LS&MS inspection engine photo on Shorpy with kind of strange looking valve motion. Must have been a warm ride.
http://www.shorpy.com/node/12931?size=_original#caption

""Passenger (observation) locomotive train car"

well, they got one word out of five correct! ;)
must be no one at Shorpy is a railfan..
Frisco got it right (in the subject line of this thread)
"Inspection engine" or "Inspection locomotive"

Walschearts valve gear?
looks like it to me, but im not an expert on valve gear.

Scot

Looks like Walschaert gear by proxy - through a tumble shaft on either side to inner valve chests.

dave

I'm trying to figure out the link on the thing. It almost looks like it's hanging from the link bracket instead of being mounted in a valve gear hanger. Outside admission.

What you are looking at is a four cylinder balanced simple engine, thus the odd location of the front counterweights compared to those on the rear axle. Here is a brief description: Lake Shore & Michigan Southern (New York Central Lines) 4-4-0 2nd #30 “Cleveland,” as built by the railroad (Collingwood #1446) in 1906 as a four cylinder balanced simple engine, with four 12½” x 20” cylinders, all driving the front driver through a cranked axle (note the odd position of the front driver counterweight compared to the rear one), piston valves, 63” drivers and 180 lbs boiler pressure. LS&MS (NYCL) 4-4-0 2nd #30 was not a success and was rebuilt in 1908 with two 17” x 24” cylinders with slide valves and 69” drivers. In 1930 it was rebuilt as conventional 4-4-0 #1011, retired and dismantled in 1936 with its boiler kept for use at the Dunkirk, NY roundhouse until 1948 or 1950. For more on inspection locomotives see my article in the just published issue of Railroad History.

That's all well and good Ron, but I'm still trying to figure out what the lifting link pivots on. Looks almost like it's just out there in thin air.
What is the publication you mentioned? I've never seen it.

Railroad History is the journal published by the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society. The Spring/Summer issue is #206. Their web site is at rlhs.org.

Here's a old cabinet photo i have of LS&MS/NYC inspection loco #30 "Cleveland" i believe taken at Collinwood,Ohio.The office building in front has a builders date stone of 1902 on the bottom right.Look up at the 2nd floor far right windowsill and there are what looks like 3 locomotive class lights sitting on the window sill,wonder why they are sitting there?

I see they have the bell mounted on top of the middle of the tender.Probably would have been pretty noisy if mounted on the engine for the occupants! A watchman stands by the small guard shanty in uniform and the sign in the grass to the left of the sidewalk say's "Keep off the grass".When was the last time you saw a sign posted like that anywhere!

Very cool, Ron, thanks.

Looks to me like the lifting link pivots on a tumble shaft of its own. It is less a link than a bellcrank.

dave

Ron's article on inspection locomotives in Railroad History is a masterpiece of scholarly research and is typical of the fine content of that publication. Even if you don't join a chapter or attend the annual meeting, membership in the R&LHS is a bargain for the magazine alone.

Alan Maples

I don't claim the knowledge to explain the valve gear question, but here is more on the locomotive, which others may be able to use to answer the question.


Inspection engines could be used for experimental purposes. For example 2nd #30 “Cleveland” of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern (New York Central) was built as a “four cylinder simple engine arranged on the balanced principal, to assist in securing the ease of riding desired in a locomotive designed for inspection purposes. All four cylinders drove the cranked front axle. It was thought that using four instead of two cylinders would spread the power strokes out to let it ride more smoothly than conventional engines. The machinery was arranged so that a single piston valve served each pair of cylinders. This allowed steam to enter opposite ends of both cylinders at the same time and “. . . providing equal pressure against each piston and maintaining the balance. It was the first four cylinder balanced type in North America that was not a compound, as these were not looked upon with favor on the LS&MS. In any event it was not a success and was rebuilt in 1908 with two 17” x 24” cylinders with slide valves and 69” drivers. In 1930 it was rebuilt as conventional 4-4-0 #1011, retired and dismantled in 1936 with its boiler kept for use at the Dunkirk, NY roundhouse until 1948 or 1950.

Does the $32 membership include the magazine?

Dues does include the journal, just be sure to say you want the most recent copy.