Baldwin Flexible-Beam-Truck Engine USMRR Washington

A few months ago Dave Schneider, the owner of SMR Trains, announced they were taking reservations on their latest engine, a Baldwin 0-8-0 Flexible Beam locomotive. While I found the idea of a flexible beam engine interesting, I thought it would not be appropriate for my layout, especially given the tight radius curves on my layout. As I read SMR Trains advertisement a second time in more detail, I discovered that Dave intends the model to have a functioning flexible beam drive train. The mechanical geek in me could not resist and I ordered one, the USMRR Washington. If the flexible beam works, maybe it will handle my layout's curves.

Cross section showing the flexible beam on the front two drivers.

Next I decided to research where the locos operated to see how much of a foobie I would have by operating it on my layout. Richard Hochadel compiled a detailed roster of USMRR engines that is available on the ACWRRHS Yahoo Group site. He shows that Baldwin built engine 256 as an 0-8-0 in May 1846 as “Washington” for the Philadelphia  & Reading RR. The USMRR purchased it in October 17, 1862 for $4500, to become USMRR Dept. of Virginia #63/ “Washington.” This was the second Washington on the USMRR, as there were a total of three engines with that name. The USMRR used this engine on the Orange & Alexandria RR and the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac RR through December 15, 1862 when they abandoned it at Fredericksburg. The Confederates captured it and sold it on March 31, 1863 to the Richmond & Petersburg RR. The United States recovered in in April 1864 on the Petersburg RR and sold to the Baltimore  &Ohio RR for $1,700, in October,1865 becoming #534 on the Central Ohio. It was dropped from the roster in 1884.

If the narrative is correct then the purchase and abandonment dates do not seem right to me. It must have been purchased earlier in 1862 and abandoned when Burnside ordered the destruction of the Aquia line during the Antietam Campaign, sometime in October, 1862. The USMRR rebuilt the Aquia line starting on 17 November. It was ready in about 10 days time. The Aquia train log I have shows the USMRR Aquia line in operation in early December.  I think it unlikely they would have abandoned an engine in December when they were operating the line. Also, the Confederates were running trains to Fredericksburg at this time.

So, it ran on my railroad, but the (suspicious) dates indicate a few months before I model. Not much a foobie at all.

What is a flexible beam engine? Baldwin developed it to allow his 6 and 8 coupled engines to negotiate tight curves found on American railroads. European locomotives had rigid 6 and 8 coupled engines, but they did not ask these engines to traverse tight curves.  Here is a more detailed explanation from "The Illustrated Catalog of Locomotives."

Its principal characteristic features are now matters of history, but they deserve here a brief mention. The engine was on six wheels, all connected as drivers. The rear wheels were placed rigidly in the frames, usually behind the fire-box, with inside bearings. The cylinders were inclined, and with outside connections. The four remaining wheels had inside journals running in boxes held by two wide and deep wrought-iron beams, one on each side. These beams were unconnected, and entirely independent of each other. The pedestals formed in them were bored out cylindrically, and into them cylindrical boxes, as patented by him in 1835, were fitted. The engine-frame on each side was directly over the beam, and a spherical pin, running down from the frame, bore in a socket in the beam midway between the two axles. It will thus be seen that each side-beam independently could turn horizontally or vertically under the spherical pin, and the cylindrical boxes could also turn in the pedestals. Hence, in passing a curve, the middle pair of drivers could move laterally in one direction—say to the right—while the front pair could move in the opposite direction, or to the left; the two axles all the while remaining parallel to each other and to the rear driving-axle. The operation of these beams was, therefore, like that of the parallel-ruler. On a straight line the two beams and the two axles formed a rectangle; on curves, a parallelogram, the angles varying with the degree of curvature. The coupling-rods were made with cylindrical brasses, thus forming ball-and-socket joints, to enable them to accommodate themselves to the lateral movements of the wheels. 

Colburn, in his "Locomotive Engineering," remarks of this arrangement of rods as follows:
"Geometrically, no doubt, this combination of wheels could only work properly around curves by a lengthening and shortening of the rods which served to couple the principal pair of driving-wheels with the hind truck-wheels. But if the coupling-rods from the principal pair of driving-wheels be five feet long, and if the beams of the truck-frame be four feet long (the radius of curve described by the axle-boxes around the spherical side bearings being two feet), then the total corresponding lengthening of the coupling-rods, in order to allow the hind truck-wheels to move one inch to one side, and the front wheels of the truck one inch to the other side of their normal position on a straight line, would be √602+12 - 60 + 24 - √242-12 = 0.0275 inch, or less than one thirty-second of an inch. And if only one pair of driving-wheels were thus coupled with a four-wheeled truck, the total wheel-base being nine feet, the motion permitted by this slight elongation of the coupling-rods (an elongation provided for by a trifling slackness in the brasses) would enable three pairs of wheels to stand without binding in a curve of only one hundred feet radius."

I made this animated gif to illustrate the action of the special truck.

The Baldwin flexible beam engines were designed to burn coal. Did it burn coal on the USMRR? Maybe. The USMRR did have some coal burning engines. For example, this excerpt from a letter from Devereaux to Haupt in 1862 describes some coal burning engines obtained from the B&O and used on the USMRR Manassas Gap line.

We have only one coal light engine, never used for freight. On Monday week, Col. McCallum seized from Baltimore & Ohio Road three heavy coal burners for the special purpose of aiding me in sending forward Ord's Division. They were on the road when you came, but had done the duty they were procured for and I still kept them, and to meet the demands that might occur by keeping them, I ordered coal. This was last week. The engines did not get out of coal till yesterday, Monday.  

Col. McCallum telegraphed me this A. M.: "I ordered a car load of soft coal for you on Friday from Georgetown, and the party agreed to deliver it at Alexandria by Saturday night. He has had some trouble in getting vessel to take it, but has succeeded in getting vessel this morning, and promises to have the coal in Alexandria some time tonight." I therefore must say that neither I nor my men could have done more, and, moreover, more than three-quarters of your locomotives on Gap Road are wood burners. Coal burner 70 being broken, leaves only two coal engines in use. The 70 has her steam chest perforated and her cylinders out of order, and is of no use. And I did not propose to do anything to her, as on our own broken machines we have plenty of work day and night. (see Page 57-58 of Reminiscences of General Herman Haupt)

Note the Coal Burner 70 was a B&O Winans 0-8-0 Camel built in 1851.

Did the Washington burn coal when on the RF&P? I have not found any evidence that it did, but I am not ruling it out. Perhaps more research will find out.

Confederate Rails - a Game of Civil War Railroading

Sample Box Cover Art

Back around 2001 well known game designer Richard Berg developed a board game called Confederate Rails. It is a brilliant depiction of the roles southern railroads had in the civil war. It is not a war game per se. It is more a railroad game, but with a twist.

Players represent the owners of the various Confederate railroad companies. Each player owns a selection of railroads that can be either bought at the start of the game through a bidding process or distributed randomly.  The object of the players is to make money by delivering loads of cargo, passengers and troops, ostensibly in support of the war utilizing your own lines, or lines of others for a fee.

 Unlike most rail games where you build your railroad network, in Confederate Rails, your existing network at the start of the game shrinks as the war goes on. The progress of the war is represented by die rolls on  an historical outcome table resulting in a random, but  inexorable constriction of the Confederacy as the Union closes in. A series of event cards changes the flow of the game and can add unexpected turns, but  in the end the Union wins the war. For the players it is just a matter of when and which railroads made the most money.  The player with the most money wins. Of course the victory is pyrrhic as the money is in Confederate dollars, worthless once the war ends, but that never stopped capitalists before.

I find the concept of the game brilliant as it really captures the attitude that many of the southern railroad companies maintained throughout the war. To learn more about how Southern railroads affected the war effort see  Robert Black's "Railroads of the Confederacy," and Angus Johnson's, "Virginia Railroads in the Civil War." Game designer Berg credits Black's book with much of his inspiration for the game. US Marine Corps officer Ian Pollit did a Master's thesis in 2002 on how Confederate railroad policy hurt their war effort. You can download it free from the Defense Technical Library here.

In addition to being an abstract, but realistic depiction of southern railroad operations during the war, the game is a lot of fun to play.

The new game company, 1A Games, is planning on reintroducing the game with higher end components and box. They have a Kickstarter site for the game. The Kickstarter site is not yet active. They are looking for feedback from potential buyers on what they would like to see.

1A games have asked me to consult on some of the development aspects. My main contribution has been this poster. It will be used as one of the Kickstarter rewards for people that sign up. The poster shows an assortment of typical civil war engines and cars along with some comments. The poster will be about 36x24 inches. In the final print form the engines and cars are in 1/96th scale.

If you like games and civil war railroads, this is the game for you.

A draft copy of the poster.

LED, follow or get out of the way?

Some of the original lights from 10 years ago. This is the
site of Falmouth on the layout now.

Several years ago, before I was building the O scale layout,  I installed some inexpensive shop lights and low profile under-cabinet lights to illuminate the layout. The layout has changed a couple times, but the lights have remained. In fact I have added more.

But, most of these have failed at one time or another. This week I replaced four more. Replacing the under cabinet lights isn't too hard. The shops lights are more difficult as they are over parts of the layout with deeper bench work. I am phasing them out with smaller fixtures so they are easier to replace. 

I am seriously considering removing all the fluorescent lights and going with the LED strips like we used on McCook's Landing.

While I was in the layout room I fired up the locos and ran some trains. It was gratifying to see everything run without problem. Even the DCC locos ran great, an impressive achievement as I hadn't cleaned the track in about a half a year. 

I have noticed that every winter the wood contracts in the layout room. Some of the turnout stub switches get tight. But tonight that wasn't a problem. 

Actually, not everything ran great. The battery in the engine Fury is not charging. I knew that before I started so I didn't try running it. A few months ago I sent it out for inspection and they said it checked out fine. But now it won't take a charge. I suspect the battery is bad. I have replacement batteries, so replacing its battery is now on the do list.

I am itching to get working on the layout, but I have backlog of custom models to build for clients. 

The First Model Railroad Kits?

I was recently doing some research on 19th Century lithographs and broadside posters. I came across these images at the Library of Congress. They date from 1870-1900 according to the LoC. They are prints designed for creation of paper models of a locomotive, coal car and a station. Could these be the first model railroad kits ever? Anyone care to try making one of these? Just print, cut and assemble.

Here is the direct link if you wish to see the original scans.

Some book reviews

As I wrapped up "The Model Railroad Goes to War," I thought I mention and briefly review some books I found interesting and worth reading during my research.

 I mentioned  "Engines of War" by Christian Wolmar in an earlier review. Then I just discussed the chapters on the American Civil War. But Wolmar's book goes well beyond that with a special emphasis on the railroads of the English colonial wars such as the Sudan and Boer war. Overall I enjoyed the book very much. His discussion of the German railroads in WWII was particularly interesting to me.  I heartily recommend this book.

Speaking of WWII, Alfred Mierzejewski's "Collapse of the German War Economy, 1944-1945" is a very interesting book in spite of its dry sounding title. It is  a rare combination of economic analysis and military history that provides new perspectives on the German war economy and Allied air intelligence.  He describes how the German economy collapsed under Allied bombing in the last year of World War II.

He discusses how Allied strategic bombing campaign evolved and how it affected German industry. He discusses the German reactions as well as the Allied decision making. There is no detailed discussion of air bombardment tactics or missions. Nonetheless, he covers many topics of interest including railroads, coal hauling, intelligence collection, Ultra secrets, photo reconnaissance, and bureaucratic infighting (both Allied and German.)  He comes to the conclusion that the railroad marshaling yards (a term he uses, we model railroaders would more likely call them classification yards), particularly for coal hauling, were the most critical part of German industrial infrastructure. Once the Allies began targeting them systematically, German industry ground to a halt.

In reading the book I couldn't help but think about modern air campaigns and their effectiveness. But I also thought back to how railroads behaved in  the Civil War, especially the descriptions in Agnus Johnson's book on "Virginia Railroads in the Civil War" of how railroad profiteering hurt the confederate war effort, and Cameron's corrupt behavior while Secretary of War as described in the first couple chapters of Taylor's "Victory Rode the Rails."

One last book I'd like to mention is "The Railway Gazette – Special War
Transportation Number,"  a book I found very helpful in researching the WWI chapters of my book.
In 1920, The British  Railway  Gazette published a special edition to record transport used in the war. This would have been the first time that most readers would have become aware of the machines and techniques used to achieve the recent victory – much of it had been secret until then.
Since 1920, copies of this special edition have been highly prized  collectors’ items.  As part of the events to mark the centenary of the conflict, the  Moseley Railway Trust has worked with Railway Gazette International to re-print the 1920 special edition. This book is chocked full of historical information and operational data on British railways in WWI. You can find more information about it here.