| P E N N S Y L V A N I A R A I L R O A D S Y S T E M | 19 |
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experiments
with wood, coke and Pittsburgh and Allegheny coals, in order to determine
what kind of fuel would be most economical and satisfactory. The results
were generally favorable to the use of coal, especially when mixed with
wood.
A far more elaborate series of tests was run in 1859, extending over a period of five months. The object was to determine whether it would |
| and the ten-wheeled (4-6-0) for heavy freight. It is interesting to note that these two types, although no longer suitable for | be possible to use bituminous coal in passenger service without creating objectionable smoke; all the passenger locomotives on the | |
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heaviest class of work, are still represented in the motive power equipment
of the road by many fine locomotives built during the past 20 or 25 years.
Before referring more in detail to the locomotives built subsequent to 1860, some mention should be made of the increasing use of coal as fuel. When the Pennsylvania Railroad was first opened, wood was almost universally used as locomotive fuel, although various experiments had been made with burning coal; and anthracite was being used with |
The "Seneca," a Winans Camel Locomotive, as rebuilt at Altoona in 1862 |
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| greater or less success on a number of roads. In 1853, Enoch Lewis, then Second Assistant Superintendent, made a series of | at that time being wood burners. Six locomotives were used in these tests, three them, Nos. 120, 139 and 206, being Baldwin | |
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engines. Engine 139, illustrated on page 17, was of the 4-4-0 type designed for freight service, while Nos. 120 and 206 were of the 4-6-0 type, the latter having originally been built for the Allegheny Portage Railroad. The tests proved conclusively that it was possible to use bituminous coal in passenger service, provided the boilers of the locomotives had ample combustion space with means for properly baffling and mixing the gases. | |
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