Steam Electric Locomotives?

Were there ever any steam electric locomotives designs to work like the diesel electrics? Basically steam powered electric generators to power electric traction motors on locomotives? Where effective as diesel or not, figured someone would have tried. Thanks.

I do not have any reference material at hand, but if recall is correct the C&O had two steam-electric locomotives that were to be the assigned power for a premier passenger train.

In addition, the N&W had an experimental steam-electric named the "Jawn Henry".

These units dated to the L/1940s-E/1950s.

The C&O and N&W locomotives were not successful for various reasons and were all scrapped.

There were three Steam Turbine Electric designs built.

The first was made by General Electric for Union Pacific (two units, 2500 HP) in 1939. These units apparently used some type of liquid fuel, probably "Bunker C". They were tested for a few weeks and returned to the builder as unsuccessful. They were both used by the Great Northern railway for a time during World War 2 and were returned to GE in 1943.

The second and third Steam Turbine Electric designs were built by Baldwin using Westinghouse electrical systems.

The first Baldwin design was built for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad (3 units, Road Numbers 500-502, 6000 HP). As far as I can find, they were never used in revenue service and were scrapped in 1950.

The second Baldwin design was built in 1954 for the Norfolk and Western (1 unit, Road Number 2300, the "Jawn Henry") The N&W unit was used until 1958 and was the most successful of the three designs, but none of these designs could compete with the contemporary Diesel Electric designs because of maintenance issues and related expenses.

Both of the Baldwin designs used Coal for fuel.

During World War 2, the Swiss railroads converted some of their Steam Engines (mostly switchers) to operate from the catenary which their Electric Locomotives used. This was done due to wartime shortages of Coal and other fuels.

Mark

call me a dumb blonde but I asked everyone I know why sometimes on freight trains you see several engines pulling the cars and some of them are facing backwards. Can anyone explain this?
Second, is there a code to the way that the engineers use the horns at traffic crossings cause there is one particular engineer that likes to "play" a little tune as he goes through the one near my house at the wee hours of the morning. It doesn't bother me I miss him when he doesn't come through sometimes.

It makes no difference what direction units are facing in. Most railroads run the lead unit short hood forward, but this is not universal. Only single ended passenger units and a few similar freight units must be run in a specific direction, and in push-pull operation there is no need to turn them as long as there i a cab car on the opposite end. Amtrak's "cabbage" (Cab & Baggage) cars are locomotive shells used as cabs on the push-pull Downeasters and similar trains which are not turned.

---asked and answered under MUed diesels, halfway down page-

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The horn signal authorized by the rule book for highway grade crossings is two longs, a short and a long. The final long is to be held until the leading unit is over the crossing. Should conditions dictate, the signal can be repeated until the lead unit is over the crossing. Any other horn signal at a grade crossing is unauthorized.

hrfcarl wrote:Were there ever any steam electric locomotives designs to work like the diesel electrics? Basically steam powered electric generators to power electric traction motors on locomotives? Where effective as diesel or not, figured someone would have tried. Thanks.

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