Humble fireless engine (said to be the first one built) in Dayton, Ohio. Proof that indoor display is the best way to go if we want these things to outlast us..

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=186005

Stationary Steam has posted some other pictures from this location and other Ohio museums to his webshots gallery at:

http://news.webshots.com/album/550397110inoLdF

None of the pictures of Rubicon show the splendor of the exterior of the glazed-brick mausoleum built for this engine at Carillon Park by National Cash Register money, surely the most lavish display of any park chooch. An identical shrine houses a Corliss stationary engine. For a while the ex-D&M Barney and Smith combine and NYC 0-6-0 were outdoors, but I see that the era of big construction at Carillon Park is not over, as the pictures show a substantial new transportation building. This is a very impressive local history museum, just off the freeway in Dayton. It's somewhat overshadowed by the nearby USAF Museum, but well worth a visit. Nothing quite like the Minuteman missile-launching boxcar at Wright-Patterson, though.

In the posting on May 7, 2007, there is a link to:

Stationary Steam has posted some other pictures from this location and other Ohio museums to his webshots gallery at:

http://news.webshots.com/album/550397110inoLdF

On page 1 of this site there is a partial picture of a small steam engine on display at the Bowling Green, OH depot.

Does anyone know the heritage of this engine?

The locomotive is a 3' gauge engine that was used by the American Rolling Mill Co. at their Middletown, OH plant in their open hearth steelmaking department. It could either have been used to move the scrap buggies on the charging side or for moving ingot cars on the pouring side. Judging by the rather sparse provision for a front coupler I would be suprised if it could handle either task.

View inside the transportation museum.


This grasshopper replica has a chain drive to one of the driving axles. A push button operates the running gear. However, as I remember it there needed to be a push button to oil the bearings, as the locomotive made the loudest squeals from running so much without a drop of oil. Evidence of non mechanically minded curators trying to preserve mechanical artifacts.

Ummmmmm............ unless they built a replica recently and stashed the original somewhere else out of sight........ that's a real 1835 steam locomotive.............

What was the purpose of the smokebox door on the Rubicon? Seems an unusual feature for a fireless engine.

So they are causing untold amounts of wear on an irreplaceable artifact by not lubing the journals? Ouch!

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I have never seen the engine in question in person, but it appears they have simply jacked it up until the wheels are off the rails and inserted a metal stand to keep it in the air. They probably don't realize there isn't a bearing surface under the driving axles of most locomotives. Just what are those axles rotating on?

If you look closely, it almost appears they've wedged chunks of wood into the pedestals for some reason as well. It scares me to think of the possible reasons!

Turning the wheels with a motor is a very nice idea, but use rollers, people, so the weight of the engine is carried in an appropriate manner, and ensure lubrication is constantly maintained.

Steve Hunter
RMEO

It seems to me that a lot of "fireless cookers" have this, fake stacks, too. I always figured it was simply to make them look like people expected a steam loco to look, even though they aren't needed.

Dennis:

My guess is they piped the exhaust steam up to the "fake" stack to avoid exhausting it at track level.

When were these photos taken? I do not recall this wheel rotation operating in the last two years. They may have discontinued it.

I took the photos in May, 2006.

> What was the purpose of the smokebox door on the Rubicon?
> Seems an unusual feature for a fireless engine.

I just took another look at the photo as I had not noticed the "smoke box door." My experience is that there is nothing but insulation behind the front plate and the inner tank. However, the door may give access to pipe work involving the exhaust passages. In looking further at the shot, the jacket material in the stack area looks heavier than else where on the tank. Something tells me that is not sheet metal, especially looking at the bolt pattern holding the door ring in place.

There are air tanks on the locomotive. But no compressor? Or did I miss something. Is the compressor hidden behind the smoke box door? Kind of a wild idea in my mind.

> It seems to me that a lot of "fireless cookers" have this, fake stacks, too.

I wouldn't say the stacks are fake on a Fireless as they serve a couple of purposes. In an application like Kodak where dust or soot may be a problem, it makes sense to send the exhaust up rather than blowing on the ground. And when indoors it makes sense to send the exhaust up as well.

Related to that, if you look at the Rubicon, you don't see obvious drifting valves. I suspect, as with our Porter fireless, that the drifting valves are part of the slide valve. When I close the throttle on our engine the valves activate but draw air in through the exhaust pipes. So, again it would make sense to draw that air in from above rather than at ground level to avoid bringing in dirt or dust. The drifting valve is a poppet affair on the top of the slide valve within the chest and when drifting make a neat rattle sound. Again, key is that air is drawn in via the exhaust pipes/stack. With no soot/fire that works just fine on a fireless.

We do not have a formal stack on our little Porter. Twin pipes run from the cylinder area up through the cab roof, keeping in mind that the cylinders are at the rear, or cab end of the locomotive. I believe as originally built, there was a single pipe coming up through the cab roof. The enclosed picture gives you an idea on what the pipes look like and the lack of drifting valves as well.

Hope that helps,
J.R.