just herd! anyone else have any news on how lirr' s history is disolving
i never been this pissed in a very long time
i never been this pissed in a very long time
The rotary snowplow was built at the Cooke Locomotive and Machine Works, Paterson NJ, in November 1898 with builder's number 55.
The snowplow weighs 67 1/2 tons and the rotary blade assembly is 9' 8" in diameter. The plow exhibits a number of conditions that effect its integrity. The paint scheme is incorrect. The headlight is missing. Almost all of the cab interior is missing -brake valves, gauges, piping, window sashes, window glass, doors, injectors, steam valves, and builders' plates. The boiler jacket is missing. The interior of the boiler was patched by the railroad. The rear cab wall is pulled loose at the weld with the deck. The exterior is in somewhat better shape. The triple valve air brake system is in place. The main air reservoir is of light weight construction with lap seam rivetted joints and folded ends. This form of construction connotes that the air reservoir is original. The air pump and pump hatch are missing. Portions of the rear breast beam and wood floor are missing; what remains is rotten. The car body has some penetrating rust, but is in overall good condition. The ash pan box has rusted through and the screening is missing. The plow's trucks are original arch bar style with wood bolsters. The flanger and associated rigging is missing from the undercarriage. The rotary blade assembly is in remarkably good condition, exhibiting only minor wear and damage.
The plow's present tender is a Pennsylvania Railroad tender that, after 1940, replaced the original wood-frame tender. The Long Island Railroad was a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania, therefore the tender replacement reflects normal railroad operating procedures. This tender was built about 1924 and carried 10,000 gallons of water and 10 tons of coal. The tender body and top deck are in good condition. The deck water hatches and coal bunker hatches are solid. The side sills and center sill appear in good condition; however, the front and back tender trucks supporting the center casting are breaking down into visible striations. The stem wind hand brake, chains and reach rod for the cylinders, apron between tender and plow deck, hood and cab curtains, and the doors on the water tank legs are missing.
The rotary presently exhibits active rust, vandalism and other forms of deterioration
Statement of Significance:
Between 1885 and 1903, the Cooke Works built 64 rotaries under contract for the Rotary Steam Snow Shovel Manufacturing Company in Paterson, NJ- After the American Locomotive Company acquired Cooke, Brooks, Rogers, and Schenectady, 71 more rotaries were built. Number 193, built in 1898, was purchased by the Long Island Railroad and operated on that railroad until its retirement in 1965. In 1968 two railroad enthusiasts purchased the plow and tender. They sold it to the Steamtown Foundation in 1988. After the Foundation's purchase, the snowplow continued to sit in New Jersey on the Black River and Western Railroad, where it had been since 1968, until July 1993 when Steamtown NHS contracted with Conrail to move the equipment to the park.
One hundred forty-four steam rotary snowplows were built under the aegis of Cooke and the American Locomotive Company. Only 12 rotary plows are known to survive in the United States. Number 193 is the sole surviving steam rotary snowplow known to have been used on a railroad east of the Mississippi. Degradation from vandalism, exposure, and lack of upkeep have compromised the original structure to such an extent that this equipment is non-contributing.
Bibliography:
Chappell, Gordon. "Special History Study, Flanged Wheels on Steel Rails: The Railroad Cars of Steamtown." United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Draft, 1991, n.p.
Steamtown NHS Library, Building Files, "Long Island RR Snowplow 193."
