Who needs to sit up front in these?

D&H #653 4-6-0.

Any ideas?

Charles

Undeniably, this MUST be an "Adirondack" class locomotive photographed on the Lake George branch!

D/

I've since found out this loco was being tested and that area is for the test crew to sit and watch their gauges and such attached to the front.

Scroll down on the photo -- that's no 4-6-0. The 653 was the last of three very special 4-6-2's, home-built by the D&H, I think.

Yes, that's a typo.

Steve Wagner wrote:Scroll down on the photo -- that's no 4-6-0. The 653 was the last of three very special 4-6-2's, home-built by the D&H, I think.

Off topic...Why is there such a wide firebox on that locomotive? Were most D&H engines using a wide firebox?

I thought the burning of anthracite required a larger surface area?

BobLI wrote:Off topic...Why is there such a wide firebox on that locomotive? Were most D&H engines using a wide firebox?

BobLI wrote:Off topic...Why is there such a wide firebox on that locomotive? Were most D&H engines using a wide firebox?

Many D&H steam locos had Wooten fireboxes which were of a particular design that was larger to accommodate the burning of anthracite coal. The anthracite coal needed more surface grate area to get the same heat content versus burning bituminous coal with a standard type grate area.

The engine has an unconventional valve gear arrangement (some variant of the poppet rotary cam type?)... I'd bet a nickle that was the reason for the testing.

Steve Wagner wrote:Scroll down on the photo -- that's no 4-6-0. The 653 was the last of three very special 4-6-2's, home-built by the D&H, I think.

Yep, that's one the special high-pressure steam locos built during the L.F. Loree years. She had 64,000 pounds tractive effort, Dabeg rotary-cam poppet gear and a jaw dropping 325 psi boiler pressure! I'm looking at photos of her right now in Jim Shaughnessy's Dleware & Hudson right now... and #653 was apparently the most powerful 4-6-2 ever built. I've never seen a pic of her with that "dog house" on the pilot, so that's a nice find.