Sorry, I should have qualified my remark by adding that the Lionel prototype was obviously a U.S. locomotive, but with a 2-6-4 wheel arrangement. Your examples look like (1) perhaps Latin American, or Indian, and (2) perhaps Polish. Maybe you could identify them. Yes, I'm aware that the 2-6-4 existed elsewhere; apparently it was called the "Adriatic" type.

"Errors in books such as Nothing like it in the world"
I have had an author tell me that another well known railroad author and historian (not Stephen Ambrose),
"Never let the truth get in the way of a good story" ,
so beware of what you read.
Mike Nix

Ambrose was accused of plagiarism shortly before his death, not however, over his book on the Pacific Railroad, and it was considered to be serious enough to have damaged his reputation and call into question some of his work. (See the Wikipedia page on him.)

Are you thinking of the infamous 1952 version of the Lionel 2025, a 2-6-4 that was nonetheless marketed as a Pennsy K4 Pacific? (It may have had a Belpaire firebox and a keystone numberplate, but it was certainly not a K4.)

That might be the one (haven't seen it for decades now), but I seem to remember the Lionel 2-6-4 with a headlight centered on the smokebox front -- as though they were trying to model the NYC Hudson but found the four-wheel pony truck couldn't make the sharp curves.

You must mean the 1953 Lionel 2037, which was somehow marketed as a "prairie". I think it used the same mechanism as the 1952 2025.

That's the one. And whatever the prototype was supposed to be, I'm sure it didn't have a Stephenson valve gear.

Richard -

No reply to your question concerning photo (2) of 2-6-4 Adriatic type #310.23, so I thought I'd dig around a bit on the internet to see what I could find. First of all, she's not Polish, but Austrian! Built in 1911 and obviously a compound, she was Austria's fastest locomotive, which is not surprising with those drivers! Obviously, the fascinating locomotive is preserved, but not sure if in Austria, or some other European country. Anyone have any further info?

Les

Hi Les,

The 310.23 is at Das Heizhaus Eisenbahnmuseum in Strasshof in Austria:

http://steamlocomotive.info/vlocomotive.cfm?Display=8474

http://www.eisenbahnmuseum-heizhaus.com/index.php?id=37

Regards,
Philip Marshall

Philip -

Thanks for the info! Incidentally, the other locomotive in photo (1) is not Indian but was built for the Cape Government Railway in South Africa. Four 2-6-2 Prairie types were built but found to be unstable at speed. The second four engines left the factory as 2-6-4's and the four wheel trailing truck was found to be a satisfactory solution and the original four Prairie's were rebuilt as 2-6-4's. These engines eventually found their way into the roster of the SAR.

Les

For a number of years, the Illinois Central printed airbrushed prints of ten wheeler No. 384 (IIRC) as No. 382. There are a couple of genuine photos of the 382-all taken after Casey Jones wrecked her. The only known photograph of Jones in the cab of a locomotive is the one on the 638 which was his locomotive. 382 was likely Sam Tate's locomotive (assigned to the engineer whom Jones relieved the night he died-Tate was listed as sick).

There's this one going around on Trainorders right now. Too outrageous to be mistaken for real, I hope.

Ah yes! The famous S.P G-SD-40, easily spotted by the front deck.

David -

Of course, the Espee had some regular cab in rear articulateds, that were not as well known as their cab-forwards. I believe that they were 2-8-8-4's and were in service in Arizona if I recall correctly. Did you use one of them for your starting point? The GS 4-8-4 front end isn't actually that far fetched, as it COULD have been done (including paint) IF the railroad figured it made sense. Obviously they didn't.


Les

There were 12 locomotives in the SP's "normal" AC-9 2-8-8-4 group, originally coal-burning and operating in the El Paso area where the cab-forward configuration wasn't needed. Reportedly they were capable of 75-mph operation so the "Daylight" styling in the image isn't far-fetched. But where did Mr. Wilkinson move the front-of-smokebox air pumps?