Re: Mason 461, 0-4-4T or 0-4-2T

Hi Don,

Art Wallace's book devotes several pages (pp. 70-74) to Mason c/n 461. Built on speculation and originally called the Onward, she was the very first Mason Fairlie ("Mason bogie") and also Mason's first narrow gauge engine, so her construction was a significant achievement for William Mason and the Mason Machine Works.

However, I'm afraid Wallace makes no reference to any later conversion to a 0-4-2T wheel arrangement, and in fact he says very little about the engine's later history, just that the American Fork RR found the engine unsatisfactory (due to a burst exhaust pipe?) and replaced her with a new Porter in 1874, and that "Other students have made an extensive study and reported the ultimate demise of this little engine".

Frankly, I'm not sure how a Mason bogie could have functioned as a 0-4-2, since the rear truck is such an integral part of the design. Are you sure the "6-wheel" description isn't just a typo?

-Philip Marshall