Some of these locomotives have yet to see the outdoor track. This page will be updated from time to time with "pretty" pictures of the locomotives on the layout. In the mean time, we have to settle for shelf pictures for some. The locomotives that have been retrofitted for wireless remote control and battery power have a link where additional pictures and discussion of that process are posted. If there is no link, that locomotive is still waiting for conversion.
If you are unfamiliar with the scale of these models, known as 'G' scale, the Mallet (pronounced mal-'A) models are about 24 inches long, the Shay is about 28 inches long including its integral tender with powered drive wheels, and the smaller ones are 16 to 18 inches long not including their tenders. The Class D Shay including tender is 37 inches long.
Ephraim Shay, a logger in the 1860s, wished to devise a better way to move logs to the mill than on winter snow sleds. He built his own tramway in 1875. This was much more efficient than his competitors because he could log all year round.
Two years later he invented the Shay Locomotive. After much experimenting, Shay applied for and was issued a patent for the basic idea in 1881. He patented an improved geared truck for his engines in 1901.
Carnes and Agerter and Company, forerunners of Lima Locomotive, were contracted to build early locomotives (first prototype in 1880) and to fill Ephraum Shay's needs. John Carnes, one of the owners, suggested they put a driving gear on each wheel on one side of the engine and hook them up to a combination journal box which would carry the axles, the line shaft, and driving pinion. Beyond Shay’s oroginal patents Carnes himself held several patents for improvements to the Shay locomotive design.
The locomotives soon became known as "Shays." Lima Locomotive and its forerunner corporations licensed the Shay patents. Over the years it became popular in logging, quarries, gravel pits, and on many short line railroads. Lima Locomotive delivered the first 3-cylinder (Class B) Shay in 1884.
Only a few of the Class D Shay's were ever built. As logging operations moved further into the forest, and further away from water supplies, there was a need for a Shay with longer range between water stops. The Class D Shay addressed this need with water capacity typically double the Class C. A fourth powered truck was placed under the extended length tender, and this gave the Class D better track adhesion (or traction). Even though bigger and heavier, it could still climb a steep grade.
Production models of the Class D Shay are almost as rare as the original real thing. There are currently no G scale models of the Class D Shay in production. When model hobbiests get serious, they start "kit bashing" - the term used to start with a production model and substantially modify it to become something different. In a rather bold and gutsy move, I decided my first "kit bashing" experiment would be a locomotive. And here it is! Of course, when model hobbiests get really, really serious, they scratch build things. That means start from scratch with nothing but plans and raw materials. Some people have scratch built locomotives. I won't be graduating to that level until I find, and learn how to use, very tiny milling machines and lathes. The other thing I would need to find is an endless supply of time, and probably far more patience than I have!
The Class D 4-Truck Shay conversion started with two 3-truck Shays. The remainder of the second 3-truck Shay become a prototypical 2-truck Shay. And here it is. It actually turned into sort of a major project, but I'm still happy I did it.
Early in the Twentieth Century, as logging camps and loading areas moved farther away from the sawmills, the geared locomotive's lack of speed became an obstacle to efficient operations. The need for speed and intense competition led Baldwin Locomotive Works to tout the logging Mallet as an alternative to the best geared locomotives on the mainlines from the woods to the mills.
The compounding system for articulated steam locomotives was invented by Swiss engineer Anatole Mallet in 1876. Baldwin was one of the first U.S. builders to produce locomotives that employed his design. Baldwin built its first Mallet in 1909, but only built 4 more through 1920. However, from 1920 to 1929, they built 29 of them. All but two were of the 2-6-6-2 wheel arrangement.
This model is based on Baldwin design proposal 8043 for what would have been Baldwin's first narrow gauge 2-6-6-2 to be built for the Biles-Coleman Lumber Company. Unfortunately, the Great Depression intervened, the order was never placed, and the narrow gauge 2-6-6-2 was never built.
Baldwin Locomotive Works built two Mallet locomotives in the 1920s for the Uintah Railway in Utah and Colorado. These locomotives are still today the largest narrow gauge locomotives ever to run in the USA. When the Uintah Railway was shut down, both of these powerful Mallets went to the Sumpter Valley Railway, which transported agricultural and forestry products in the eastern part of Oregon. The locomotives were equipped with tenders and soon provided a considerable part of the transport service in this scenically very attractive area. The Sumpter Valley was finally shut down also. The two Mallets were sold to the International Railway of Central America in Guatemala, where they were in operation well into the 1960s.
I suppose technically one should not have both the Uintah Railway and Sumpter Valley Mallets running on the same layout since they are the same locomotive running 20 years apart. Ok, so we have a time warp on the layout. I'm guessing this Sumpter Valley #251 was originally the Uintah Railway #51.
Climax locomotives were built from 1888 to 1928 by the Climax Manufacturing Company of Corry, PA. The first Climax weighed just 10 tons in working order, and was the precursor for hundreds of Class A-type locomotives which were manufactured right up to the closing of the company in 1928.
In 1893 a Class B locomotive was designed featuring cylinders positioned alongside the boiler at an elevation of approximately 40 degrees. The first locomotive built to this design weighed 25 tons. The new Class B design was an instant success, and quickly became Climax's most popular model throughout the company's history. Initially the Class B was offered in sizes from 17 to 35 tons. However, as demand for larger locomotives grew, Climax increased the size of its Class B offerings until they topped off at 62 tons. In 1897, Climax built a 50 ton locomotive with three trucks, and was designated the Class C. The model featured here is a 38-ton Class B Climax.
Due to their unique design and construction, the Climax easily navigated sharp turns and steep grades. The Climax was very popular in the logging regions of the US and Canada. The Climax also saw service in open pit mining, stone quarries, sugarcane plantations, various other industries, and even passenger service.
Baldwin Locomotive Works built the first Class 8-18 D 2-6-0, named the "Delaware", for the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876. Along with "Schuylkill", the "Delaware" operated for 287 days of daily combined service hauling 4,000,000 of the Exhibition's 8,000,000 visitors for 16,000 passenger miles. This 2-6-0 model is based on Baldwin's catalog design from this period.
The 2-6-0 went on the play a key role in the development and growth of the US narrow gauge railroads. The 2-6-0 locomotives were the largest of their day and thus were considered the "kings of the railroad" or "moguls".
Baldwin Locomotive Works also built the Class 8-18 C 4-4-0, named "Schuylkill", for the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876. It was the combination of these two locomotives that hauled 4,000,000 passengers during the Exhibition (see Mogul above).
Locomotives with a 4-4-0 wheel arrangement came to be known as "Americans", due to the fact that locomotives of this type were used more than any other in nearly every variety of service throughout the US. The last narrow gauge locomotive that Baldwin built in the late 1940's was a 4-4-0 for shipment to Central America.
Baldwin Locomotive Works built the first Class 8-18 D 2-6-0, named the "Delaware", for the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876. Along with "Schuylkill", the "Delaware" operated for 287 days of daily combined service hauling 4,000,000 of the Exhibition's 8,000,000 visitors for 16,000 passenger miles. This 2-6-0 model is based on Baldwin's catalog design from this period.
The 2-6-0 went on the play a key role in the development and growth of the US narrow gauge railroads. The 2-6-0 locomotives were the largest of their day and thus were considered the "kings of the railroad" or "moguls".
The Uintah Railway was built in the high mountains on the border between Colorado and Utah. It was originally established to haul gilsonite, a solid hydrocarbon ore, out of the Uintah Basin. In the 1920's, the Baldwin Locomotive Works built two massive 2-6-6-2 locos, numbered 50 and 51, for the line. Unlike their European namesakes, the Uintah "Mallets" did not recirculate steam between the drive units. However, they were articulated and quite capable of handling the tight curves and steep grades of the railway. The Uintah Railway was in operation from 1902 to 1939.
I have both a #50 and a #51 in my collection of locomotives. The #50 is not equipped with factory sound and DCC, but the #51 is. Either way, I will be refurbishing them with wireless controls from Crest and wired to run on battery rather than track power.
The Uintah doesn't have its own page yet. I'll add that when I get around to converting this one. The Uintah, being a mining locomotive, will be used in the mine. That's located in the part of the layout that doesn't exist yet. Someday. And if you ever run into a model railroader that says they are completely done with their layout, you are not talking to a genuine model railroader.