Eastern Steam Loco Identification

mruanejr · **Joined:** Fri Dec 06, 2013 3:26 pm **Posts:** 67

Hello All-

Longshot request here...

Can anyone help me identify the locomotive in the attached picture? It's from a friend of mine, and her Dad is the guy on the left, looking clean ;)

I've been told that this picture may have been taken in the Harrisburg, Pa area, but she's not sure.

I really can't make out the name on the tender, and I can't even make out the wheel arrangement.

Thanks in advance-

Mike

Cameron Wolk · **Joined:** Wed Sep 02, 2015 11:34 pm **Posts:** 270

Well it appears to have a wooten firebox shaped for using anthracite coal, that's for one. According to the roster at steamlocomotive.com it appears to be Philadelphia & Reading 2-8-0 #1699.

Cameron

airforcerail · **Posted:** Wed May 31, 2017 4:08 pm

Due to the location, and the firebox, I would guess it is a Reading Railroad engine. I found a picture for sale on Ebay that states it is Reading 1699, and it matches your picture, although there are some differences, one photo or the other might be pre-post rebuild.

EDIT: Cameron beat me to it!

Ron Goldfeder · **Posted:** Wed May 31, 2017 4:15 pm

The tender is marked "Philadelphia & Reading", in two lines.

RDGRAILFAN · **Posted:** Wed May 31, 2017 5:13 pm

It is a P&R (Reading Company) I9sb built in 1919 by Baldwin. The front number plate is the original from the factory ( Round). Apparently the number plates were changed over time.
Engine was rebuilt into I9-sd in 1948 and scrapped in July of 1952. The picture appears to be early in its service life.

Might be off on the location but it looks to be Rutherford yard to me.

mruanejr · **Joined:** Fri Dec 06, 2013 3:26 pm **Posts:** 67

Guys- Thanks for all the info!

Mike

Doug Debs 2472 · **Posted:** Thu Jun 01, 2017 12:55 pm

Note that the headlight right-side numberboard is tilted open. Perhaps someone recently changed the headlight bulb, or adjusted the headlight bulb focus (it must be near the focal point of the parabolic headlight reflector to work properly) and didn't tighten the latches enough?

In this era, most railroads did not require locomotive headlights to be illuminated during the day. Daytime headlight use becomes more common in the 1940s-1950s, as more and more cars crowd the roads and tangle with trains at grade crossings.

- Doug Debs

Dennis Storzek · **Posted:** Thu Jun 01, 2017 1:10 pm

Usually, guys don't sit up behind the pilot beam. Note that guy's gloves are off, and he has something in his hand. I think we caught him in the act.

Les Beckman · **Joined:** Tue Aug 02, 2005 1:25 pm **Posts:** 6482

Dennis Storzek wrote:

Usually, guys don't sit up behind the pilot beam. Note that guy's gloves are off, and he has something in his hand. I think we caught him in the act.

Dennis -

Just getting to that illuminated headlight number board must have been fun! NOT! I don't see a convenient step. I guess it could be done, but not easily. Is this why the Reading lowered their headlights?

Les

Dennis Storzek · **Posted:** Thu Jun 01, 2017 4:50 pm

Les,
That's why they sent the guy who's proportioned like a monkey, rather than one of those big hunkers on the ground. Feet on the hand rail at the bottom of the smokebox, one hand hanging onto the handhold under the headlight bracket, still leaves one hand free to do the work... no problem!

PMC · **Joined:** Sat Oct 17, 2015 5:55 pm **Posts:** 2876

It is hard to see but the number board pulled down doesn't look like 1699 to me. Did Reading put the train number in the number board aside the headlight, rather than the engine number? I know some other railroads did that (SP for example). That would mean they would be opening the door often.

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Thu Jun 01, 2017 5:27 pm

PMC wrote:

Did Reading put the train number in the number board aside the headlight, rather than the engine number? I know some other railroads did that (SP for example). That would mean they would be opening the door often.

LITERALLY thousands of P&R/Reading photos here.

I've never seen that practice in any of them.

Doug Debs 2472 · **Posted:** Thu Jun 01, 2017 5:46 pm

S.P. steam locomotives always had the engine number in the headlight number boards.

Starting around WW1, illuminated train number boards were provided to display the train number. Train number boards were provided with a set of black sheet-metal stencil numbers, the letter X (for non-scheduled "extra", for example X4294) and dashes (for multiple sections of the same train, for example 1-87 = 1st section of train 87; at least 1 more section follows).

On non-streamlined S.P. steam locomotives, the number boards were mounted on the smokebox sides at roughly 11 o'clock and 1 o'clock positions. On streamlined and semi-streamlined (i.e. with skyline casing) S.P. steam locomotives, the number boards were attached to skyline casing.

- Doug Debs

Les Beckman · **Joined:** Tue Aug 02, 2005 1:25 pm **Posts:** 6482

PMC wrote:

It is hard to see but the number board pulled down doesn't look like 1699 to me. Did Reading put the train number in the number board aside the headlight, rather than the engine number? I know some other railroads did that (SP for example). That would mean they would be opening the door often.

PMC -

To me, it looks like the first three numbers are clearly 169. I can't read the last digit, but odds seem to be that it would also a 9.

Les

PMC · **Joined:** Sat Oct 17, 2015 5:55 pm **Posts:** 2876

Les Beckman wrote:

PMC -

To me, it looks like the first three numbers are clearly 169. I can't read the last digit, but odds seem to be that it would also a 9.

Les

I think you must be right Les, as mentioned above it would seem established that Reading didn't put train numbers on there. Probably a mechanical issue as speculated, they might be waiting for a repair, and so someone had a chance to take a photo. A dark number board could potentially be a hazard in say train order territory. A fascinating mystery and clue.