I was reading the recent thread on the tank engine that operates at the B&O museum, and noticed that the builder date on that engine was 1950. I was surprised that Porter was building steam locomotives that late. How long was Porter in the business? When did they go out of business? What became of them and their assembly facilities?

I would have to go back and flush up an old issue of Trains (where St. E 4 was covered in a last-page Turntable essay, complete with photo), but as I remember the story, Porter almost had to be talked into building that last loco. Again, if I recall correctly, Porter hadn't built a conventional steamer (for the domestic market, at least) for something like two or three years previously, although a couple fireless steamers (including two, c/n 8189 and 8190, 4-1949, were built for my "hometown" power plant, as compared to St. E. 4's c/n 8234, 4-1950). The legend is (or am I confusing it with Edgemoor & Manetta 5, or is it the same excuse?) that the superintendent of the plant knew steamers but not "dem new-fangled diesels", so they ordered the 4 from Porter.

Second Diesel Spotter's Guide (Pinkepank & Marre, Kalmbach 1973) says Porter sold its loco-building business, including all then-existing designs, to Davenport in October 1950. Davenport continued production of both its line and Porter's until 1956.

Number 4 was Porter's last steam locomotive built for the U. S. A. Not sure if they built any after that for foreign companies. And yes, the story about the mechanical guy who kept the St. Elizabeth Hospital railroad running being an old timer who wanted nothing to do with diesels is true. When it came time to replace their worn out Baldwin 0-6-0T, he went to the Superintendent of the Hospital and requested a new STEAM locomotive. The Superintendent had "more important" things to deal with and supposedly told the guy to "I don't care; order any kind of locomotive you want!" So the mechanical guy called Baldwin but they told him they were not interested and suggested he try Porter, who built the number 4 for him.

Les

Our Museum has a good quantity of 80 lb rail, removed from St. E's when they stopped burning coal in the late 1960s. So streetcars now run over the Porter's former rails!

Wesley Paulson
National Capital Trolley Museum

Three other Porter 0-4-0Ts have turned up in Serbia with construction numbers 8245, 8248, and 8253; all built in 1950. They are narrow gauge (762 mm and 900mm); but otherwise resemble the St. Elizabeth locomotive (which was #8234).

Porter also built some fireless locomotives after the St. E. locomotive; the last steam powered locomotive built by Porter that is still with us today would appear to be an 0-4-0F built for Indiana Power and Light as construction number 8266 in 1950, and perserved at the Indiana Transportation Museum.

-James Hefner
Hebrews 10:20a

Surviving World Steam Project

There's probably a grain of truth in the story, somewhere. Thirty years ago, at Cass, I heard a variation of the story from the late John Killoran, that it was the St. Elizabeth Hospital engineer who could or would only run steam engines. The story went that when the locomotive engineer retired, the hospital immediately replaced the steam engine with a diesel, and the Army ended up with the steamer as surplus. I don't know if St. Elizabeth's ever had a diesel, but it' a good story, anyway. Interestingly enough, with the steamer as a last minute part of the deal between the State of West Virginia, the B&O Museum gave up the last Lima-built Shay for the last H.K. Porter-built engine.

Don't forget the B&O Museum also has the last Baldwin built domestic steamer.