Eastlake Park Scenic Railway

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Eastlake Park Scenic Railway
Eastlake Park Scenic Railway number 1903 steam locomotive
Eastlake Park Scenic Railway number 1903 steam locomotive
Route length: 1 km
Gauge : 457 mm
Maximum slope : 70  ‰

The East Lake Park Scenic Railway was a 984 m (3,229 feet ) long miniature railway in a scale of 1: 3 with the track width of 18 inches (457 mm), of 19 May 1904 to 11 May 1905 in what is now Lincoln Park in Los Angeles in California was in operation.

Route

Route by the lake

The nearly one kilometer long narrow-gauge railway ran from the lakeshore to the hills in Eastlake Park, now Lincoln Park. It started at Lakeside Station at the main entrance to the park. From there, the track led over a steel and concrete bridge over a side arm of the lake into a pampas grass plantation. After a curve, the route ran along the border of the park and then along the tracks of the Southern Pacific Railroad over a driveway overgrown with large fan palms . It wound its way through a small forest of subtropical woodland and reached Hillside Station on the edge of the wooded hills . Here was the locomotive shed and a siding, over which the locomotive could be placed at the other end of the train before returning. At the Hillside station there was also a water tower, a heating oil tank and a siding and a ticket sales house.

There were 5 points. The rails had a flattened T-shaped Vignol® profile and a weight of 8 lbs / yard . Including all sidings, the line was 1,045 m long (3429 feet) long. Over 1700 sleepers were installed. The tightest turn was 16.5 m (54 feet) in radius. The Hillside station was 5.4 meters height (17 feet 9 inches) above the Lakeside station and the steepest slope was in a 9 m (30 feet) long section of 7%.

history

John J. Coit as a conductor at the tender and 'Shorty' Chase as the engine driver in the driver's cab (both with bowler hats ) and a stoker (with a peaked cap)

John J. Coit built the park railway on the lake and constructed the steam locomotive. He had previously worked as a master mechanic at Johnson Machine Works and then built and operated the Long Beach and Asbury Park Railway . Since he had been handicapped for two years at the time the locomotive was designed, he attached great importance to ease of use. He was with the diminutive friend, Shorty 'Chase, who operated on all of Coits railways, in elegant suit with melon worked as a conductor.

Abbot Kinney , who developed Venice of America , was enthusiastic about the park railway and commissioned Coit to build the Venice Miniature Railway for him on the new Venice Beach site near Los Angeles. Due to delays in delivery of the new locomotives ordered for this and because the operating permit in Eastlake Park expired on May 11, 1905 due to political changes, Coit temporarily transported his steam locomotive No 1903 to Venice in order to use the newly built park railway when the recreation area opened on July 4, 1905 to be able to operate.

Coit returned to Eastlake Park in 1908 after a lawsuit with Kinney and operated his locomotive No. 1903 with three cars there for about two years until about 1910. Then he transported the train to the Urbita Hot Springs Railway .

locomotive

Coit (left) shows its innovative and easily accessible valve control without an eccentric

The oil-fired steam locomotive No. 1903 with a length over the coupling of 19 feet (5.80 m) and a height from the top of the rails to the top of the chimney of 1295 mm (51 inches) had the wheel arrangement 2-6-0 . This locomotive had some technical innovations, such as valve adjustment without an eccentric, which made the adjustment and maintenance of the valves much easier. The locomotive had automatic couplings and an oil burner for which John Coit had a patent.

The locomotive weighed 3,628 kg (8000 lbs ) with the tender and 2,328 kg (5,134 lbs) without the tender. The tender could hold 780 liters (206 gallons ) of water and 322 liters (85 gallons) of heating oil. The weight of the locomotive was transferred to the rails on three coupled drive axles with a diameter of 463 mm (18¼ inches) and a leading axle, the wheels of which had a diameter of 254 mm (10 inches). The Vanderbilt boiler had an output of 25 horsepower at a maximum pressure of 10 bar (150 psi) . The cylinders measured 5 "by 7" with a 1 "stroke. This gave the locomotive a pulling force of 4.8 kN (1076 pounds ).

Passenger cars

The sprung passenger cars with two-axle bogies each had ten seats and were 4.26 m (14 feet) long and 0.96 m (38 inches) wide. They each weighed 680 kg (150 lbs) and were fitted with Coit's automatic clutches on both sides.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Dwarf Railroad to be Opened - Lilliputanian Locomotive in Eastlake Park. Los Angeles Herald, Wednesday May 18, 1904.
  2. ↑ a b Tiny road must cease operating - Mayor training for fight with railways commences on toy line. Los Angeles Herald, May 12, 1905
  3. ^ Arthur W. Line: Model Railways - XIX. - Eastlake Park Scenic Railway, Los Angeles, California. The Model Engineer and Electrician, April 23, 1908. p. 395.
  4. ^ A b Arthur W. Line: Model Railways - XIX. - Eastlake Park Scenic Railway, Los Angeles, California. The Model Engineer and Electrician, April 23, 1908. p. 396.
  5. ^ A b c d Peter Panacy: Venice Miniature Railway. A Brief History and Its Influence on the Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad.
  6. ↑ a b Eastlake Park Scenic Railway (Lincoln Park), Los Angeles, California, 1904. ( Memento of the original from January 17, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.lincolnheightsla.com
  7. ↑ Ken Middlebrook: About East Lake Park steam locomotive 1903 (Long description).
  8. ↑ Ken Middlebrook: East Lake Park steam locomotive 1903 (Some history).
  9. ^ Arthur W. Line: Model Railways - XIX. - Eastlake Park Scenic Railway, Los Angeles, California. The Model Engineer and Electrician, April 23, 1908. p. 397.
  10. ^ Arthur W. Line: Model Railways - XIX. - Eastlake Park Scenic Railway, Los Angeles, California. The Model Engineer and Electrician, April 23, 1908. p. 398.
  11. ^ Arthur W. Line: Model Railways - XIX. - Eastlake Park Scenic Railway, Los Angeles, California. The Model Engineer and Electrician, April 23, 1908. p. 399.

Coordinates: 34 ° 4 ′ 0 ″  N , 118 ° 12 ′ 4 ″  W.