Just Published = BALDWIN LOCOMOTIVES by Brian Solomon. Stunning photo of a Shark Nose on the cover, but there is a lot more: hundreds of photos from the 1850's to 1956, many never before published. Also comprehensive narrative by Solomon follows the design and development of Baldwin locomotives from the earliest steam models through the company's final moments, including some ideas that didn't quite catch on. Now then, when the Baldwin-Hamilton Company was going out of business, in the summer of 1971, Escanaba & Lake Superior was the primary customer. John Larkin, personally, talked to me about available parts, issued purchase orders, and paid cash, promptly. What a way to close down our renewal parts operations! All of the parts he originally purchased were new and unused = pistons, liners, cylinder heads and everything in between. However, as we were winding down, we had a goodly supply of "used" parts that were prime candidates for rebuilding. Rather than see these "rare" hunks of steel go to waste I decided to give them to E & LS. Cylinder liners, in good shape on the exterior, could be easily honed and re-chromed, and give years of faithful service. Bed plates could be rebuilt, by welding the bores, machining, and scraping to finished dimensions. Fred Cave was still alive then and Mr. Larkin would ask him to come up for a visit, for a "working" vacation. They treated him like royalty, which he, of course, was with his intimate and detailed knowledge of the Baldwin Diesel engine (John Kirkland insisted on capitalizing the "D" in Diesel and I have always followed his meticulous advice) E & LE had a large fleet of Baldwins, operating, profitably, on a daily basis, so with Fred Cave's help they were rebuilt, and rebuilt again, with our parts, both new and available for reuse. We even gave away all of our applicable gaskets, rather than throw them into the trash. Larkin, and I talked briefly about the Shark Nose engines, but he was generally elusive. I don't know about the vandalism, but the frames and sides were badly rusted = that alone would be a major job to restore. Happy memories from exactly 19 years ago, at this same time of year. BH officially closed on September 1, 1991 and we refused to accept any orders, at all, at all, at all! THE END. All the best, Hank Rentschler
Henry A. Rentschler