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  • Strangest Steam Locomotive

  • Discussion of steam locomotives from all manufacturers and railroads
Discussion of steam locomotives from all manufacturers and railroads

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 #942656  by kmeyer
 
Most would probably disagree, but I'm gonna go with Central Pacific's C.P. Huntington, which was a 4-2-4.
 #951886  by GSC
 
I don't remember what it was called, but the PRSL had a 4-4-0 that had its four drive wheels resting on two four-wheel carriages, each in turn resting on two six-wheel carriages. I think the design was to spread out the weight. Except for the engine sitting higher, and the front of the engine shimmed up upon the pony truck, the loco appeared to be normal. Maybe someone has a pic of it. The design had the drive wheels going forward, the set under them going backward, and the bottom set rolling forward. Kind of a Rube Goldberg-looking affair.
 #952099  by Aa3rt
 
GSC wrote:I don't remember what it was called, but the PRSL had a 4-4-0 that had its four drive wheels resting on two four-wheel carriages, each in turn resting on two six-wheel carriages. I think the design was to spread out the weight. Except for the engine sitting higher, and the front of the engine shimmed up upon the pony truck, the loco appeared to be normal. Maybe someone has a pic of it. The design had the drive wheels going forward, the set under them going backward, and the bottom set rolling forward. Kind of a Rube Goldberg-looking affair.
You're referring to the Holman Locomotive. Developed in the 1880's, this design wasn't based on sound engineering practices but turned out to be a stock scam for the developers. Follow the link and scroll down to "Holman's Absurdity":

http://www.catskillarchive.com/rrextra/odcuri.Html

More information here:

http://www.scripophily.net/hollocspeedt1.html

And here:

http://douglas-self.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO ... holman.htm

Re:

 #952107  by scottychaos
 
ek2179 wrote:or the "streamlined" 4-8-0 switchers of the N&W . . .
Centurylover68 wrote:I've never seen a streamlined 4-8-0 switcher. What does it look like?
Image

The 1100 was one of two (the other was 1112) 4-6-0's converted into experimental switchers by the N&W..
they began as "standard" 4-6-0's, and were converted in 1947 and 1948 into class M2 "automatic" switchers..

More photos and info:

http://bodwyn.wordpress.com/2009/10/11/3468/

http://nwhs.org/archivesdb/listdocs.php ... pe=Picture

Scot
 #952659  by Steam man
 
Add B & O's duplex drive George Emerson to the list complete with British stlye toggle and dart smokebox door fastner,watertube firebox and rearward facing rear engine.


Image
 #955153  by GSC
 
Thanks, Aa3rt, the Holman was what I was thinking of.

I have Sinclair's book listing these fun freaks. Somewhere in the nether reaches of my attic.
 #955177  by Allen Hazen
 
A number of posts have mentioned Douglas Self's website for weird steam locomotives. It has moved; a currently operable URL is:
http://www.aqpl43.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/ ... coloco.htm

---

Not American, so off-topic, but I've always been partial to the Listowell & Ballybunyan Light Railway. This was a Lartigue-system monorail (with-- monorails tend not to be as simple as they sound-- three rails in its track). Its steam locomotives had two boilers, mounted (for balance) side-by-sidewith the driving wheels between them.
 #1301240  by RussNelson
 
Allen Hazen wrote:A number of posts have mentioned Douglas Self's website for weird steam locomotives. It has moved; a currently operable URL is:
http://www.aqpl43.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... coloco.htm

---

Not American, so off-topic, but I've always been partial to the Listowell & Ballybunyan Light Railway. This was a Lartigue-system monorail (with-- monorails tend not to be as simple as they sound-- three rails in its track). Its steam locomotives had two boilers, mounted (for balance) side-by-sidewith the driving wheels between them.
Somebody built a live-steam model of the Lartigue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiB__3O3ly0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;