vol. 24, no. 2 spring 2004

NewsletterVol. 24, No. 2 Spring 2004

2 / R&LHS Newsletter 24-2

Editor / Publisher: Clifford J. Vander Yacht2363 Lourdes Drive West

Jacksonville FL 32210-3410<[email protected]>

Newsletter Online:www.rrhistorical-2.com/rlhs/rlhsnews/rlhsnews.htm

Assistant EditorsVernon J. Glover

704 Renaissance Loop, SERio Rancho NM 87124

James A. Smith

Editorial AdvisorsBruce HeardJohn Gruber

Copyright © 2004 by The Railway & Locomotive Historical Society, Inc.Printed by Raintree Graphics of Jacksonville, Florida

Copyright © 2004 by The Railway & Locomotive Historical Society, Inc.Printed by Raintree Graphics of Jacksonville, Florida

Annual Meeting Official Notice

The Annual Meeting of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society,Inc. will be held on the morning of June 13, 2004, from 9:00 AM to 11:00AM at the Marriott Hotel, 247 24th St, Ogden, Utah. A slate of Direc-tors will be presented for approval by R&LHS members in attendance. Afull breakfast will be available at the beginning of the Annual Meeting ata charge of $15.00 per person, payable in advance or at the door.

This year, the R&LHS Annual Meeting is being held at the MarriottHotel in downtown Ogden, Utah, with trips to Promontory Summit for aprivate reenactment of the Golden Spike Ceremony, to Heber Valley RRand to other historical locations in the area. ^

Membership MattersMembership applications, change of address and other membership status inquir-

ies should be sent to R&LHS - Membership, William H. Lugg, Jr., PO Box 292927,Sacramento CA 95829-2927.

Research Inquiries, back issues, rosters, etc.Source materials printed, manuscript and graphic are included in the Society’s Ar-

chives. Inquiries concerning these materials should be addressed to R&LHS ArchivesServices, PO Box 600544, Jacksonville, Florida 32260-0544. To help expedite our re-sponse, please indicate a daytime telephone number where you can normally be reached.

Full membership services listing will again appear in the next issue.

R&LHS Newsletter 24-2 / 3

NewsletterNotes

Welcome to the new size whichwill now fit between your copies ofRRH. This size permits increasedarea and better paper for the samecost due to the economy of signa-ture (8 or 16 pages at once) print-ing. The text is still the same sizefor easy reading. Most illustrationsare the same size although some arerotated, or slightly reduced in size(6 instead of 7¼ inches in width).

It also allows more space for ar-ticles, either in length or in quan-tity. Now there’s a hint if I ever sawone! Need end notes, tables, bibli-ography? No problem. Go for it!

The late John F. Humiston sentme the article on closed loops withthe last update on March 20, 2003.As he did not get a chance to proof-read my editing, I hope that this isthe way he wanted it. A well de-served tribute to the man.

The R&LHS Awards presenta-tions will probably be in KansasCity, Missouri, during the Lexing-ton Group convention September29 through October 2, 2004. Moreinfo later. Forms for the Awards arein this issue.

There is still time to get in frontof the camera at Promontory Sum-mit, so register now and make plansto go. Free drawing for cab rides atPromontory, vouchers for Trains

COVER PHOTO: AMC designedPere Marquette Berkshire #1215,leads two PM stock cars, on awestbound freight out of Oak Yard,Detroit, heading for Grand Rapids.In the foreground are dwarf signalsand electrically operated derails.Photo by Robert A. Hadley, ca. 1946.Clifford J. Vander Yacht collection.Note: The platform, seventeeninches above the pilot beam, was a“signature” of designer Trumbull. Itappears on the Erie, NKP and PM 2-8-4s, on the C&O T-1s and on thefirst order of C&O 4-8-4s (class J-3). By having it, Trumbull wasconforming to the 1915 ARA rulestating “Locomotives havingheadlights which cannot be safelyand conveniently reached from thepilot beam … shall be equipped with… steps suitable for getting to andfrom such headlights.” Also notethe substantial step near the lowersmokebox hinge (and on the otherside) for access to the classificationlights.

Unlimited Tours, and maybe sometickets to the Northern Nevada rail-road at Ely. Both shuttle transpor-tation companies listed in the con-vention announcement also pick upat the Amtrak terminal as well as theairport. In addition there is anothershuttle service: Utah Shuttle Ser-vices <www.utahshuttle.com>(801) 393-5438, . To have transpor-tation, one needs reservations aheadof time. The shuttle services makeit a point to keep track of Amtrakarrival times. ^


A. G. Trumbull: Locomotive Designerby Eugene L. Huddleston

“An institution is the lengthened shadow of one man.” — Ralph WaldoEmerson, 1841

Alonzo. G. Trumbullupon retirement in 1947.

EMERSON’S ESSAY on self-reliance might seemout of date in the twenty-first century, for manyadmirers of steam locomotives today look atthese skillfully crafted machines quite unawareof their designers as individuals. This is to beexpected because most steam locomotive de-signs in twentieth century America were eitherborrowed or originated by difficult-to-identifyengineers representing both railroad companyand locomotive manufacturer. But self-reliantindividuals are rightfully associated with someoutstanding designs, such as Paul W. Kiefer ofthe New York Central, Otto Jabelmann of theUnion Pacific, William F. Kiesel of the Penn-

sylvania, John Pilcher of the Norfolk & Western, and Will Woodard ofthe Lima Locomotive Works. The stories of these American designers,known and unknown, deserve telling more than they have, especially thosedesigners working under the mysterious rubric of the “Advisory Mechani-cal Committee” (AMC).

The AMC was formed in the late 1920s for the four major roads undercontrol of the Van Sweringen brothers of Cleveland in order to standard-ize and rationalize the mechanical procedures and designs of the fourroads, which otherwise operated independently of each other. Even thoughin 1947 the Pere Marquette (PM) had just been merged into Chesapeake& Ohio (C&O), the Nickel Plate (NKP) had gone its own way the sameyear and the Erie had become bankrupt in 1938, documents show theAMC lasting into 1949. The AMC was far from being just a pipe smokingbunch of distinguished but nondescript senior engineers. Investigationdiscloses it left a “paper trail” which traced down today reveals a struc-ture requiring a formal chain of command and an extensive body of em-ployees to assure smooth flow of data. And what a collection of data itwas! The “Standard Maintenance Equipment Instructions” (known as


SMEI’S) showed that the “Com-mittee,” between projects, was busyturning out detailed descriptionscovering every aspect of car and lo-comotive upkeep, construction, andoperation. What is more, the AMC’scollection of drawings and printedmatter shows that the committeehad practically complete controlover construction of rolling stockand locomotives for C&O, Erie,NYC&STL (NKP), and PM (in theorder presented on AMC plans anddocuments).

Among the most notable of thelocomotive designs were 40 Texasand 60 Allegheny type locomotivesfor C&O, plus 80 Berkshires (2-8-4) for the Nickel Plate, built by Alcoand Lima, that were copied so of-ten and so successfully that in thewords of English locomotive histo-rian Philip Atkins, the Van Swerin-gen Berkshires came nearest to “amodern U. S. standard steam loco-motive design, although individualbatches varied considerably in de-tail.”1 Yet most historical accountsof locomotive development eitherfail to mention the committee ormention it without identifying itsmembers. Because so little is knownabout the Advisory MechanicalCommittee, the question naturallyarises as to the identity of the self-reliant individual on that commit-tee most responsible for its great de-sign achievements.

That person is Alonzo G.

Trumbull, chief mechanical engi-neer of the committee from its for-mation to 1947. But one wouldnever know this from reading mostaccounts of the histories of the lo-comotives turned out under the aus-pices of the AMC. Either the ac-counts fail to mention the AMC,thereby assuming the road’s ownmechanical department was incharge of the design, or since itschief designs were in the SuperPower category — and built byLima Locomotive Works — that theSuper Power originator at Lima Lo-comotive Works, Will Woodard, wasresponsible. Or, some accounts,genuinely trying to give the AMCits due, look to William G. Black be-cause of releases from C&O’s pub-licity department that put him in theforefront.

Alonzo G. Trumbull had theeducation and experience to standout from other men on the Commit-tee, whether college trained or self-educated. He was also the onlymember of the committee havingthe continuity of tenure to partici-pate in the designs of all the SuperPower locomotives that have thestamp of the AMC on them. Bornin Hornell, New York, he attendedCornell University, where he was amember of Sigma Chi fraternityand where he met his future wife.He obtained his degree in mechani-cal engineering in 1899 and enteredrailroad service on the Erie.2 Cornell


must have had a fine engineeringprogram, for getting their degreesthere in the same general periodwere Ralph Johnson, future chiefengineer at Baldwin LocomotiveWorks and author of The Steam Lo-comotive (1944), and William G.Woodard, designer of the first Su-per Power steam locomotive as wellas innovative inventor. In 1903Trumbull was promoted to Me-chanical Engineer and in 1905 be-came assistant mechanical superin-tendent at the Meadville, Pennsyl-vania, shops. From there, beginningin 1907, he worked his way up inthe motive power department togeneral mechanical superintendent.In 1922 he was named chief me-chanical engineer, headquartered inNew York. He kept the same title,when early in 1929 he moved toCleveland to serve on the AMCuntil 1947, when he retired.3 Rail-way Mechanical Engineer for De-cember, 1929, documentsTrumbull’s author-ity: “Mr. Trumbullwill have supervisionover the mechanicalengineering forcesfor the advisory me-chanical committee,with headquarters atCleveland, Ohio.”4

One might won-der why Trumbulldid not participate inthe fanfare accompa-

nying completion of Lima’s largestlocomotive and one that proved in1943 to have produced the highesthorsepower in the field of any steamlocomotive. The reason probably isthat Trumbull was uncomfortablyaware of the weight problem thathad developed with the first ten 2-6-6-6s under construction. Cer-tainly he was present for group pic-tures on completion of the secondorder of Pere Marquette Berkshiresearlier in 1941. One must assumeTrumbull had no part in the weightdeception practiced by his boss D.S. Ellis, for C&O’s assistant generalattorney of law left Trumbull’sname out of his lengthy official ac-count of the scheme to falsify theweights at the Lima plant.5

Fortifying the contention thatTrumbull was the man behind thesuperior designs of the AMC re-quires clarifying the roles of twomen on the Committee who mightbe construed as Trumbull’s “boss.”

One is of courseDaniel Ellis. For theyears 1932 to 1943,Ellis’s signature ap-pears on AMC docu-ment approval pagesright below Trum-bull’s. “Chief Me-chanical Officer”would seem to be anadministrative post,and Ellis’s role inoverseeing construc-D. S. Ellis


tion of the first 2-6-6-6s (as pre-sented in The Allegheny, Lima’s Fin-est) bears that out. Ellis was a self-made industrial executive, and of-ten gave papers at national engineer-ing conventions. Ellis graduatedfrom high school in Warwick, NewYork. After a stint asclerk on the Lehighand Hudson River, hemoved on to the NewYork Central as clerkin the office of audi-tor of freight ac-counts. Later he be-came a machinist,then “assistant engi-neer of motivepower” for NYC. In1929 he was namedsales manager of the Railroad Divi-sion of Worthington Pump and Ma-chinery Co. According to his entryin Who’s Who in Railroading, in 1932he became “engineer of motivepower” (standard title for entry intoAMC upper ranks) for AMC, andin 1936 (by his own account) “me-chanical assistant to vice-president,C&O, NKP, and PM. (Since theChief Mechanical Officer reportedto a vice-president, he could pre-sumably honestly use this title.) OnApril 30, 1943, Ellis left C&O (andAMC) and became Vice-PresidentManufacturing for Lima Locomo-tive Works, keeping his Clevelandaddress.6 One can guess that Ellis’srise in locomotive manufacturing in-

dustry was predicated more on hisfunction as an “efficiency expert”than on being a creative engineer.

The same guess holds true forthe only other man to hold a posi-tion superior to Trumbull’s. Will-iam G. Black apparently held firmly

to the coattails of thefamed “Doctor ofSick Railroads,” JohnJ. Bernet, for he wentwith him to the Eriewhen Ber net (whohad been President ofthe NKP since 1916)assumed its Presi-dency January 1,1927. Black is impor-tant enough to thestory of the AMC de-

signers to require quoting back-ground on him (from Railway Me-chanical Engineer) prior to Bernet’snaming him “mechanical assistantto the president” on assuming theErie’s Presidency: “His early edu-cation was received in the grammarschools and supplemented with abusiness education at MetropolitanBusiness College, Chicago. In 1893Mr. Black entered the service of theNickel Plate and served a machinistapprenticeship at its Stony Islandshops, Chicago. After completinghis apprenticeship he enteredArmour Institute, Chicago, in 1897for the purpose of taking a postgraduate mechanical course. … OnFebruary 10, 1893, Mr. Black

William G. Black


reentered the service of the NickelPlate as a machinist and was pro-moted to machine shop foremanJuly 1, 1903.” In the next twentyyears Black rose to be superinten-dent of motive power for the NickelPlate.7

We know nothing objectively ofBlack’s career fromhis going to the Eriewith Bernet to hisdeath. We do knowsomething, but it isstrongly colored bythe “spin” given it bya well known VanSweringen lines pub-licist. Black died in1936 at age 59, fol-lowing a two-monthillness. Writing a full page obituaryin the C&O employees’ magazineThe Rail was L. C. Probert, brilliantpublic relations man (with title of aC&O Vice-President) who origi-nated the “Chessie Cat” logo andthe slogan “Sleep like a kitten.”Probert put the best light possibleon Black’s career, perhaps as a kind-ness to Black’s son and widow. Forexample, Probert wrote: “Black firstcame to the notice of the late JohnJ. Bernet, when the latter, as presi-dent of the Nickel Plate Road, en-gaged in its rehabilitation, wantedsome locomotives designed. Thetwo men saw eye to eye for highersteam pressures, greater boiler ca-pacity, greater coal and water capac-

ity, higher speeds, and greater pull-ing power.”8 This makes NKP’s im-provements in motive power in the1920s more progressive than theyreally were. When in 1923 Black be-came head of NKP power, the roadhad already started buying copies ofthe USRA light Mikado, which it

had received as origi-nals in 1918. Accord-ing to George Drury,NKP bought 61 cop-ies between 1920 and1924. “The first five,”he added, “ carriedminor improvementsin the boiler and fire-box, plus cast trailingtrucks.” The biggestimprovements were

on engines 616-671: booster engineson the trailing axle.9 These achieve-ments in motive power hardly jus-tify Probert’s claims, either aboutBlack’s tenure as head of NickelPlate power, or his time on the Erie,or on the AMC, where he suppos-edly “worked wonders on motivepower and equipment,” accordingto Probert.

The main reasons for ruling outBlack as designer of AMC motivepower is his being “kicked upstairs”to vice-president of C&O, NKP, andPM following his appointment tothe AMC, the absence of his nameon approval forms issued by theAMC, and the Erie influence in thestyling of the locomotives designed

John J. Bernet


by the AMC during the 1930s —from the C&O T-1 through theNKP and PM 2-8-4s, and first or-der of C&O 4-8-4s. When Blackwent to the Erie with Burnet earlyin 1927, his title was “mechanicalassistant” to Burnet. When Blackwent with Burnet to Cleveland inMay, 1929, he kept the same title,with Burnet assuming Presidencyof the C&O, NKP, and PM, a posi-tion he held until his death in 1936.The next change in Black’s status,as reported in Railway MechanicalEngineer was in November of 1931with his appointment as “assistantvice-president of the C&O and PereMarquette [and later NKP] with ju-risdiction over purchases and storesmatters.”10 Trumbull and Black hadgiven papers at the June 1931 Con-vention in Chicago of the Mechani-cal Division of the ARA, Black as"Mechanical Asst. to President,C&O," Trumbull as "Chief Me-chanical Engineer, C&O." By No-vember of 1931, Black had gone toPurchases and Stores. For a me-chanical man, whose career focushad been on the workings of ma-chinery, to be suddenly transferredto a chief bookkeeping job musthave been disheartening. That hewas no longer in the loop regardingmotive power is confirmed by ab-sence of his name on project ap-proval forms from the AMC, eitheras a railroad representative or as anofficer of the AMC. In tracing the

interesting presence of Erie designdetails (and Erie class designations)in the first two jobs for the AMC— the C&O 2-10-4 of 1930 and theNKP 2-8-4 of 1934 — we can seethe hand of Trumbull, not Black.The Erie had been good toTrumbull. Regardless of his newsalary as CME of the AMC, it musthave been hard to take up roots andmove to Cleveland. If Black had al-legiance, it must have been to theNKP, where he had risen from ma-chinist apprentice to superintendentof motive power. It is only specula-tion, but there could have been ten-sion between Trumbull and Blackover the direction of the AMC.Trumbull’s temperament is un-known, but Probert’s fulsome obitu-ary speaks of Black’s “brusque ex-terior and a great and tender heart.”

Further supporting Trumbull asthe “brains” behind the outstand-ing AMC designs is the similarityin appearance (and in class designa-tion) of C&O’s 2-10-4 of 1930 withthe huge 2-8-4s he had designed forthe Erie beginning in 1927, for thatis where his loyalty was, probablyuntil the bankruptcy of the Erie in1938. The fact, too, that Erie clear-ances (originally graded for 6 ft.gauge) permitted Trumbull to“think big” in designing steam en-gines is another bit of evidence sup-porting Trumbull. An impressiveitem on Trumbull’s resume thatmight be overlooked is his appoint-

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Class K-4, 2709, built by Alco in 1943, runs west along the Ohio River west of Greenup, Kentucky, in April 1953. Cab onC&O’s 2-8-4 is slightly larger than on NKP’s or PM’s 2-8-4. Photo by E. L. Huddleston, Collection C&O Historical Society#1790.

Just as the design of Van Sweringen 2-8-4s proportionally downsized C&O's 2-10-4s of 1930, so the C&O and Virginian2-6-6-6s of 1941-48 proportionally enlarged them. This 2-6-6-6, 1602, heads up Kanawha River at Mt. Carbon, WV, inMarch 1953. Photo by E. L. Huddleston, Collection C&O Historical Society #448.


ment in 1918 to a committee, rep-resenting fourteen railroads, to helpdesign the twelve classes of steamlocomotives for allotment to thenation’s railroads during World WarI under auspices of the UnitedStates Railroad Administration.11

The prominence of the Erie inthe first work of the AMC is evi-dent not just in locomotives but infreight cars as well. Who was spe-cifically responsible for these de-signs is unknown, but from the startthe AMC turned out plans and dataon freight cars as well as locomo-tives. And Jeffrey Koeller has noted,‘The Erie mechanical departmenthad already [before-founding of theAMC] developed their version ofthe 1923 ARA box car design, whichbecame the prototype for the Erie-PM-C&O cars built in 1930 [underauspices of the AMC].”12

The only competitor remainingto contest Alonzo Trumbull for titleof chief designer for the AdvisoryMechanical Committee is WillWoodard of Lima LocomotiveWorks of Lima, Ohio. For many lo-comotive historians, Lima Locomo-tive rises above its competitors,Baldwin of Philadelphia and Ameri-can (Alco) of Schenectady, NewYork, by virtue of its inventing “Su-per Power” locomotives and in ad-hering to a Midwestern work ethicthat prized quality over volume. Tothese historians, Lima must havehad a big hand in the C&O, PM, and

NKP designs because almost allSuper Power steamers produced forthese roads came from Lima. True,Lima engineers worked closely withAMC engineers. AMC staff couldtake turns riding a business car froma siding at Cleveland’s TerminalTower to a spur near Lima’s officebuilding reserved for office cars.Certainly it was a privileged way totravel. Eric Hirsimaki, in his historyof Lima, gives another reason forAMC usually granting Lima its lo-comotive contracts: “While thebuilder’s bid was important,” Ericnoted, “it wasn’t necessarily the de-ciding factor.” Sometimes a builderwould be on the railroad’s lines, andthus be both a potential supplier andshipper.13 Such was the case withLima. The fact that Will Woodardhad originated the concept of Su-per Power at Lima in 1925 leadssome historians to assume he had ahand in the specific designs of theAMC. (Of course, Lima had its ownin-house designs that Woodard didhave a hand in.) However, Woodard(who died in 1942) made a condi-tion of his employment as LimaVice-President that he work out ofNew York City. His assistant, J.Edgar Smith (Railroad, 1974) toldof productive days — mostly withpoppet valves not with specific con-tracts — at their office at 17 East42nd St. Woodard was a restless ex-perimenter, having been awarded 92patents on various mechanical fea-

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C&O J-3 4-8-4 #600 named “Thomas Jefferson” is at Charlottsville,Virginia, June 11, 1939. It was built by Lima in 1935. Note stars onshields. About 1942 the headlight was moved down to the pilot. Photoby Ted Gay. Collection of Joe Schmitz.


tures of steam and electric locomo-tive design.14 Among achievementsthat led to his honoring by the Na-tional Association of Manufactur-ers in 1940 were development oflateral motion driving boxes and“constant resistance” engine andtrailing trucks.

If that “lengthened shadow” at theAMC is cast by Alonzo Trumbull, itwould be carrying self-reliant indi-vidualism too far in not giving creditto those men (there were no womenso far as we know) who worked withand under Trumbull in designingAMC’s “giants of the rails.” It is hardto trace down the engineering staff ofthe AMC, but besides Black,Trumbull, and Ellis, there were at leastthe following serving at one time oranother during the existence of theAMC: D. J. Sheehan, F. J. Herter, J.B. Blackburn, Mike Donovan, T. P.Irving, and E. R. Hauer (not neces-sarily in that order). Herter and Irv-ing held the title of “engineer of roll-ing stock” later changed to “engineercar construction.” The rest enteredAMC service as “engineer [of] mo-tive power.” Probably the most im-pressive of these lesser men was EdHauer, who took over Trumbull’s job(for the short time it existed) afterTrumbull’s retirement. Hauer, gradu-ate of the Mechanics Institute inRichmond, Virginia, worked for bothLima and C&O before joining theAMC. He took leave from the AMCto serve as Assistant and Associate

Director of the Office of DefenseTransportation from April 1942 toJuly 1944.15

While credit is being given, it iswell to note that there would havebeen no AMC without John J.Bernet. Certainly the Van Swerin-gen brothers of Cleveland in put-ting together their railroad empirecould sense that he was the rightman at the right time and made himpresident of the Nickel Plate. Theyknew nothing about railroad opera-tions and management. Bernet did.And upon going to the Erie, hemade motive power central to hisrehabilitation of the road. HerbHarwood, in Invisible Giants (2002),makes this clear: “From his earliestNickel Plate days, Bernet was anemphatic believer in r unningheavier trains faster. In 1925, theLima Locomotive Works … haddeveloped a new high-horsepowerdesign, the 2-8-4 [Woodard de-signed] “Berkshire” type … Bernetimmediately saw its possibilities andordered fifty [of larger design] forthe Erie in 1927 and fifty-five morein the following two years … Theireffect on Erie operations was aston-ishing; … compared to their prede-cessors, the new [Erie] Berkshireshauled 17 percent heavier trainloadsusing 32 percent less fuel — andimproved running time by 34 per-cent.”16 True, without the ordersfrom Bernet there would have beenno new designs. With the orders, as

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C&O K-4 #2737 Alco 1943. Leaving Russell, Kentucky, eastbound with a set off and pick up manifest. Conductor ridesbehind engineer, head brakeman behind the fireman. October 1949. Photo by E. L. Huddleston, Collection C&O HistoricalSociety #1357.


Notes1 Philip Atkins, Dropping the Fire: the Decline and Fall of the Steam Lo-

comotive (Irwell Press, 1999), p. 12.2Who’s Who in Railroading, 1946 ed. (New York: Simmons-Boardman,

1947), p. 704.3 Railway Age 122 (May 24,1947), 1103.4 Railway Mechanical Engineer, 103 (December 1929), 761.5 Eugene L. Huddleston, “Doctoring the Scales: the Case of the Over-

weight Alleghenies,” Trains 58 (December 1998), 78-85.6 Who’s Who in Railroading, 1946 ed. (New York: Simmons-Boardman,

1947), p. 205. See also Railway Mechanical Engineer 110 (March 1936),133.

7 Railway Mechanical Engineer 101 (March 1927), 191. See also obitu-ary in Railway Mechanical Engineer 110 (July 1936), 330.

8 The Rail (1936, n. p.). C&O and allied roads’ publicity department “published Chesapeake & Ohio Lines Magazine, which later changed itsname to The Rail and later to Tracks.” (cited in Turner’s Chessie’s Road).See also in Chessie’s Road (revised ed.) T. W. Dixon’s account of Probert’screative publicity work.

9 George Drury, Guide to North American Steam Locomotives (Kalm-bach Publishing Co., 1993), p. 281.

10 Railway Mechanical Engineer 101 (March 1927), 191. See also RME105 (November 1931), 568, and RME 107 (June 1933), 231.

11 Eugene L. Huddleston, Uncle Sam’s Locomotives: The USRA and theNation’s Railroads (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2002), p. 7.

12 Jeffrey M. Koeller, “C&O 1930 Box Car: Advisory Mechanical Com-mittee—Part 3,” Mainline Modeler 22 (July 2001), 42-49.

13 Eric Hirsimaki, Lima: The History (Edmonds, WA: Hundman Pub-lishing, 1986), p. 290.

14 J. Edgar Smith, “Super-Power Steam Locomotives,” Railroad 96 (Au-gust 1974), 24-32. See also obituary in Railway Age 112 (January-June1942), 677-78.

15 Biographical sketches of Hauer and most other AMC officials are inWho’s Who in Railroading, 1946 edition.

16 Herbert H. Harwood, Jr. , Invisible Giants: The Empires of Cleveland’sVan Sweringen Brothers (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2002),pp. 131-2. ^

executed by Trumbull, there came into being the vaunted “Van Swerin-gen superpower” — to use Harwood’s words — “that occupied the firstranks of steam design until steam gave way to diesel power.”


LOOPS ARE USED on railroads to re-duce gradients. Open loops are quitecommon, the best known probablybeing the Horseshoe Curve aboveAltoona, PA, ascending/descendingthe east slope of Cresson Ridge.Closed loops, where the trackcrosses under or over itself using atunnel or bridge, are less common.There are, or were, at least fifteenin the United States and Canadalisted here by railroads.

Alaska RR. - The Loop, SewardSub., Mile 50.5. Crossing by bridge.Grade 1½% ascending southwardtoward Seward. Standard Gauge.Loop eliminated in realignmentabout 1950 when Bartlett Glacierretreated.1

CSX Transportation -Hiwassee Loop, Etowah Sub., At-lanta Division, between Appalachia,TN, Mile KX360.1, and Farner,Mile KX366.1. Crossing by trestleand bridge, 60' high by 195' long.Standard Gauge. Loop about 8000'in length. Line climbs 426 feet in 6miles. From the south, leaving

Closed Loopsby John F. Humiston

Farner downgrade, the line goescompletely around Bald Mountain,crosses under itself and continuesfarther around the mountain till itreaches the Hiwassee River, thenfollows the river for 15 miles to acrossing at Alliance, Mile KX345.4.Constructed 1898 to replace switch-back. Formerly L&N. Knoxville -Atlanta line known as “The Hookand Eye”, the hook being an openloop at Tate Mountain in Georgia.CSXT’s last train on the loop oper-ated March 6, 2001. Now out of ser-vice, the line will be abandoned orsold. On July 11, 2002, announcedthat 43.4 mile Copperhill branch,Etowah to Copperhill, to be sold toSoutheast Local DevelopmentCorp. of Tennessee with help fromGlenn Springs Holdings, Inc., di-vision of Occidental PetroleumCorp. per CTC Board , October2002. Also see CTCB July 2001.Also Trains November 2002, p.18.2

Canadian Pacific Railway -Upper Spiral Tunnel, Laggan Sub.,Mile 128.8 between Partridge andYoho, BC. Standard Gauge. Tunnel


is 3255' long, curves 250 degrees on1.66% grade changing elevation 56'ascending eastward.3

Canadian Pacific Railway -Lower Spiral Tunnel, Laggan Sub.,Mile 131.1 between Yoho and Ca-thedral, BC. Standard Gauge. Tun-nel is 2922' long, curves 226 degreeson 1.62% grade changing elevation50' ascending eastward.

Denver and Rio GrandeWestern Railroad - Double Circleor Laguna Loop, Tintic Branch,Springville to Eureka, Utah at Mile32, built 1891 to reach mines beyond6574 feet summit. Standard Gauge.Crossing by 462 feet long woodtrestle 90 feet high at crossing andhigher over Pinion Creek. PinionCreek is also crossed on two otherbridges, one 94 feet long and one104 feet long, both within loop.Loop turns approximately 460 de-grees central angle with 12 degreecurves. Line climbs 2032 feet in afraction under 17 miles on a gradeof 2.2% to as much as 2.64%. Lineabandoned beyond Pearl prior to1972.4

Denver & Salt Lake Railroad- Rifle Sight Notch Loop - Tunnel33, at Loop, CO, station, Mile 69,elevation 10980', west of CoronaPass, Mile 65, elevation 11660', as-cending eastward. Standard Gauge.Line eliminated by completion of

the Moffat Tunnel in 1928.5

Georgetown Loop Railroad -Georgetown Loop, Georgetown,CO. 36" Gauge. Crossing by Devil’sGate steel viaduct. Portion ofGeorgetown, Breckenridge, & LeadvilleRailway; Colorado Central between Sil-ver Plume and Georgetown restored bythe State Historical Society of Colorado.Loop originally built in 1884. ArthurM. Wellington in The EconomicTheory of the Location of Railways,John Wiley & Sons, New York,1887, has a view of this loop and atrack diagram and states that it isthe only Bridge Spiral in the UnitedStates, spiral being his term for aclosed loop. The bridge is on a curveof 311 feet radius while the otherend of the loop has a radius of206.67 feet. 36" Gauge.6

The Morenci Southern Rail-way, 36" Gauge, was completed inJanuary 1901 from a connectionwith the standard gauge Arizona &New Mexico Railway at Guthrie,AZ, for 18 miles to the PhelpsDodge copper mine at Morenci,AZ. The approach to Morenci wasup a narrow cañon with a naturalgrade of about 6%. To obtain a rail-way grade of 3.5% up the cañon,four loops were used in an actualdistance of about 1½ miles. A fifthloop was used farther down. Con-tinual changes in topography as themining progressed, resulted in


abandonment of the MorenciSouthern in 1922. The PhelpsDodge operations now connect tothe Union Pacific Railroad atClifton, AZ, instead of Guthrie.

Morenci Southern Railway -First Loop - At Morenci, AZ.Crossing by timber trestle 259 feetlong.

Morenci Southern Railway -Second Loop - At Morenci. Cross-ing by timber trestle.

Morenci Southern Railway -Third Loop - At Morenci. Cross-ing by timber trestle.

Morenci Southern Railway -Fourth Loop - At Morenci. Cross-ing by timber trestle. The Second,Third, and Fourth Loops were re-placed by two pair of switch backsaround 1914 - 1915 and with otherline relocations increased the milageto 18.82.

Morenci Southern Railway -Fifth Loop - At Frisco, AZ. Cross-ing by 420 foot tunnel about MilePost 9.2 measured from Guthrie.7

Newfoundland Railway/laterCanadian National Railways - Trin-ity Loop, Bonavista Sub. about Mile53, Clarenville - Bonavista line, 42"Gauge. Crossing by steel girderbridge. Abandoned June 20, 1984.

Preserved as historic site, ClaytonCook’s Trinity Loop Fun Park, cir-cumference 6600 feet turning ap-proximately 310 degrees changingelevation 34 feet 4 inches.8 ClaytonCook is a retired CN Conductor ac-tive in local railway preservation.

Union Pacific Railroad - Wil-liams Loop, Canyon Sub, aboutMile 294, west of Spring Garden,CA, Mile 296, Oakland - Portolaline. Standard Gauge. Grade 1%compensated ascending eastward.Crossing by culvert underpass. For-merly Western Pacific Railroad.9

Union Pacific, BNSF trackagerights - Tehachapi Loop, MojaveSub., Tunnel 9, at Walong Siding,CA, Mile 351.8. Standard Gauge.Grade 2.1% ascending eastward.Bakersfield - West Colton Line.Formerly Southern Pacific.10

— JFH – 2 September 1998, 6September 1998, 10 September2002, 20 October 2002, 18 January2003, 13 February 2003, 19 March2003.

Notes

1 Profiles and maps in Reports ofAlaskan Engineering Commissionfor period March 12, 1914, to De-cember 31, 1915. Alaska R.R. TT.No. 44, 16 June 1946: Location of


overhead structures table shows rail-road track overhead crossing at MilePost 50.7, Seward Subdivision.

2 CSXT System TT No. 1, 1April 1989.

The L.& N. - 1850-1942, KincaidHerr, L.& N. Magazine, 1943. L.&N., Knoxville & Atlanta Div., TT.No. 21, April 8, 1941. CTC BoardDecember 2001 note, July 2001 ar-ticle, CSXT Hiwassee Loop.

CSXT Etowah Sub., Milage Lo-cations.

Etowah C335.2 *Wetmore KX339.4Oswald Dome KX342.7Reliance KX345.4Hiwassee KX347.7 *McFarland KX355.0 *Apalachia KX360.1 *Farner KX366.1Turtletown KX368.7Harbuck KX372.3Ducktown KX376.6McHarg KX380.2Copperhill KX382.1 *Blue Ridge KX395.5 *

* Milage from CSXT Timetable,others calculated from L&N Time-table. Distance is apparently fromCincinnati.

From Elizabeth, GA, GeorgiaNortheastern R.R. Co. north toEllijay 65.8 miles. GA DOT buy-ing CSXT line Ellijay to Blue Ridge.

(E.A.Lewis Shortline Ry. Guide.)

3 Railway Mileposts: British Co-lumbia, Vol. 1, Roger G. Burrows.

4 LeMassena, Rio Grande To ThePacific, p. 92, p. 102. The Railwayand Engineering Review, 24 Feb.1900, p. 101. Steam Powered VideoAtlas of North America, Colorado-Utah.

5 LeMassena, Rio Grande To ThePacific, p. 237.

6 LeMassena, Colorado’s Moun-tain Railroads, p. 45, p. 48, p. 234.

7 The Railway and EngineeringReview, April 26, 1902. Railroads ofArizona, Volume 3, David Myrick,Chapter 8, Morenci Southern Rail-way. Railroad Atlas of NorthAmerica - Arizona & New Mexico,Mike Walker, Page 23, Steam Pow-ered Publishing, England, 1995.

8 Trinity Loop Fun Park adver-tisement. C.N. Atlantic Region,Newfoundland Area TT. No. 13, 27April 1969.

9 Steam Powered Video Atlas ofNorth America, California-Nevada.

10 S.P Northern Region TT. No.2, 27 April, 1986, San Joaquin Di-vision, Mojave Subdivision, p. 156,p.183. ^


TRADING POSTSubmissions should be made to the Newslettereditor via e-mail or mail for inclusion in thenext available issue. All items subject toavailable space and editorial decisions as tocontent. Logos and photographs are limited to7/8 inches high if space permits. New TradingPost items are posted on our Website.<http://www.RLHS.ORG>

SPECIAL - Tom Taber, 504 S. Main,Muncy, Pa. 17756 critically acclaimedRailroad Periodicals Index, 873 pages jampacked with listings of 80 periodicals 1831-1999, $75 includes postage. In preparationRR Book and Thesis Bibliography, Guideto RR Resource Locations Addenda 1992-2003, and Negative lists of 80 railroadsfrom about 60 collections.

SELLING - Russian Rail Transport,1836-1917, colorful history of Russian rail-ways beginning in 1836 until the Bolshe-viks took power during WW1. $32.00 USA,$36.00 foreign. Also available is the 118-page biography, Franz Anton vonGerstner, Pioneer Railway Builder, byMikhail and Margarita Voronin. $28.00USA, $32.50 foreign. Checks payable toLanguages of Montour. John C. Decker,112 Ardmoor Avenue, Danville PA 17821.<[email protected]>

WANTED - Collector wants to buy oldtickets from train, trolly, horse railway,stage, ferry, turnpike, bridge, etc. Mostlypre-1935, US only. Dan Benice, PO Box5708, Cary NC 27512, (919) 468-5510.

FOR SALE- Smokebox mounted cast steelsteam loco bell w/bracket. Ancestry un-known. $500.00 or best offer. FOB Jack-sonville, Florida. Arthur Towson, 6842Lenczyk Drive, Jacksonville FL 32277-2655, (904) 744-6982.<[email protected]>

FOR SALE - Prairie Railroad Town,about the Horton shops of the Rock Islandrailroad. Favorably reviewed in all pub-lished reviews. About 140 never previouslypublished photographs, including many byan outstanding local photographer from theera 1898-1916. The book also describes andillustrates Horton’s pioneering role inbuilding and maintaining early Rock Islandinternal combustion locomotives and rail-cars. Special R&LHS members’ price of$29 postpaid for softcover, $54 for hard-cover. Only 50 hardcover books were pro-duced. I. E. Quastler, PO Box 14591, Port-land OR 97293. <[email protected]>

WANTED: Photographs, timetables or anymaterials relating to the Georgia &Florida Railroad to be used in a forth-coming book on the G&F. H. RogerGrant, Department of History, ClemsonUniversity, Clemson SC 29634-0527.<[email protected]>

SEEKING - Photos, details of disposition,PRR Business Car WILLIAMSPORT.Also pictures of passenger/freight/coaltrains enroute Williamsport, PA., norththrough Elmira, Watkins Glen, Penn Yanto Canandaigua and Sodus Point, all in NewYork state. Frank Luppino, Jr., 1455 Sun-set Ridge Road, Glenview IL 60025-2243.

WANTED - Original Howard Fogg trainpaintings, both oil and watercolor. JohnAtherton, 16 Coachlight Drive,Poughkeepsie NY 12603-4241. (845) 471-8152. <[email protected]>

WANTED - Photographs and any otherinformation on the wood tank cars ownedby Milwaukee Vinegar Company. JayLentzner, PO Box 7586, Missoula MT59807.

WANTED - Pre-1940 copies of Who’sWho in Railroading or Biographical


Directory of Railway Officials ofAmerica, 1887, 1893 and 1930 editions es-pecially needed. Also, Who’s Who in En-gineering. J. H. White, 101 BeechpointDr., Oxford OH 45056-2703.

FOR SALE - The Santa Fe Railway His-torical & Modeling Society / Stan KistlerCollection of over 5,200 black & white im-ages of the Santa Fe from 1900 to 1975 isavailable in silver prints from 8x10 and up.Steam, diesel, motor cars, passenger andheadend cars, cabooses, MofW cars, andscenic action images are included. Pro-duced by a professional photographer withover 55 years experience and an R&LHSmember since 1949. A 57-page catalog in-cludes dates and locations is $5.00 fromStan Kistler, PO Box 977, Grass ValleyCA 95945. <[email protected]>

WANTED - Link and pin. The museumis looking for one for its exhibit. Fully de-ductible gift. Dr. James R. Brown, TheLittle Falls Railroad & Doll Museum, 9208County Highway II, Sparta WI 54656-6485. <[email protected]>

WANTED - Any information on EdwardBoas, Superintendent Motive Power, Cin-cinnati, Indianapolis and WesternRailroad (1916), and C. F. Shadle, Signaland Efficiency Engineer, C&WRR (1916-1922). Jim O’Dell, 5988 Ross Road,Fairfield OH 45014-5554. (513) 874-5010.

WANTED - Interior or exterior photos ofSanta Fe freight or passenger stations inEmporia, Kansas, particularly those show-ing rolltop ledger desk. Jeff Robbins, 1335Hill Dr., Los Angeles CA 90041.<[email protected]>

FOR SALE - The Philadelphia And ErieRailway by Rosenberger. Long out-of-print, available again in limited quantity.The original 1975 printing, 748 pages,

hardcover with dust jacket in mylar pro-tector, mint condition. Those interested inthe history of this company, the PRR, orPennsylvania railroad history in general willwant this well researched reference work.$32 including postage. Dan Allen, POBox917, Marlton NJ 08053-0917.

Continued on page 22

New RR BooksPress releases for new railroad oriented booksappear here. They are not paid advertisementsand carry no endorsement by the R&LHS.All items subject to available space and edito-rial decisions as to content. Photographs are7/8 inches maximum.

Crossroads of Com-merce: The Pennsylva-nia Railroad CalendarArt of Griff Teller gives

an apt description of the book just by itstitle. Text by Dan Cupper, photographyby Ken Murray. 184 pages, 9x12, 150 color,70 b&w photos, soft cover. $29.95 + $5.50s/h. Stackpole Books, 5067 Ritter Road,Mechanicsburg PA 17055.

North of The Pas: TheRail Lines of NorthernManitoba by Thomas T.Taber, III, is a history (70years in the making) and per-sonal memoirs (1953 and

1990s) of the Hudson Bay Railroad toChurchhill and Lynn Lake. Not written inthe TRAINS Magazine format being usedby RAILROAD HISTORY, as it is con-ventional. Softbound, 8½x11, well illus-trated. $10.00 postpaid. T. T. Taber, 504S. Main, Muncy PA 17756. ^


Help Pick a Winner!Help the R&LHS Awards Committee pick the

nominees and the winners for the

Railroad History Book Award and Article Award!All members in good standing may suggest candidates for consider-

ation by the Awards Committee when nominating authors for the 2004Railroad History Awards. The R&LHS Awards Committee solicitsadvice from members in two award categories: the David P. Morgan Ar-ticle Award, and the George and Constance Hilton Book Award.

Articles must have been published in magazines or journals with coverdates of 2002 and 2003. Enter the complete name of the author, the nameof the article, the pages on which it may be found, the exact name of themagazine, and its exact cover date (month and year). (Some journals arehard to find, so please send a photocopy of the article, if you can. Thiswill aid the committee and save some time.)

Books must have been published in 2001, 2002, or 2003. (See publica-tion or copyright date for the book under consideration.) Enter the com-plete name of the author, the complete book title, complete name of pub-lisher, and copyright or publication date.

The Awards Committee will make the final selection of Nominees foreach category. The Committee will take members’ entries very seriously.In this way, the Society’s members can play a key role in the RailroadHistory Awards.

Fill out and send in this coupon, or photo copy, by May 5, 2004. Onlythose entries postmarked on or before that date will be tallied for the 2004awards. Mail to Mr. Mark E. Entrop, PO Box 10, Dyer IN 46311-0010.Coupons sent to the wrong address or received after May 17, 2004, willnot be tallied. ^

More TRADING POST WANTED - Colorado’s Mountain Rail-roads Volume II (D&RG Ry, RGS, etc.)by Robert A. LeMassena (about 1965). Ihave Volumes I and III, and need this 6x9softcover book to complete collection.Donald R. Davis, 2945 Everett St., BlueIsland IL 60406. ^

WANTED - Old US tickets & passes fromrailroad, trolley, horse railroad, ferry,bridge, turnpike, etc. Mostly pre-1930.Dan Benice, PO Box 5708, Cary NC27512. (919) 468-5510.

R&LH

S New

sletter 24-2 / 23

To: R&LHS Awards Panel

For the 2004 David P. Morgan Article Award

___________________________________________Author’s Full Name

___________________________________________Complete Title of Article

___________________________________________Page Number(s) of Article

___________________________________________Complete Name of Magazine or Journal

___________________________________________Exact Cover Date: Month/Year or Month/Day/Year

___________________________________________Publisher’s Editorial Address (from inside magazine)

___________________________________________

Today’s date: ___________________

For the 2004 George and Constance Hilton BookAward

___________________________________________Author’s Full Name

___________________________________________Complete Name of Book

___________________________________________Complete Publisher’s Name

___________________________________________Copyright Year

___________________________________________Member’s Name

___________________________________________Member’s Address

___________________________________________Member’s City State & ZIP

CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

TIME VALUE MATERIAL!

The Railway & Locomotive Historical Society, Inc.P. O. Box 292927Sacramento, CA 95829-2927

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PAIDJacksonville, FLPermit No. 1111

vol. 24, no. 2 spring 2004

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