for about 8% of passenger and freight transport globally, thanks to its energy efficiency and potentially high speed.
The Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) was an American manufacturer of railway locomotives from 1825 to 1951. Originally located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, it moved to nearby Eddystone in the early 20th century. The company was for decades the world's largest producer of steam locomotives, but struggled to compete when demand switched to diesel locomotives. Baldwin produced the last of its 70,000-plus locomotives in 1951, before merging with the Lima-Hamilton Corporation on September 11, 1951, to form the Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton Corporation.
A railway roundhouse is a building with a circular or semicircular shape used by railways for servicing and storing locomotives. Traditionally, though not always the case today, these buildings contained or were adjacent to a turntable.
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and no trailing wheels. This arrangement is commonly called a Mogul.
The Pennsylvania Railroad's S2 class was a steam turbine locomotive designed and built in a collaborative effort by Baldwin Locomotive Works and Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company, as an attempt to prolong the dominance of the steam locomotive by adapting technology that had been widely accepted in the marine industry. One was built, #6200, delivered in September 1944. The S2 was the sole example of the 6-8-6 wheel arrangement in the Whyte notation, with a six-wheel leading truck keeping the locomotive stable at speed, eight powered and coupled driving wheels, and a six-wheel trailing truck supporting the large firebox. The S2 used a direct-drive steam turbine provided by the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company, geared to the center pair of axles with the outer two axles connected by side rods; the fixed gear ratio was 18.5:1. Such design was to prevent energy loss and S2 achieved a mechanical efficiency of 97% which means only 3% of steam energy was lost within the propulsion equipment. The disadvantage of a direct-drive steam turbine was that the turbine could not operate at optimal speeds over the locomotive's entire speed range. The S2 was the largest, heaviest and fastest direct-drive turbine locomotive design ever built.
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-2-4 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, two powered driving wheels on one axle, and four trailing wheels on two axles.
The Strasburg Rail Road is a heritage railroad and the oldest continuously operating standard-gauge railroad in the western hemisphere, as well as the oldest public utility in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Chartered in 1832, the Strasburg Rail Road Company is today a heritage railroad offering excursion trains hauled by steam locomotives on 4.02 mi (6.47 km) of track in Pennsylvania Dutch Country, as well as providing contract railroad mechanical services, and freight service to area shippers. The railroad's headquarters are outside Strasburg, Pennsylvania.
Dieselisation is the process of equipping vehicles with a diesel engine or diesel engines.
The NBR C Class is a class of 0-6-0 steam locomotives designed by Matthew Holmes for freight work on the North British Railway (NBR). They were introduced in 1888 with inside cylinders and Stephenson valve gear. A total of 168 locomotives was built, of which 123 came into British Railways ownership at nationalisation in 1948. This was the last class of steam engine in service in Scotland.
The Bengal Nagpur Railway was one of the companies which pioneered development of the railways in eastern and central India. It was succeeded first by Eastern Railway and subsequently by South Eastern Railway.
The National Rail Museum in Chanakyapuri, New Delhi, displays exhibits on the history of rail transport in India. The museum was inaugurated on 1 February 1977. The museum spans over an area of over 4.4 hectares and the indoor gallery comprises an octagonal building which houses six display galleries and a large open area is laid out to simulate the atmosphere of a railway yard. It is open every day except Mondays and national holidays.
Rail transport in China began in the late nineteenth century during the Qing dynasty. Since then, the Chinese rail network has become one of the largest in the world.
Day Out with Thomas is a trade name, licensed by Mattel for tourist events that take place on heritage railways and feature one or more engines decorated to look like characters from the popular long-running classic British children's television series Thomas & Friends. The events are held around the world in Australia, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. They include a full-day of activities for families in addition to rides on trains pulled by the customised steam locomotives resembling characters such as Thomas the Tank Engine.
The QJ was a type of heavy freight steam locomotive introduced in 1956 by the China Railway. The majority were built by Datong Locomotive Factory. The prototypes and early production of the class were designated HP, being redesignated as FD class during the Cultural Revolution, before becoming the QJ class in 1971.
Hesston Steam Museum is an outdoor museum operated by the La Porte County Historical Steam Society in Hesston, Indiana. It is located at 1201 E 1000 N, La Porte, IN 46350. The museum occupies 155 acres and is the home of four different gauge railroads along with numerous other pieces of steam powered and vintage farm equipment.
The South African Railways Class 6H 4-6-0 of 1901 was a steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Cape of Good Hope.
A steam railcar, steam motor car (US), or Railmotor (UK) is a railcar that is self powered by a steam engine. The first steam railcar was an experimental unit designed and built in 1847 by James Samuel and William Bridges Adams in Britain. In 1848 they made the Fairfield steam carriage that they sold to the Bristol & Exeter Railway, who used it for two years on a branch line.
The Cape Government Railways Railmotor of 1906 was a South African steam railmotor locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Cape of Good Hope.
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-4-0+4 represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles and four trailing wheels on two axles mounted in a bogie.
The LSWR F9 class was a unique inspection locomotive and saloon designed by and for the personal use of Dugald Drummond on the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) in 1899.
{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)