The National Museum of Industrial History (NMIH) in Bethlehem, PA is about to begin a campaign to move and preserve a historic former Pennsylvania Railroad diesel locomotive. Hidden away in South Philadelphia, this 1950s vintage locomotive moved cars on a triple track horseshoe curve at Pier 122. Probably the most unusual locomotive on the “Standard Railroad of the World,” this narrow (42”) gauge engine used pneumatically operated arms to push cars on parallel standard gauge tracks as they were being loaded with imported iron ore unloaded from ships at the pier. Conventional locomotives then moved the assembled ore trains to Bethlehem Steel and other steel mills as far away as West Virginia. Known as a shunt engine, this locomotive was built by the steel mill equipment maker, Atlas Car & Manufacturing Company in Cleveland, Ohio. The very uniqueness of the locomotive defines it out of most museum collection plans and its design would make it a misfit in many museums. In the National Museum of Industrial History, however, the engine will rest inside the steel mill it was built to send iron ore to and join a collection of other rail equipment and industrial machinery where an engine with arms is a concept that would not be out of reach. The locomotive was used until 1998 when Pier 122 closed, and it is now available for preservation through the generosity of Conrail Shared Assets. To help offset the nearly $3,000 needed to move the locomotive, please consider making a donation to the National Museum of Industrial History (a 501 (c)(3) corporation). Another way to support the project is to purchase a photographic CD being sold to benefit the engine. Two CDs are offered, one detailing Pier 122 and another the blast furnace complex at Bethlehem Steel, where the iron ore unloaded at the pier became molten iron. Over a hundred digital photographs, saved as JPEGS, are included in each CD. The Bethlehem Steel CD includes a digital copy of The Blast Furnace Division, a full length 1950 book from the Bethlehem Steel Collection of the National Canal Museum, Easton, PA. The CDs 123 contemporary photographs show usually inaccessible details within the blast furnace complex, from the below ground flooded skip bucket pits to a cast house floor. The dozen 80 foot long blowing engines, fleet of hot metal and slag cars, and a variety of other interesting machinery is shown, all of which is noted and explained in a Word file of captions which can be printed. Similar treatment is given to Pier 122, the length of which is covered from ground level in 213 digital photographs, including views inside the pier’s machine shop and of the shunt engines.The CDs cost $10 each, or both for $18, plus 6 percent sales tax and $2 shipping and handling. They come to a total of $12.60 each or $21.08 for both. Checks (no cash please) can be mailed and made payable to:National Museum of Industrial History530 East Third Street, Bethlehem, PA 18015The following form can be printed out and mailed in:CD Title-----------------------------Price---------Quantity-------------- Total----------------------------(including tax and S&H)--------------------------Bethlehem Steel Blast Furnaces--$12.60 Pier 122-------------------------------$12.60 Both CDs------------------------------$21.08________________________________________________________________________----------------------------------------------------------Payment Due $Please feel free to contact me at piersa@ptd.net if you have any questions.Mike Piersa, National Museum of Industrial History Volunteer
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