Camelback locomotive
Encyclopedia
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
with the driving cab placed in the middle, astride the boiler
Boiler
A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications.-Materials:...
. Camelbacks were fitted with wide fireboxes which would have severely restricted driver visibility from the normal cab location at the rear.
Development
The camel and the camelback design were developed separately by two different railroads in different eras. Though the name is often incorrectly used interchangeably, they had little in common other than the placement of the cab.Early use
The Baltimore and Ohio RailroadBaltimore and Ohio Railroad
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the oldest railroads in the United States and the first common carrier railroad. It came into being mostly because the city of Baltimore wanted to compete with the newly constructed Erie Canal and another canal being proposed by Pennsylvania, which...
began to look into developing high-powered steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
s in the early 1840s, and in 1844–1847 built a series of locomotives nicknamed "muddiggers". As with many early B&O locomotives, a spur gear drive was used to connect the main shaft to the driving wheels. The long 0-8-0
0-8-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-8-0 represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels...
wheelbase pushed this connection to the back of the locomotive and caused the floor of the cab to be lifted up above the whole assembly.
Ross Winans
Ross Winans was an American inventor, mechanic, and builder of locomotives and railroad machinery. He is also noted for design of pioneering cigar-hulled ships. Winans, one of the United States' first multi-millionaires, was involved in politics and was a vehement states' rights advocate...
, who had designed the "muddiggers", built the first of a series of 0-8-0
0-8-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-8-0 represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels...
camel locomotives. These had long cabs that ran from the back of the smokebox
Smokebox
A smokebox is one of the major basic parts of a Steam locomotive exhaust system. Smoke and hot gases pass from the firebox through tubes where they pass heat to the surrounding water in the boiler. The smoke then enters the smokebox, and is exhausted to the atmosphere through the chimney .To assist...
to the front of the firebox. The firebox itself sloped back on the earliest models. The fireman worked from a large platform on the tender
Tender locomotive
A tender or coal-car is a special rail vehicle hauled by a steam locomotive containing the locomotive's fuel and water. Steam locomotives consume large quantities of water compared to the quantity of fuel, so tenders are necessary to keep the locomotive running over long distances. A locomotive...
, and in some cases had a chute to allow him to deliver coal to the front of the grate
Grate
*A grate is a frame of iron bars to hold fuel for a fire.*It may also refer to a covering of a drain, also called a grating.*The act of using a grater, a kitchen utensil.- People :*Don Grate US sportsman....
.
Unlike the later Camelbacks, Camels had cabs that rode atop the boiler. Camelbacks have a cab that straddles the boiler. While Camelbacks have the same idea of moving the cab forward, they had it for different reasons. Winans wanted to put as much weight on the drivers as possible to increase traction. Camelbacks were developed to allow for the use of larger fireboxes, such as the Wooten, which could not be encompassed by a cab. Camelbacks were particularly known for being used on the Central of New Jersey.
Also in 1853, Samuel Hayes, the Master of Machinery for the railroad, had built a series of camel 4-6-0
4-6-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels. This wheel arrangement became the second-most popular...
locomotives for passenger service. The layout of the locomotive was roughly the same as for Winans' freight locomotives, except for the addition of the four-wheel leading bogie
Bogie
A bogie is a wheeled wagon or trolley. In mechanics terms, a bogie is a chassis or framework carrying wheels, attached to a vehicle. It can be fixed in place, as on a cargo truck, mounted on a swivel, as on a railway carriage/car or locomotive, or sprung as in the suspension of a caterpillar...
. Copies and variations on these locomotives were built into the 1870s, with the last retirements coming in the 1890s. These were called the "Hayes Ten-Wheelers".
The B&O examples burned conventional bituminous coal
Bituminous coal
Bituminous coal or black coal is a relatively soft coal containing a tarlike substance called bitumen. It is of higher quality than lignite coal but of poorer quality than Anthracite...
. The large fireboxes of these locomotives were made obsolete by better boiler design.
The B&O Train Museum has recently restored their Camel Locomotive and returned it to display. It now is in its original colors and markings for the first time since it left the Mt. Clare Shops in 1869. The Museum also has a Central of New Jersey Camelback, the
No. 592, which was donated to the Museum in the 1950s.
The Wootten firebox
Driving wheel
On a steam locomotive, a driving wheel is a powered wheel which is driven by the locomotive's pistons...
s. The problem now arose that with a cab floor at the then standard tender deck height, it would be impossible for the locomotive's engineer to see forwards around the firebox shoulders. Instead, a cab for the engineer was placed above and astride the boiler
Boiler
A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications.-Materials:...
. The fireman, however, remained at the rear with minimal protection from the elements. This gave rise to the unusual shape of the camelbacks.
First camelbacks
The first camelback, a 4-6-04-6-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels. This wheel arrangement became the second-most popular...
, was built in early 1877 by the P&R's Reading, Pennsylvania
Reading, Pennsylvania
Reading is a city in southeastern Pennsylvania, USA, and seat of Berks County. Reading is the principal city of the Greater Reading Area and had a population of 88,082 as of the 2010 census, making it the fifth most populated city in the state after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown and Erie,...
shops. It proved a success; the fuel cost saving was about $2,000 a year (approx. $30,000 now). More were built for many of the railroads operating in the anthracite regions, and some others, of many different wheel arrangement
Wheel arrangement
In rail transport, a wheel arrangement is a system of classifying the way in which wheels are distributed beneath a locomotive.. Several notations exist to describe the wheel assemblies of a locomotive by type, position, and connections, with the adopted notations varying by country...
s. The largest ones
Erie L-1
The three L-1 0-8-8-0 steam locomotives of the Erie Railroad, built in 1907 by ALCO, were unique in that they were the only articulated camelback locomotives ever built. When built, they were the largest steam locomotives in existence. They were built for pushing service, especially on the heavy...
had a 0-8-8-0
0-8-8-0
In the Whyte notation for classifying the wheel arrangement of steam locomotives, an 0-8-8-0 is a locomotive with two sets of eight driving wheels and neither leading wheels nor trailing wheels...
arrangement and were the only articulated
Articulated locomotive
Articulated locomotive usually means a steam locomotive with one or more engine units which can move independent of the main frame. This is done to allow a longer locomotive to negotiate tighter curves...
camelbacks built.
Safety problems
The camelback was not a very safe design for its crew. The engineer was perched above the whirling siderods, vulnerable to swinging and flying metal if anything below should break. The fireman, meanwhile, was alone and exposed to the elements at the rear. The Interstate Commerce CommissionInterstate Commerce Commission
The Interstate Commerce Commission was a regulatory body in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads to ensure fair rates, to eliminate rate discrimination, and to regulate other aspects of common carriers, including...
banned further construction of camelbacks, but gave exceptions to allow some to be completed. In 1927, further orders were completely prohibited on grounds of safety.
Many camelbacks were converted into end-cab locomotives. the advent of the mechanical stoker and its associated underfloor machinery placed cab floors and tender decks higher, and from that vantage point the engineer could see ahead.
Survivors
- Central Railroad of New Jersey 4-4-2 No. 592, at the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum in Baltimore, Maryland;
- Baltimore & Ohio Railroad 4-6-0 No. 173, at the Museum of TransportationMuseum of TransportationThe Museum of Transportation of the St. Louis County, Missouri, United States Parks Department is a museum located in the Greater St. Louis area. It was first founded in 1944 by a group of individuals dedicated to preserving the past and has a wide variety of vehicles from American history...
, St.Louis - Baltimore & Ohio Railroad 0-8-0 No. 33
- Delaware, Lackawanna & Western 4-4-0 No. 952, at the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri;
- Reading Company 0-4-0 No. 1187, at the Strasburg Railroad in Strasburg, Pennsylvania (awaiting restoration).
- No. 1187 was previously on display at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg, Pennsylvania. Its current availability for public viewing is undetermined.
Owning railroads
- Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe RailwayAtchison, Topeka and Santa Fe RailwayThe Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often abbreviated as Santa Fe, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The company was first chartered in February 1859...
- Baltimore and Ohio RailroadBaltimore and Ohio RailroadThe Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the oldest railroads in the United States and the first common carrier railroad. It came into being mostly because the city of Baltimore wanted to compete with the newly constructed Erie Canal and another canal being proposed by Pennsylvania, which...
- Canadian Pacific RailwayCanadian Pacific RailwayThe Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
- Central Railroad of New JerseyCentral Railroad of New JerseyThe Central Railroad of New Jersey , commonly known as the Jersey Central Lines or CNJ, was a Class I railroad with origins in the 1830s, lasting until 1976 when it was absorbed into Conrail with the other bankrupt railroads of the Northeastern United States...
- Chicago and Eastern Illinois RailroadChicago and Eastern Illinois RailroadThe Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad was a Class I railroad that linked Chicago to southern Illinois, St. Louis, and Evansville. Founded in 1877, it grew aggressively and stayed relatively strong throughout the Great Depression and two World Wars before being purchased by the Missouri Pacific...
- Chicago and Indiana Coal Railroad
- Delaware and Hudson RailwayDelaware and Hudson RailwayThe Delaware and Hudson Railway is a railroad that operates in the northeastern United States. Since 1991 it has been a subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway, although CPR has assumed all operations and the D&H does not maintain any locomotives or rolling stock.It was formerly an important...
- Delaware, Lackawanna and Western RailroadDelaware, Lackawanna and Western RailroadThe Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company was a railroad connecting Pennsylvania's Lackawanna Valley, rich in anthracite coal, to Hoboken, New Jersey, , Buffalo and Oswego, New York...
- Erie RailroadErie RailroadThe Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in New York State, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, originally connecting New York City with Lake Erie...
- Hecla and Torch Lake Railroad
- Lehigh and Hudson River RailwayLehigh and Hudson River RailwayThe Lehigh and Hudson River Railway was the smallest of the six railroads that were merged into Conrail in 1976. It was a bridge line running northeast-southwest across northwestern New Jersey, connecting the line to the Poughkeepsie Bridge at Maybrook, New York with Easton, Pennsylvania, where it...
- Lehigh and New England RailroadLehigh and New England RailroadThe Lehigh and New England Railroad was a connection from northeastern Pennsylvania towards the Poughkeepsie Bridge across the Hudson River. Originally planned as a continuous line east to Boston, plans were later cut back to a section west of the river....
- Lehigh Valley RailroadLehigh Valley RailroadThe Lehigh Valley Railroad was one of a number of railroads built in the northeastern United States primarily to haul anthracite coal.It was authorized April 21, 1846 in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and incorporated September 20, 1847 as the Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill and Susquehanna Railroad...
- Long Island Rail RoadLong Island Rail RoadThe Long Island Rail Road or LIRR is a commuter rail system serving the length of Long Island, New York. It is the busiest commuter railroad in North America, serving about 81.5 million passengers each year. Established in 1834 and having operated continuously since then, it is the oldest US...
- Maine Central RailroadMaine Central RailroadThe Maine Central Railroad Company was a railroad in central and southern Maine. It was chartered in 1856 and began operations in 1862. It operated a mainline between South Portland, Maine, east to the Canada-U.S...
- Missouri-Kansas-Texas RailroadMissouri-Kansas-Texas RailroadThe Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad was incorporated May 23, 1870. In its earliest days the MKT was commonly referred to as "the K-T", which was its stock exchange symbol; this common designation soon evolved into "the Katy"....
- Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis RailwayNashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis RailwayThe Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway was a railway company operating in the southern United States in Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia...
- New York, Ontario and Western RailwayNew York, Ontario and Western RailwayThe New York, Ontario and Western Railway, more commonly known as the O&W or NYO&W, was a regional railroad with origins in 1868, lasting until March 29, 1957 when it was ordered liquidated by a US bankruptcy judge. The O&W holds the distinction of being the first major U.S...
- New York, Susquehanna and Western RailwayNew York, Susquehanna and Western RailwayThe New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway , also known as the Susie-Q, or simply the Susquehanna, is a Class II American freight railway operating over 500 miles of track in the northeastern states of New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. It was formed in 1881 from the merger of several...
- Pennsylvania RailroadPennsylvania RailroadThe Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
- Reading Railroad
- St. Clair Tunnel Company
- Staten Island Rapid Transit
- Southern Pacific RailroadSouthern Pacific RailroadThe Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....
- Union Pacific RailroadUnion Pacific RailroadThe Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
- Wheeling and Lake Erie Railroad