Camels on the Railroad?

The National Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri has one of a very few samples of what the railroad industry called "Camelbacks". The "Camelback" pictured on the front of this post card was built in 1873 at the Mt. Clare shops. It is a 4-6-0 "Davis Ten-Wheeler", which is a later edition of the famous Winans "Camelback" design. It was operated by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad as Number 173. This locomotive was retired in 1900 to become part of the Purdue University Collection. This website (https://www.american-rails.com/mikado.html) has wonderful details about railroad history, so I have taken the following information from it: By Adam Burns - - - Camelbacks, while not necessarily the safest such design ever conceived were certainly one of the most unique. The Camelback is not a named wheel arrangement like the 4-6-2 Pacific or 2-8-4 Berkshire but a term only meant to describe a distinctive design feature found on some steam locomotives. While Camelbacks were banned citing safety concerns in the early 20th century they proved quite successful to the anthracite carriers, who could use them to burn a cheap and plentiful anthracite coal waste known as culm. The Camelback received its name for the unique positioning of the locomotive cab which sat astride the boiler giving the design a center "humped" appearance. While the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad developed something similar to the later Camelback in the 1840s, given the interesting name of "Muddiggers," it was not until John Wootten (who worked for the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad, a Reading Railroad predecessor) patented his Wootten firebox and boiler design in 1877 did the design really catch on. This particular designed allowed for the burning of the fuel the locomotive used by providing a very wide, large firebox that produced robust fires yet only utilized a consumed a small amount at a time with a low firing rate. Because the locomotive was developed to burn the very abundant anthracite coal waste, culm, Camelbacks became fantastically popular with the railroads which staked their livelihoods on the resource. While Wootten's design allowed railroads, particularly the anthracite carriers, to gain huge savings on fuel costs it also came at an increased safety risk. Because the firebox on Camelbacks was so large, as to gain the necessary and needed fire temperatures, it forced the cab to be placed astride the boiler and over the driving wheels (so the engineer could gain proper clearance). This not only made for an extremely uncomfortable and hot ride during warmer months for engineers it also made them more at risk to injury if any part of the driving wheel assembly failed while at speed. To make matters worse the fireman was left exposed to the elements back by the firebox, where of course he had to remain to feed fuel to the locomotive. Due to these safety issues the Interstate Commerce Commission began to seriously look at the hazards Camelback steam locomotives exposed to train crews and by 1927 the agency had completely banned new or rebuilt locomotives which featured the Camelback design. In total, nearly 3,000 Camelback steam locomotives were either rebuilt from conventional designs, custom-built by individual railroads, or purchased from manufacturers.

The post card was published by CharmCraft, also out of St. Louis, Missouri. The printing was done by Colourpicture Publishers in Boston Massachussets between 1943 and 1963. Postal Zones were introduced in 1943 and the Zip Code was introduced in 1963. This address has a postal zone.

Is this Part of a John Denver Song?

The train on the front of this post card is entering Wheeling, West Virginia. If you look very closely - I used a magnifying glass - you can see two boys greeting the train as it leaves the tunnel. https://eastwheelingreunionassoc.com/b-o-railroad-in-wheeling/eastwheelingreunionassoc.com The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad reached Wheeling in 1818. Eighteen years later Wheeling was designated a US Port of Entry. In addition, the people of Wheeling were determined to have Wheeling become the western terminus of the B&O Railroad. They were well aware of the importance the railroad would have to the city’s urban development. The mountainous, 379 mile distance from Baltimore to Wheeling was seen as insurmountable by many engineers. The Allegheny Mountains intimidated all but the heartiest of railroad engineers. Newspapers reported that the route from Cumberland to Wheeling was so bad that even a buffalo couldn’t make the trek “without shaking out its teeth.” On Christmas Eve 1852, the last spike was driven on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad between Baltimore and the Ohio River. The event occurred at Rosby’s Rock near Moundsville. The Baltimore and Ohio—known as the B&O—changed the course of West Virginia history. It produced the first coal boom in the northern part of the state and led to the rapid growth of towns like Harpers Ferry, Martinsburg, Grafton, Parkersburg, Wheeling, and Clarksburg. During the Civil War, it played into the military strategies of both sides, and its tracks were repeatedly damaged and then repaired. When West Virginia statehood leaders carved out the new state’s borders, the eastern panhandle counties were included primarily to keep the B&O in West Virginia and outside of Confederate Virginia. After the war and well into the 20th century, the B&O was a major force in the economies of West Virginia and the nation. By mid-century, though, it was suffering economically. In 1973, the B&O name disappeared when it was merged with the Chesapeake and Ohio and Western Maryland railways to form the new Chessie System, which is now CSX Transportation. Even though I know nothing about the publisher or the printer of this post card, I will show you the back of it here:

You can see that it was mailed in September of 1911.

Focus on the Train, Not the Battle!

The picture on this post card is of a Baltimore & Ohio train crossing over

Brandywine Creek in Wilmington, Delaware. I bought the post card because of the train on the front. Evidently, the publishers of the post card were more interested in the history related to the site. The description on the back of the post card focuses on a battle that was fought there in the Revolutionary War on September 11, 1777 which led to the occupation of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by the British Army. I went on line and looked up the bridge. This website gives an excellent description of the history of the bridge and the railroads that are related to it. https://historicbridges.org/delaware/brandywineviaduct/inventory.pdf Delaware’s most visually impressive stone arch bridge is the 1909-1910 Brandywine Viaduct built by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad over Brandywine Creek in Wilmington. The seven-span bridge is slightly less than 1,000’ long and rises over 110’ above the creek. The bridge was built as the railroad’s replacement of an 1888 iron deck truss bridge, which had proven inadequate to heavier locomotives. Although the B&O could have chosen to build another steel truss bridge, or a reinforced concrete bridge, there were few bridge types that spoke to permanency and stability as well as a stone arch, even if stone construction was very costly. The iron truss bridge in the background of this picture on the post card was abandoned by the railroad in 1910. It was then transferred to the City of Wilmington, which converted the bridge for use by pedestrians and motorized vehicles. Today, the railroad bridge is owned by CSX.

The post card was published by a company from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This may account for the interest in the historical aspect rather than the railroad aspect of the scene. The company, the Post Card Distributing Company, existed from 1911 to 1919. They have a great logo – see the picture of the statue of William Penn on top of City Hall in the top middle of the post card back. The post card was printed by Curt Otto Teich. His numbering system (to the right of the statue, above the word POST) suggests that this card was printed in 1917; probably early 1917, since the post rate went from one cent to two cents on November 2, 1917 and the rate for this card is one cent.

Not "Old Maude", but a Relative!

The locomotive on the front of this post card is one of Baltimore & Ohio Railroad’s mighty class EM-1 articulated steam locomotives.

It heads up a string of hopper cars as it roars through Corriganville, Maryland on April 29, 1955. It was built by Baldwin in 1944 as one of thirty for service on the Cumberland Division. It was mentioned that this locomotive is an articulated steam locomotive. This website gives some good information about what being articulated means: https://www.american-rails.com/articulated.html An articulated steam locomotive is defined as any design which has at least two sets of drivers, with the lead set having the ability to swivel independently from the rigid frame to more easily negotiate curves. This technological development allowed steam locomotives to grow in size prodigiously. With builders and railroads no longer limited to the size of a locomotive's wheel base, arrangements became longer, larger, heavier, and more powerful. The first use of the articulated steam locomotive in the United States was, as mentioned above, on the B&O in 1904 which collaborated with the American Locomotive Company to create an 0-6-6-0 design listed as Class DD-1 #2400 and given the name "Old Maude." The steamer was manufactured as a true compound, Mallet and for the most part the railroad was pleased with the experimental locomotive. The Mallet design was first introduced by Anatole Mallet (pronounced "Mal-lay") of Switzerland when he constructed an articulated locomotive in France during the 1870s that featured an independent, swiveling front driver that was not mounted rigidly to the rest of the frame.

The post card was published by Audio-Visual Designs in Earlton, New York after 1963. There is a zip code included in their address and zip codes were introduced in 1961.

A Camel Pulling a Train?

The locomotive on the front of this post card is a “Ten-Wheeler”.

However, it is unlike any “Ten Wheeler” that I have ever seen – in person or in my post card collection. This one was built in 1873 at the Mt. Care shops of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. This is a “Davis Ten-Wheeler” and a later edition of the famous Winans “Camelback” design. This locomotive was retired in 1900 and now is part of the collection at Perdue University in Indiana. This website will give you some background on the “Camel” locomotives: https://borail.pastperfectonline.com/webobject/9B6B74B9-B2EF-4872-B677-952454751722 The "Camel" locomotives, which were named for their unique shape and cab location, became a trademark of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O) during the mid-19th century. The "Camel" became one of the first coal-burning locomotives produced in large quantities. Eccentric builder, Ross Winans, created the original design of the locomotive in 1848. Challenged to design a locomotive that would burn coal more efficiently, Winans' solution was to construct a large firebox behind the locomotive's mainframe, forcing the engineer's cab to be positioned above the boiler. The "Camel" was designed for productivity rather than for crew comfort. The engineer was often too hot as he sat above the boiler, and faced slim survival chances during a derailment. The fireman was also uncomfortable, as there was little shelter to protect him from the weather. A more critical problem the crew faced was a lack of communication resulting from their separated positions. During the 1850s, Master of Machinery, Samuel Hayes, adapted features of the 0-8-0 "Camel" design for a fleet of "Ten Wheelers." His locomotives needed to move passenger trains over the mountains of western Virginia. Successor Master of Machinery, J.C. Davis, also combined the 4-6-0 wheel arrangement with the "Camel" design. Over a ten-year period, Davis turned out over 100 heavier versions of the "Camel."

The post card was published by CharmCraft out of St. Louis, Missouri. It was incorporated on February 6, 1948 and was dissolved on January 14, 1974. It did have a previous name of the “St. Louis Greeting Card Company”. It is a “Plastichrome” post card printed in Boston, Mass. By Colourpicture Publishers, Inc. They existed from 1938 to 1969. They were a major publisher and printer of linen view-cards of the United States based in Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts between 1938 and 1969. They later went on to publish photochromes and small spiral bound picture booklets under the name trade name Plastichrome in the 1950's.

Switcheroo

The 0-8-0 wheel arrangement appeared early in locomotive development in the United States, during the mid-1840s. The configuration became popular and was more commonly constructed as a tender locomotive. It saw extensive use as a heavy switcher and freight engine.

The locomotive on the front of this post card is an 0-8-0 type of locomotive working for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. Beginning in 1844, Ross Winans developed a series of 0-8-0 types for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, starting with a vertical-boiler design where the crankshaft was directly above and geared to the rear driving wheel. With a horizontal boiler, this became the Mud Digger class of engines on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, of which twelve were built. In late 1847, the B&O moved to abandon geared drives and, in 1848, Baldwin delivered the first of a series of 0-8-0 freight engines. The USRA 0-8-0, designed by the United States Railroad Administration (USRA) was a standard class during the First World War. This was the standard heavy switcher of the USRA types, of which 175 examples were built by ALCO, Baldwin and Lima for many different railroads in the United States. After the dissolution of the USRA in 1920, an additional 1,200 examples of the USRA 0-8-0 were built. In the 1920s the Pennsylvania Railroad wanted the best motive power possible to handle the switching chores at their yards and interchanges. Built in their own Juniata Shops, the PRR C1 class, at 278,000 lb, was the heaviest two-cylinder 0-8-0 switcher ever produced. The calculated tractive effort was 76,154 lb. The last steam locomotive to be built in the USA for a Class I railroad was 0-8-0 no. 244, a Class S1 switch engine erected by the Norfolk and Western Roanoke shop in December 1953.

The post card was published by RAILCARDS.COM out of Alameda, California. The webite does not exist any more, so I presume that the company went out of business. This is one of two hundred and four post cards that I have from this publisher. It is the third largest group of post cards in my collection.

Going to Chicago, Anyone?

The locomotive on

the front of this post card is a Pacific-type (4-6-2) built by Baldwin in 1919. It is at the head of the “Capitol Limited” and ready to depart Washington, D.C. The information below was taken from this website: https://www.american-rails.com/capitol.html The Baltimore & Ohio’s (B&O) premier New York-Chicago passenger train, the Capitol Limited, was born as much out of necessity as anything else. Ever the underdog in the New York-Chicago market, the B&O knew it needed to keep pace against its two stronger competitors and introduce a train that would strongly rival both the 20th Century Limited and Broadway Limited. The Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) and New York Central (NYC) had inaugurated their trains in 1902; the B&O did not enter the market until 1923 when that year on May 12 it introduced the Capitol Limited. For the first three years of its existence the Capitol Limited was somewhat successful in the New York market as the B&O was under contract with the PRR to terminate its trains directly into the city at Pennsylvania Station. However, this changed in the late summer of 1926 when the PRR ended the contract and the B&O was once again forced back into Jersey City (despite this the railroad made the ferry service as pleasant as possible, promoting friendly and prompt bus service into Manhattan, a move that for a time was actually quite successful). In 1938 the Capitol Limited got a big boost when the B&O equipped the train with the Electo-Motive Corporation’s brand new, self contained and streamlined diesel-electric locomotive, the EA. While the B&O won over the hearts of many with its splendid services and on-board offerings (later amenities included air-conditioning and strata-dome car service, giving passengers a 360-degree view of the surrounding landscape) it simply could not compete with the PRR and NYC to New York. As a result, on April 26, 1958 the B&O gave up all service to New York and began terminating its trains only as far east as Baltimore. For the next thirteen years the B&O continued running its premier flagship train between Washington, D.C./Baltimore. As ridership declined the railroad began merging other trains into the Cap such as the Ambassador, which operated to Detroit, and the all-coach Columbian to Chicago. However, unlike many other railroads the B&O did not let its passenger service slide away and die a slow death. Right until the end the railroad offered premier service on the Cap and the train’s last journey under the B&O banner was fit for kings. On April 29, 1971, two days before Amtrak took over most intercity passenger operations around the country, the Capitol pulled out of Baltimore’s Camden Station replete with coaches, diners, lounges, strata-dome, and all for its final trip to Chicago.

The post card was published by Audio Visual Design before 1963; there is not zip code in the address. The description on the back says that this picture was taken from an original early lantern slide that the B&O used for publicity purposes. I have 333 post cards in my collection from this publisher.