I'm researching the 2-8-2 meter gauge [and the 36" and 42" variant] MacArthurs that were produced in great numbers during the 40s. I asked John Stutz to comment on some of the information I had had received. John decided one statement seemed to deserve a throrough answer. If this is of interest to anybody, he can provide transcriptions of the references for early 2-8-0's.
Mike Peltier -
> > Meter gage locos are just a revisions of older 3' gage
> > engines anyway. The frame fits 3' gage, even if you
> > dropped the wheelset and put in a new axle and wheels.
This is definitely not true for BLW locomotives, where the designers of
inside frame engines used every bit of space between the driving wheel
bosses to spread the axle boxes. An inspection of BLW erection drawing
cross sections will show that, on average, meter gauge engine frames
were spaced 3" further apart than 36" gauge frames. And on narrow
firebox engines, those carrying their firebox between the drivers, the
meter gauge fire grates average about 3" wider than on 36" gauge
engines.
The BLW Class List (original in the DeGolyer Library) lists all BLW
locomotive orders, and includes the drawing (design) number and the
gauge for each. It is only very very rarely that the same drawing is
used for two gauges. Off hand, the only instance that I can recall is
one where an an outside framed meter gauge design was later built as
36" gauge, an occasion where one actually could just push the wheels
in.
The BLW Drawings Index (original in the Stanford University Library)
lists the leading mechanical dimensions of almost every BLW design
that was first built prior to about 1910. There are numerous
instances where two different designs differ only in the gauge and
fire grate width. There are many more that involve only slight
additional alterations in the boilers.
As for meter gauge engines being ".. just a revisions of older 3' gage
engines anyway.", the BLW records suggest just the opposite. The
classic 2-8-0's of Colorado were preceeded by a couple similar meter
gauge designs for Brazil. BLW's only prior 36" gauge 2-8-0 was
significantly different. The Mikado and Pacific types were first
built for 42" gauge lines in Japan and New Zealand. The East Broad
Top and Sumpter Valley Mikes were preceeded by quite similar meter
gauge designs for Brazil and Argentina, while the White Pass 70's are
foreshadowed by meter gauge engines supplied to Chile in the 1920's.
The plain fact is that the market for meter and 42" gauge locomotives
was far larger than than that for 36" gauge locomotives, by at least
4:1, so new developments were more likely to be applied to those
gauges first. Similarily, the export market was about 10 times the
domestic market, at least after 1885, and so saw far more active
development.
John Stutz
