Camelback (locomotive)

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A Camelback L7s with a 2'C wheel arrangement, built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1912 for the Central Railroad of New Jersey .

The Camelback is a powerful American steam locomotive design whose roofed driver's cab sits in the middle of the machine , astride the steam locomotive boiler like a saddle . This peculiarity had become necessary due to the design of the locomotive , in the center of which there was a particularly large firebox heated with anthracite coal , which would have left the train driver with only a very limited workplace and extremely poor visibility. Only the stoker kept his position behind the standing boiler, but stood on the tender. With the early Camelbacks he was completely at the mercy of wind and weather, later he was able to protect himself a little under a small wind cover on the rear of the locomotive.

The model of the Camelback is now also known in American as "Mother Hubbard" and vice versa. That was not always so. The early machines were called "Camels", later "Camelbacks" because of their shape. It was only when the new design appeared in 1877 that the name "Mother Hubbard" appeared for it.

The goal of the designer Ross Winans (1796–1877) was to develop a particularly powerful and at the same time economical steam locomotive .

development

A Camelback around 1900

Precursors and early years

In the early 1840s, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad had an interest in a high-performance steam locomotive for freight transport . So from 1844 to 1847 a series of locomotives with the nickname “Muddigger” was created.

In 1853 the American inventor and engineer Ross Winans, who u. a. had also developed the "Muddiggers", the first Camelback series with the axle arrangement D. Winans had extensive experience in mechanical engineering . He had come to Baltimore in the 1820s and had equipped passenger cars with bogies as early as 1831 . Therefore, on October 1, 1834, he applied for a patent for movable axes. In addition to his work for the railroad, Winans and his son Thomas also worked intensively on modern shipbuilding.

The elongated driver's cab of Winan's early Camelbacks reached from the mighty chimney to the fire box and sat directly above the long boiler. The high approach took place via a staircase at the rear of the locomotive. The stoker's workplace on these early machines was on a large platform on the tender. From there, supported by a slide on some Camelbacks, he could fire the boiler with anthracite coal. This type of coal was the cause of the building considerations, as anthracite coal has a high energy content, but it only releases it slowly, which makes large grate surfaces and thus a large fire box necessary.

From 1853, Samuel Hayes , another master of American locomotive construction, developed a series of Camelbacks with a 2'C wheel arrangement for passenger transport . With innovations in the 1870s, this early camelback type was kept in service until the 1890s and then retired.

Birth of the "classic" Camelback and financial success

The Camelback, built in 1873 for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O), is in the museum

The Camelbacks with their well-known visual appearance were not built until 1877. Usually this year is considered the year of birth of the actual Camelback. Initially, this design only had the 2'C wheel arrangement, but it had completely broken away from the strange appearance of an American ten-wheeler with its driver's cab on its back. The driver's cab was now set down on the sides of the boiler and made the locomotive, which always looked a little misshapen, sleek in a certain way. After all, this machine fulfilled all the economic expectations placed on it. Compared to the other locomotives that have previously run on the routes, a Camelback saved the company costs of around $ 2,000 a year then (worth around $ 30,000 today). There were many different versions.

Camelbacks enjoyed great popularity, they were to be found in all types of service and with many axle arrangements, particularly often as 2'B, 2'C and 1'D, but also as 1'C and 2'D and on Erie Rd. Too than 1'E. This railway company also owned the only Camelback mallets with the D'D wheel arrangement. Of the many 1'D1 'machines that are very common in the USA, only seven of the Lehigh Valley Rd. Were running as Camelbacks. This railway also owned the only Camelback Pacifics. The ten 1'C1 'locomotives on this line are also unique. The only 2A1 'and 1'B1' Camelback locomotives operated at Philadelphia & Reading and at St. Clair Tunnel Comp. the only electric tank locomotives of this type. Camelbacks were also particularly suitable for high-speed trips. The high boiler location and the overload capacity based on the large radiant heating surface had a positive effect.

Lack of vehicle safety and end

Due to their design-related structure, the Camelbacks were not entirely harmless to train drivers and stokers in daily driving. Both had to do their work alone at two different workplaces and could hardly coordinate or support each other while driving. In addition to these communication difficulties, the train driver also had to fear for his life in the event of an accident, as he was sitting directly over a connecting rod. The stoker, on the other hand, was exposed to the rigors of nature and without support despite a small protective roof on the locomotive on the tender.

Camelbacks were made until 1927. In the period that followed, the machines that were still in use were decommissioned or converted into conventional locomotives with a driver's cab behind the standing boiler.

"Camelbacks" from Europe

As far as is known, no Camelback found its way across the borders of the United States of America. But it seems that in Europe at least one has become aware of the working principle of these locomotives. From 1884 the Belgian company Cockerill built three machines with the driver's cab in the middle. Due to Belgian construction conditions, the driver's cab was only built on the right side of the boiler, which severely restricted the driver's view of the route. The fire box of these locomotives was fed with two heaters through three fire doors. The communication between the stokers and the engine driver took place via a mouthpiece. The machines were not successful. After a conversion, the two remaining locomotives were scrapped during the First World War.

Significant camelbacks

Erie class L-1

The largest Camelback, the L-1 with the Mallet D'D wheel arrangement , was built in 1907 for the Erie Railroad by ALCo in three copies (No. 2600–2602). In its time it was the most powerful steam locomotive on the American continent and was used on inclines in the Allegheny Mountains , part of the Appalachian Mountains . In 1921 they ended as Camelback locomotives. All three machines received a full conversion, in which the driver's cab was now conventionally relocated to the standing boiler and the axle sequence was changed to (1'D) D1 '. In 1930 the L-1 were taken out of service. The L-1 had a curb weight of 186 tons (410,000 lbs). Their tender held 32,000 liters of water and 14,500 kilograms of anthracite coal.

Received camelbacks

Manufacturer Wheel alignment Construction year Railway company and class Company number Location
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) 2'C 1869 Baltimore and Ohio Railroad No. 217 B&O Railroad Museum , Baltimore , Maryland
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) 2'C 1873 Baltimore and Ohio Railroad No. 173 Museum of Transportation , St. Louis , Missouri
ALCo 2'B1 ' 1901 Central Railroad of New Jersey Class P-6s No. 592 B&O Railroad Museum , Baltimore , Maryland
Baldwin B. 1903 Reading Company Class A-4b No. 1187 Last business trip: May 25, 1967 Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania , Strasburg , Lancaster County
ALCo 2 B 1905 Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad No. 944-955 No. 952 Museum of Transportation , St. Louis , Missouri

Companies that built camelbacks

Companies that used camelbacks

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Mike Schafer: Classic American Railroads , MBI Publishing Company, 2000, ISBN 0-7603-0758-X , p. 76 (in English)
  2. ^ Brian Solomon: American Steam Locomotive , MBI Publishing Company, 1998, ISBN 0-7603-0336-3 , p. 44 (English)
  3. ↑ James D. Dilts: The Great Road , Stanford University Press, 1996, ISBN 0-8047-2629-9 , p. 303 (English)
  4. ↑ Lawrence W Sagle: A Picture History of B & O Motive Power , Simmons-Boardman, 1953, p. 43 (in English)
  5. ↑ Wolfgang Schivelbusch: History of the Railway Journey , 4th edition, Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt 2000, ISBN 3-596-14828-6 , p. 194
  6. ↑ Robert C. Keith: Baltimore Harbor , JHU Press, 2005, ISBN 0-8018-7980-9 , p. 79 (English)
  7. ↑ a b J. Parker Lamb: Perfecting the American Steam Locomotive , Indiana University Press, 2003, ISBN 0-253-34219-8 , p. 20 (English)
  8. ↑ Kirk Reynolds, Dave Oroszi: Baltimore and Ohio Railroad , MBI Publishing Company, 2000, ISBN 0-7603-0746-6 , p. 104 (English)

Web links

Commons : Camelback locomotives  - collection of images, videos and audio files