HereÂ’s something IÂ’ve always wondered, since if thereÂ’s one thing that is distinctive about a steam engine itÂ’s the pilot AKA the cowcatcher.

After locomotives lost their elaborate & enormous wooden cowcatchers at the end of the 19th century - perhaps in the realization that it was misnamed-shouldÂ’ve been the hamburger catcher-they replaced them with pilots that became more or less a signature item on each road.

A few examples:

B&0 a short vertical tube pilot (similar to ones used used on the CNJ, IC, SLSF etc)

PRR’s slatted bar “chicken coop” pilot, which they retained until adopting the drop-down solid steel pilot with the "keyhole" sides.

N&W used a design with horizontal tubes, until adopting the solid steel pilot we all know from the 611 & 1218.

Lackawanna: retained a high-mounted thin tubed pilot that looked like it wouldnÂ’t really handle a much debris.

ATSF, similar to DL&WÂ’s but with meatier looking tubes.

Reading: A hybrid design with more footboard than pilot.

Of course some roads, such as the Lehigh Valley, used footboards on a lot of their (freight) road power

Does anybody have any solid info or legend/lore to share? Why didnÂ’t they just buy these things like they did many other appliances. Its seems like RR's turned a relatively minor apparatus into something of a signature item.



superheater@rrmail.com

The Western and Atlantic Railroad of the State of Georgia (not to be confused with the Western and Atlantic Railroad) utilized a strap iron pilot in the pre-Civil War days. It was similar in appearance to those on the Pennsy, using straps of iron laid out horizontally. They were made at the Atlanta Shops by blacksmith Tom Haney (his son was fireman of the Texas on April 12, 1862).

awalker1829@yahoo.com

> A few examples:

> N&W used a design with horizontal tubes,
> until adopting the solid steel pilot we all
> know from the 611 & 1218.

Interesting to note that the C&O 614 looks like it has the exact same pilot that the N&W was fond of. Ron Ziel's book "American Locomotives" has a picture of the C&O 610 which shows slight differences than more recent photos of 614 do but still very much of the same style. I was wondering if it was an "after market" affair by a third party.

Ed

The Western Maryland used small wedge plow pilots. They appear to be snow plows but the real purpose was to remove rocks and mud from the track before they derailed the engine or train. Due to the territory the WM ran in they had a lot of problems with slides and many train crews said they owed their life to the plow pilots.

I think a lot of roads made their own pilots because it was cheap. They often used old flues or pipe and if a pilot was damaged any shop could repair it mostly from the scrap bin. They were going to pay the labor anyway.

John Bohon

jhbohon@yahoo.com

So who "Invented" the cowcatcher?

A quick search of the web produced 4 names...

Charles Babbage - all-around inventor credited with inventing the "calculating engine", and several dozen other devices.

Isaac Dripps - built the "John Bull" engine from "parts" shipped from England --- without an instruction manual!.

Joseph Davenport.

Robert Livingston Stevens - Also invented the inverted "T" rail and "ballasting the track".

--

My favourite "story" is associated with Isaac Dripps...

Seems there was a particular farmer that didn't like the fact that the railroad had built near/through his land and refused to build or allow a fence to keep his cows away from the rail line. The train had to stop so the cows could be shoo'd away and Dripps was assigned the task of finding a way to alleviate the problem.

It was suggested that since the manual method of making the cows move was to prod them with a pointy stick, he should just mount some pointy sticks on the front of the locomotive and maybe that would get the "point" (pun intended) across to the cows to get outta the way.

Apparently, no one considered that the pointy sticks were, in reality, "spears"; and did just that to the first cow.

The delay incurred in prying the cow off the spears was longer than the time normally taken to stop the train and shoo the cows away.

They also had to pay for the cow.

The "spears" were bent down to the rail level and wired together to provide a "wedge" shape and that proved somewhat more economical "timewise" though, like someone else mentioned here, the device is more akin to a hamburgermaker.

I don't know how much of that is true, especially given the "others" that are acredited with 'inventing' the cowcatcher, but I have read a couple of different accounts similar to the above in some (very) old books on railroads, and given human nature, it could of happened that way.

I have also read that some farmers would deliberately take a sick or dying cow to a rail line to get it "killed" by a train so the railroad would pay for it and they could go buy a new, healthy cow.

Semper Vaporo,
Charles T. McCullough

> The "spears" were bent down to the
> rail level and wired together to provide a
> "wedge" shape and that proved
> somewhat more economical
> "timewise" though, like someone
> else mentioned here, the device is more akin
> to a hamburgermaker.

I've also read a similar story connected with the "fold away" or "drop" couplers on fast freight and passenger engines. It was thought that when at speed the coupler would "impale" a motor vehicle caught at the grade crossing and drag it down the ROW. Where as a drop couple or other folding coupler type pilot would tend to cast the motor vehicle to the side. Of course the law of gross tonnage would dictate that the motor vehicle would usually come off much worse regardless.

Ed

I've often wondered about the "fold away" or "drop" couplers because it seems that most pictures I see show the locomotives with the coupler out. That would seem to indicate that most railroads did not have a specific rule saying that the coupler should not be folded in when not in use. Therefore, it seems like the initial cost plus maintenance of these more complex couplers would have been a waste of money.

> So who "Invented" the cowcatcher?

> A quick search of the web produced 4
> names...

> Charles Babbage - all-around inventor
> credited with inventing the
> "calculating engine", and several
> dozen other device

> Isaac Dripps - built the "John
> Bull" engine from "parts"
> shipped from England --- without an
> instruction manual!.

> Joseph Davenport.

> Robert Livingston Stevens - Also invented
> the inverted "T" rail and
> "ballasting the track".

> --

> My favourite "story" is associated
> with Isaac Dripps...

> Seems there was a particular farmer that
> didn't like the fact that the railroad had
> built near/through his land and refused to
> build or allow a fence to keep his cows away
> from the rail line. The train had to stop so
> the cows could be shoo'd away and Dripps was
> assigned the task of finding a way to
> alleviate the problem.

> It was suggested that since the manual
> method of making the cows move was to prod
> them with a pointy stick, he should just
> mount some pointy sticks on the front of the
> locomotive and maybe that would get the
> "point" (pun intended) across to
> the cows to get outta the way.

> Apparently, no one considered that the
> pointy sticks were, in reality,
> "spears"; and did just that to the
> first cow.

> The delay incurred in prying the cow off the
> spears was longer than the time normally
> taken to stop the train and shoo the cows
> away.

> They also had to pay for the cow.

> The "spears" were bent down to the
> rail level and wired together to provide a
> "wedge" shape and that proved
> somewhat more economical
> "timewise" though, like someone
> else mentioned here, the device is more akin
> to a hamburgermaker.

> I don't know how much of that is true,
> especially given the "others" that
> are acredited with 'inventing' the
> cowcatcher, but I have read a couple of
> different accounts similar to the above in
> some (very) old books on railroads, and
> given human nature, it could of happened
> that way.

> I have also read that some farmers would
> deliberately take a sick or dying cow to a
> rail line to get it "killed" by a
> train so the railroad would pay for it and
> they could go buy a new, healthy cow.

> Semper Vaporo,
> Charles T. McCullough

Charles, you are right. Special Agent Jones, who rode with us on the Rocky Club 3 day excursions
from Alamosa to Silverton and back observed that
"Nothing increases the value of a cow like crossing it with a locomotive."

Jim

rrfanjim@charter.net

> Interesting to note that the C&O 614
> looks like it has the exact same pilot that
> the N&W was fond of. Ron Ziel's book
> "American Locomotives" has a
> picture of the C&O 610 which shows
> slight differences than more recent photos
> of 614 do but still very much of the same
> style. I was wondering if it was an
> "after market" affair by a third
> party.

> Ed

I believe this pilot was a cast steel drop-coupler type offered by the General Steel Castings Corporation, and was available to all locomotive builders at that time.

Todd


TKMSMullens@wmconnect.com