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B&O MOTIVE POWER

Part I - Steam

be~ed in 4~00-series, they handled just about every freight tram between Brunswick on the west and all of the eastern terminals. B&O had more 2-8-2's, called "Mikes," than any other type, with the 2-8-0' s a close second. Some Mikados used the conventional rectangular tender while others had a round Vanderbilt-type tender, all with four-wheel trucks. West of Brunswick the freight power was Class "S" 6100's of the Santa Fe type with a 2-10-2 wheel arrangement, known far and wide as "Big Sixes." B~O had some larger engines working the mountams around Cumberland at the time, but one had ~o see this engine to appreciate the picture of power 1t created, even when standing still. It featured a straight boiler and a very short stack, matched to a round Vanderbilt-type tender on six-wheel trucks. Getting a heavy westbound underway, a "Big Six" working its way out of the yard past the roundhouse to the main line would send an exhaust plume of smoke and steam more than a hundred feet straight up as it labored to gain momentum. They were in and out of Brunswick 20 to 30 times a day until the early 1950's. B&O had a few 4-8-2 Class "T" Mountain-type engines numbered in the 5500-series. First built in 1930, they were almost identical to the "S" class except for the wheel arrangement and driver diameter. Intended for used on passenger trains, the "T" had a 74-inch driver as compared to 64 inches on the "S." B&O bought some used engines of this type from the Boston & Maine Railroad, and during and after World War II, they used boilers from B&O Pacifies and Mikados to rebuild 4-8-2's at Mount Clare shops into dual-service locomatives as Class "T" to be used in either freight or passenger service. A Frenchman by the name of Anatole Mallet (Mal'-lay') developed the concept that went on to carry his name in locomotives and opened the way for even larger engines. His idea actually combined two locomotives into one, whereby a single firebox and boiler provided steam to two sets of cylinders, thereby powering two sets of driving wheels. In 1904 the B&O built the first Mallet in the U.S., 0-6-6-0 numbered 2400 and called "Old Maude." B&O had several series of Mallets in service, some before World War I. These engines were normally used in the mountains and were not generaly seen around Brunswick unless passing through on their way to or from Mount Clare Shop. During World War II, scrambling for power to meet the heavy· demand of the war effort and unable to buy diesels, B&O ordered 30 big new Mallets from Baldwin. Delivered in 1944-45, the EM-12-8-8-4 with 64-inch drivers was the biggest and best steam locomotive ever to operate on the B&O according to engineers

It would be wonderful, had the movie or video camera been in use then, to have a moving picture of the first train to Berlin -or some shots of everyday operations in those days 155 years ago. One must also speculate what type of engine would be pulling the train. The first B&O locomotives were tiny things little steam engines like the Tom Thumb, York, and Atlantic. But they developed quickly, with the driving forces at each step being BIGGER and FASTER. The steam engine was with us for only about 120 years - not really an especially long time to develop from a machine smaller than a pickup truck to one weighing more than 300 tons and to foster the exploration and settlement of our country while doing it. In trying to demonstrate the railroad's role in Brunswick's past, a brief consideration of B&O engines must be a part. By the time there was a Brunswick, steam locomotives had gone through several progressions from vertical-boiler "Grasshoppers," through the 44-0 American Standards, the 4-4-2 Atlantics, and the 4-6-0 Ten Wheeler, along with the 2-8-0 Consolidation for freight. Around the turn of the century, a pair of wheels was placed under the Ten Wheeler's cab and it became the 4-6-2 Pacific. This was B&O's system-wide passenger locomotive. Carrying numbers from 5000 to 5319, and given B&O Class "P", there were many subclasses and even further subclasses. P-1-C's and P-1-D's were examples of the heavy duty workhorse passenger engine. Most of the 5100 and 5200 engines were lighter and used primarily on branchlines or loc~l _trains. B&O's biggest, best, and best- looking Pac1f1cs were the P-7 5300's, The President series. Built by Baldwin Locomotive Works beginning in 1927 and named for U.S. presidents, these 20 engines with 80-inch drivers and first painted olive green with gold leaf lettering, were simply elegant, as well as effective. Four of them were streamlined later for service on the Cincinnatian. The trim 2-8-0 Consolidation (B&O "E" Class) continued to be an important part of the freight motive power picture. They were plentiful and were seen everywhere, but particularly in yards and on branch line freights. Again adding a 2-wheel trailing truck under the firebox, the Consolidation expanded into the 2-8-2 Mikado (B&O "Q" Class). Both classes continued in their respective work assignments through the end of B&O steam. The "Q" was seen everywhere on the system. N um-

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