New Haven Railroad electric engine number 072, engine type 1-B+B-1

[Firelock76]

Welcome aboard Allison!  If you're getting into railroadiana in a big way, this website may be of interest to you.

www.railroadiana.org

Lots of good information there!

[daveklepper]

If you plan on keeping the headlight, but still want it to serve a useful purose, you might consider a long-term loan for display and credit to you at on of the trolley (electric railroad) or general railroad museums nearest to you.  There may be closer ones, but I suspect Seashore at Kennebunkport, Maine, might be closest.  Also Connecticut Valley at Windsor Locks (?) Connecticiut.

I'm still a member of the Branford Electric Railway Association, operators of the Shore Line Trolley Museum, East Haven and Branford, Connecticut, which might even find a way of putting the headlight to appropriate use!

[Overmod]

Your NYNH&H locomotive 072 is a prototype, of considerable engineering interest.  It needs to be considered, along with the 'Colonial' class locomotive 069, as complementary 'halves' of the class that immediately followed, starting with the three AC-DC (three-phase) locomotives 073-076 and then extending to the following examples that were pure AC single-phase.

Here is a discussion of locomotive design up to 1911.

  Note the very long discussion of the advantages of 069, but also the complications in its (admittedly very interesting) articulation and suspension system.

A key thing to observe here is the twin-motor setup, which would go on to be important to New Haven locomotive design and ultimately a key to the GG1.  Now 072 had a more reasonable chassis design, but still used the large single motors.  What followed was the use of the twin-motor drive in the basic 072 chassis, and that is what was built into the (rather large) order of subsequent engines.

Here is some contemporary information on the locomotive class immediately following 072

that you may find of interest.  Compare this with the Wilgus designs for NYC, both 'as built' and as modified, to see why this design is significant compared to most of the earlier New Haven attempts at electric locomotives.

There have been several detailed threads on the history and restoration of Golden Glow headlights on RyPN, and that community is likely to give you considerable useful information.  They are most famous, of course, as steam-locomotive appliances.

Aside from its collector value, it has immense historical significance as part of experimentation into high-speed 11kV AC locomotive design.  That may not translate into dollar value, but it makes the care and ultimate consignment of the artifact important.

[RAYSCabotVtTreasures]

Hi, my name is Allison, I live in Cabot VT and I am the lucky new owner of this Golden Glow locomotive headlight.  It has the number 072 on the light.  So far I have found this information about it only.  If anyone has information about or knows if its value, if it is worth restoring and/or anyone that knows about restoration, could you please pass along the information to me.  I can't figure out to paste a picture, but this link shows you the locomotive that has the headlight I now have.  The headlamp has the numbers 072 on it, and is identical to the one in this photo!  I am so stoked to have found the info I did..... So I found this group, became a member, and I am hoping someone could add to this info on my Golden Glow headlight.  Thanks a ton!  Allison

http://www.ctdigitalarchive.org/islandora/object/20002%3A859918925