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Industrial steam and the big builders.

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  • Member since
    April 2012
  • 16 posts
Industrial steam and the big builders.
Posted by ChrisBIGDoer on Thursday, May 3, 2012 4:13 PM

 

Three questions about industrial steam locomotives – 0-4-0s and small tank engines and the like – and the US big builders.....

1)  It seems that Alco and Baldwin basically abandoned industrial steam engine production at the start of the depression.

Post 1930 one can find only a couple examples of 0-4-0 engines built by Baldwin and none from Alco. Demand must still have been there to some degree since one can find many records of Porters and those of other small builders through to the late 1940s.

So after that time did they actively solicit orders, or did they just give up on that market?

2)  When Alco or Baldwin built an industrial locomotive, was it made in the same erecting shop as the big orders, or was there a special space set aside for these smaller jobs?

3) Prior to the closing of Alco's satellite plants, it seems they used certain ones for the bulk of the small industrial orders. It was Cooke who seemed to be Alco's shop of choice for these dinkies, so did they exclusively make all that builders small engines, or was the work spread around somewhat to other shops as needed?

  • Member since
    February 2010
  • 384 posts
Posted by Redore on Friday, June 8, 2012 1:22 AM

Not much was ordered by anybody during the early 30's.  By the late 30's most new small power was diesel.

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