Copyright 1999 T. Sheil & A. Sheil All Rights Reserved
The All Gauge Model Railroading Page
presents
A railroad is a large enterprise comprising a huge amount of real estate and physical property. Because it provides its own roadways, structures and equipment, the railroad expends a large part of its assets maintaining itself. Compare a trucking company, whose freight terminal generally includes a gravel-paved yard, loading dock, warehouse, small maintenance garage and a couple of offices. The trucking outfit does not maintain the roads it uses, nor the signals or communications along the road. State and local governments take care of roads, while telephone service is in the hands of private utilities. Railroads have to maintain their track, their signals and their communications, among other things.
A railroad has locomotive shops for repair of its prime movers, and car shops to maintain rolling stock. There is often a separate electrical department for the wiring inside locomotives. A signal department maintains and repairs signals, while the track department is responsible for roadbed, switches, and the condition of track. The shops of shortlines are small, with crews handling a variety of specialties. By contrast, Class 1 railroads have small armies of workers grouped by specialties, supported by massive shops loaded with the latest machinery.
Because railroads are unique, they have their own peculiar machines and vehicles for maintaining their physical plant. In the days of steam, that included forges and steam power plants. Today's railroads have their own power plants, as well as industrial-grade machinery. Their fleets include ballast spreader, ballast tampers, track inspection vehicles, test scale vehicles and an assortment of odd scooters and buggies.
Wreck recovery is part and parcel of railroad equipment. An assortment of cranes, hoists and spotlight cars are fitted to lift derailed trains, repair damaged roadbed and structures. Alongside them are the track cars, from hoppers specially designed to unload ballast to a host of strange little buggies. If it is on the railroad, they have a car to fix it.
Most maintenance cars are mundane in appearance. They are usually older freight and passenger cars whose revenue days are over. Relegated to maintenance of way work, these cars are crudely repainted and refitted with the tools of the trade. Old cabooses and boxcars can be refitted as tool cars (moving tool sheds), bunk cars for crews working in isolated areas, hoist cars and boom tenders. Alongside the faded cars are the strange little vehicles that perform special jobs. Ballast spreaders do just that: spread ballast evenly. Ballast tampers press the gravel into the roadbed. Gauge cars make sure the rails are the proper gauge.
A modern improvement is the hi-rail vehicle - a normal car or truck that has retractable flanged wheels. By dropping the wheels, these cars can ride on the rails. They include crew cars, inspection cars, various trucks, and self-propelled cranes. Track is crucial to a railroad. It must be kept in perfect condition, and much is invested to maintain and repair it promptly.
Signal crews and construction crews also favor hi-rail vehicles.
Track gangs are one type of construction crew. Railroads also have structural ironworkers who maintain trestles and bridges, carpenters and masons for buildings, and an assortment of electricians for everything from interior house wiring to the locomotive's electrical gear. Every construction trade and specialty is represented on the railroad.
Higher up, civil engineers and architects oversee all buildings and structures. They are supported by teams of draftsmen. The railroad employs all levels to keep its physical plant in good operating order.
Work, recovery and inspection trains are called "non-revenue" because they do not earn the railroad money. They are part of the force which maintains the railroad itself. They are a necessary expense: a debit rather than an asset.
Now we come to the part that everyone likes: locomotives. The first steam locomotives looked like a collection of barrels, a piston and a smokestack on a flatbed platform. They were unreliable, cantankerous and outright dangerous. Compare that image with the powerful diesels of our times. Trains have certainly come a long way!!!
The first standard type of steam locomotive was the American 4-4-0. It was used right up into the 20th Century - in fact, some are still puffing on tourist railways! This is the Western type train, although later models had a straight rather than balloon-shaped smokestack. Those early locomotives burned wood, and were eventually converted to coal.
Steam locomotives are still popular with railfans. The more you know about them, the more interesting they are. For instance, steamers are identified by their wheel arrangements. That is why you see a set of three - and occasionally four - numbers. The American 4-4-0 had four pilot wheels, four drivers and no trailing wheels. What that means is really simple.
All steam locomotives have driving wheels. They are connected by a rod to the piston. Driving wheels are where the power comes through. Drivers are usually large and tend to be spoked. The spoked design added strength and cut weight in all the right places.
Drivers are rigid. As goes the drivers, so goes the body of the locomotive. That is fine for slow speeds, but at high speeds it can lead to derailments. Someone got the idea of adding a pilot truck to the front of a locomotive, to guide it into curves. The pilot has more side-to-side flexibility.
As locomotives became heavier and fireboxes got larger, another wheel was added to the rear. It helped support the added weight in the cab area, and to guide the locomotive when it went backwards. Thus, as the American 4-4-0 got larger, another pair of wheels was added, making it a 4-4-2 Atlantic. Each wheel arrangement has its own nickname.
0-4-0 switcher
0-6-0 switcher
0-8-0 switcher
4-4-0 American
4-4-2 Atlantic
4-4-4 Jubilee
4-6-0 Ten Wheeler
4-6-2 Pacific
4-6-4 Hudson
4-8-0 Twelve Wheeler
4-8-2 Mountain
4-8-4 Northern, Pocono
4-10-0 Mastodon
4-10-2 Southern Pacific, Overland
4-12-2 Union Pacific
2-4-2 Columbia
2-6-0 Mogul
2-6-2 Prairie
2-8-0 Consolidation
2-8-2 Mikado, Mike
2-8-4 Berkshire
2-10-0 Decapod
2-10-2 Santa Fe
2-10-4 Texas
6-8-6 S2 Turbine
The exception to the rule: when four numbers, the first is the pilot, second and third denote drivers, and the lst is the trailer.
0-6-6-0 Mallet
0-8-8-0
2-6-6-0 Mallet
2-6-6-2
2-6-6-6 Allegheny
2-8-8-2
2-8-8-4 Yellowstone
2-10-10-2
4-6-6-4 Challenger
4-8-8-4 Big Boy
The American 4-4-0 was superseded by the Consolidation 2-8-0 and the Pacific 4-6-2. The Consolidation was popular at the beginning of the century, while the Pacific became the most common type of steam locomotive. In 1930, the Hudson 4-6-4 was taking a lead as the most popular steamer. Nonetheless, Consolidations, Pacifics and Hudsons were the most common mainline steamers of the 20th Century.
Locomotive builders and railroads had agreed on standards for the different types of locomotives. There were three categories: freight, passenger and switcher. Likewise, the abundant assortment of wheel arrangements is a token of the various specialized tasks for which locomotives were made. Switchers did not need pilots, as they were slow-moving machines used for shunting cars in yards and as helpers in pusher service. Freight locomotives were made to haul long trains, while passenger steamers were built for speed. Some locomotive types were better on level terrain, others on hard grades, and others still on tight curves. It was not just the wheel arrangement, but boiler and piston size that determined a steam locomotive's use. For example, Lackawanna locomotives were usually the largest of their type because they had to negotiate mountain gradients and curves. One finds light Pacifics and Heavy Pacifics in railroads' rosters. Smaller locomotives would be used for drills, commuter service, maintenance of way or small freight consists.
Standard steam locomotives come in two parts: the locomotive itself, and the tender. Attached by a drawbar rather than a coupler, the tender carried fuel and water for the locomotive. It allowed trains to go further without stopping to refuel. There are coal tenders, oil tenders and wood tenders, each made to haul its specific fuel type. The Pennsylvania Railroad had special tenders for its crack passenger liner, the Broadway Limited. A special retractable water scoop was built under the tender. Along the route, sluices between rails held water. The speeding train would open the scoop. The speed forced water into the tender. This made for fewer stops to replenish the water.
A few locomotives did not have tenders. Tank engines were made with extra water tanks on the sides or atop the boiler. A small bay behind the cab held coal. Tank engines were used in freight and industrial yards. They could navigate tight curves, and since they never left the yard, could refill the coal bin at their leisure. Most tank engines were switchers.
Switchers, along with shunting freight, were employed in helper service. On steep grades, they would help push heavy trains coming through. Helper service was especially important in the Poconos, the Alleghenies, the Rockies and Sierras.
Steam engines requires many skilled professionals. The engineer and fireman actually ran the locomotive, and they were backed up by an army of shop and support personnel. Railroads employed blacksmiths, boiler mechanics and a slew of other craftsmen to work in the engine shops. Large crews were needed to keep refueling stops stocked with coal and water. A special steam boiler facility was used to wash out the locomotives periodically. Spare and replacement parts had to be made.
The advent of reliable diesel road locomotives closed the era of steam. Diesels were economically better, giving greater fuel economy, easier maintenance and longer runs before refueling. Southwestern roads especially liked them, since having water for steamers could be a hard task in the desert. Diesel shops required fewer people and less machinery. Most railroads had scrapped their steamers by the mid-1950s. The diehard Norfolk and Western kept their until 1960. Afterwards, only a handful or narrow gauge, mining and logging roads still used steam.
When electricity went mainstream, it was treated as if it were magic. One use was to power vehicles. Subways, trolleys, interurbans and electric locomotives were developed. They were popular in cities, because they produced no smoke. The Lackawanna and the Pennsylvania railroads went so far as to electrify large portions of their systems. To this day, electric trains run on those same routes, albeit for a new road name.
Electric trains were a boon, and they helped stem the pollution problem in cities. However, they had their limitations. Use was restricted to a few routes. The Pennsylvania, Lackawanna and New Haven lines made great use of electric power. Pennsylvania's classic GG1 electric locomotives could haul crack passenger trains at 125 miles per hour. New Haven's Rectifiers were sturdy freight locomotives, and the Lackawanna MU passenger trains economically served northeastern New Jersey. Other famed electric systems include Chicago's North Shore Line, California's Pacific Electric railway, and the small but stalwart Iowa Terminal. To this day, special FL9 locomotives use electric power inside New York City, and resort to Diesel elsewhere.
Electricity was provided in either of two ways. Class 1 railroads used the overhead catenary wires. Locomotives were fitted with cage-like structures called pantographs. The roof-mounted pantographs contacted the catenary's live wire. A lesser variant of this was the single overhead wire connected by a cable on a pole with a pulley. This is still used by Iowa Terminal, and was especially popular with trolleys. The second method of electric power is the third rail, an electrified rail alongside track. A flat plate called a shoe extends from the trucks to contact the third rail. It skims the top of the third rail. This system is used on part of the New Haven line near New York City, as well as on most subway and metro systems. Third rail power is especially good in underground systems, as catenary wires would be impractical.
The first diesel locomotives had boxlike bodies. Called "boxcabs," they were designed for use in cities to cut down on pollution. New York and other cities had ordinances passed which forbade steam engines within city limits. Natural replacements were steam, gas-powered or diesel locomotives. As most work within cities involved switching, the switcher was the first diesel.
Diesel switchers caught on quickly. They were easier to maintain and use, and soon supplanted many of the smaller steam switchers. By 1940 most railroads had replaced their 0-4-0 and 0-6-0 switchers with diesels.
Experiments with diesel passenger trains made quite an impression. The Burlington Zephyr and Union Pacific / Chicago & Northwestern M10000 series of streamliner passenger trains ste speed records. Art deco style enhanced the ideas of speed and elegance. It was no time before diesel-powered road engines were introduced. The early EMD E units and their FT freight diesels appeared shortly before America's entry into World War II. The war halted diesel production.
After the war, diesels were the hottest items going! Railroads dieselized quickly. Manufacturers followed the old pattern, designing separate switchers, freight and passenger locomotives. A new hybrid type, the road switcher, was also being introduced. It was initially a switcher that could also handle localized road service.
Streamlined designs characterize the first road diesels. EMD, Alco, Fairbanks Morse and Baldwin each produced streamlined freight and passenger locomotives. Most popular were the EMD E and F units, and the Alco FA1s and PA1s. Streamlined diesels came in two types: a unit with a can, called an "A unit," and of course a B unit without a cab. To increase horsepower, a railroad had only to add another A or B unit to a train. Indeed, it proved so efficient that it caught on instantly.
Early passenger locomotives were longer then their freight counterparts. Passenger trains needed steam to heat cars and power the kitchens of the diner cars. In the days of steam, they got this from the locomotive. Rather than have all passenger cars refitted for a new heating system, passenger diesels were fitted with a special steam generator.
Of course, diesel was not as difficult as steam. In time, railroads realized that there was little need for separate freight and passenger locomotives. Likewise, road switchers evolved into mainline locomotives. The streamlined cab units lingered for passenger trains, but gave way to the new road switchers. Crews liked the road switchers because of their better visibility to front and rear. By 1960, freight cab units were no longer made. A few newer, boxier cab units were produced for passenger trains.
Like steam, a good diesel lasts a long time. The sturdier types have lasted as long as fifty years! Big railroads update their fleets, and the older locomotives are sold to smaller roads and shortlines. EMD's GP and SD types and the Alco RSC and Century models are still abundant, having logged millions of miles each.
Like steam, different type locomotives are better fitted for specialized work. The larger GE "U Boats", B30s and C30s are favored for long freights. GP38s, 40s, 50s and 60s are good all-around diesels. They do well in mountainous areas, too. The new Dash 8s and 9s and the SD series are the powerhouses of the day. They handle the heavy loads going great distances.
My region has a good example of diesel types. NJ Transit uses the F40 passenger locomotives on its Jersey Shore and Trenton lines. (You can see them at Newark and along the Shore) Both lines have gradual curves and very few, very slight grades. The F40 is an economical passenger commuter hauler under those conditions. It is not good for difficult territory. You will not see an F40 in Hoboken, however. Hoboken's lines head north and west into mountainous terrain. Trains have to negotiate steep grades and tight curves as they traverse the Watching, Kittatinny and Catskill mountains. For this, NJ Transit uses GP38s and GP40s. The sturdy GP makes short work of hard terrain.
Diesel locomotives are painted in the colors of their respective railroads. The paint schemes can be quite ornate. Most popular are Art Deco and Streamline motifs. Santa Fe's classic Warbonnet scheme remains the most popular, followed closely by the new orange, green and gold BNSF colors. Indeed, just as many diesels are painted in more austere tones. The dull black of Norfolk Southern and plain blue of Conrail stand in stark contrast to the brilliant tones used by CSX, Canadian National, The Susquehanna and BNSF.