There's no mention of serious trouble for Lima in the story "Doctoring the Scales" from the December 1998 issue of Trains that covered this story in some detail.

Sounds more like they got away with it without any serious ramifications. No charges were ever filed against Lima or the man behind the ruse. He continued his career with the Allegheny project only bolstering his career rather than holding him back for falsifying records.

I guess I stand corrected but if that's how they did things it's no wonder the steam locomotive died. Weighing one axle at a time is accurate and legal for use in trade. For the details of any weighing process in trade see the Department of Commerce publication "Handbook 44".

But it certainly is slower than multiple scales (in one unit) that can weigh single axles (or dual axles) in one operation.

Consider how typical commercial truck scales work, three separate scales in one installation.

The Cat Scale system is dominant in the commercial truckstop industry. Here is a screenshot from a relevant page:



This is not a trivial issue. Not only must the truck not be overweight, but all of its axles must also be within weight limits. And yes, a truck can be under the legal weight and still get a citation for having a particular axle group overweight.


If single axle weighing for trucks was practical, it seems unlikely that the industry would spend the money to have 3-platforms systems dominate the industry.

.

I'm Shocked that railroad management tried to "stick it" to the very employees that were busy trying to "milk" every dollar they could out of the railroad....

Don't get me wrong, there was a time (100 years ago) when railroad management tried to "stick it" the the workers as much as possible. Then the unions got involved (RR unions where some of the earliest in the USA) and levelled the playing field somewhat.

Then the unions went too far the other way (my opinion) and forgot that the real competition to the RR was the trucks, airplanes, buses, etc.

It was only the almost complete collapse of the railroads in the NE USA that woke everybody up that the fight was not RR Worker versus RR Management but was really RR versus all the other forms of transportation.

I need to get this book. Based on this post alone, I've moved it up on my "to acquire list."



I also wonder if it was because railroads weren't of the habit to reweigh locomotives after rebuild programs, or changes were made. I first became aware of the issue when reading a book recently on Great Northern steam power. In at least one case on the GN, the "advertised" weight was heavier than the actual locomotive when it was re-weighed. The book listed docket numbers to the National Board of Adjustment, and I'm in the process of having the awards pulled so I can see for myself what the stated positions were.

LIMA and the skulduggery regarding the weights of the 2-6-6-6 is a fascinating story. And the C&O did not know that something was amiss UNTIL the Virginian 2-6-6-6 class locomotives were ready to be shipped over the C&O 4-5 years later. The Chessie thought their bridges couldn't handle the VGN locomotives over their bridges!