by Nicolai3985
I've been cataloging a large collection of Buffalo and Susquehanna train reports that survive in the archives of the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg. I came across an oddity that I'm hoping the B&O community could shed more light on...
In early August 1930 an Inspection Train was run over the entire B&S system. I had seen records of several other inspection trains in the reports, but never over the entire system at once. Also, the southern legs of this train were powered by B&O 2031 - something which flagged my attention.
On August 12, E-27b 2721 was piloted by a B&S engineer (James Jordan) from Sykesville to DuBois. 2715 followed on August 27 (DC Strait piloting). I've only made it through September's records, but the two locomotives appear to have been used quite regularly after their arrival on the extra freights and mixed trains operating out of DuBois. A common entry in the train orders from this time period require that the B&O locomotives not be doubleheaded or run light together as many of the bridges were not sufficiently strong for these larger consolidations.
My question is: what was the reason for the two B&O locomotives being used on the B&S 15 months before the eventual B&O takeover? There were 28 of the B&S consolidations (soon to become classified as E-60's) operational during September 1930, which would have been enough to cover the typical traffic patterns of that time. Thus, the B&S wasn't terribly short of power.
Any thoughts or additional information from the B&O side?
Thanks,
-Nick
In early August 1930 an Inspection Train was run over the entire B&S system. I had seen records of several other inspection trains in the reports, but never over the entire system at once. Also, the southern legs of this train were powered by B&O 2031 - something which flagged my attention.
On August 12, E-27b 2721 was piloted by a B&S engineer (James Jordan) from Sykesville to DuBois. 2715 followed on August 27 (DC Strait piloting). I've only made it through September's records, but the two locomotives appear to have been used quite regularly after their arrival on the extra freights and mixed trains operating out of DuBois. A common entry in the train orders from this time period require that the B&O locomotives not be doubleheaded or run light together as many of the bridges were not sufficiently strong for these larger consolidations.
My question is: what was the reason for the two B&O locomotives being used on the B&S 15 months before the eventual B&O takeover? There were 28 of the B&S consolidations (soon to become classified as E-60's) operational during September 1930, which would have been enough to cover the typical traffic patterns of that time. Thus, the B&S wasn't terribly short of power.
Any thoughts or additional information from the B&O side?
Thanks,
-Nick