Jeff Taylor Wrote:
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> One other thing to consider with the CM story is
> the temperature. Being in Colorado that story
> could have taken place on a cold day. Meaning any
> steam leak is going to seems worse.
>
Apparently I the story I related was a several month long thing. To give a bit more of it, without trying to type the whole bit, Mr. Hickman had bid on the passenger job, not expecting to get it because he didn't really have the whiskers for it, but nobody else wanted it because the 200's were having problems making the time. He had the job for about 6 months before someone else bid in and he got bumped. The guy who bumped him couldn't make the time, finally looked Hickman up and asked how he'd done it.
To be precise, Mr. Hickman still wasn't quite making the time up the hill, he'd be 10 minutes late at Divide and make it up on the down grade to Florissant.
For those not familiar with CM engines: CM 200-204 (Baldwin, 1902) were delivered as Vauclain Compounds with 60" drivers for dual service, a bit odd for a 2-8-0. (on the CM 60" drivers were passenger power, freight had 52"). After the usual problems they were simpled but wound up being over-cylindered. They spent the rest of their life on the CM in helper service on Ute Pass. In 1917-18 the Carlton administration planned to superheat them to cure the problem but only got one of them done before the end. Wierdly enough it retained its slide valves. After the war the entire class went to the Louisiana & Arkansas (KCS system) where they continued in service until the 1930's when all but the one that had gotten SH were scrapped. The final engine survived until 1947 or '48 (still with the slide valves!) when it too was scrapped. In one of my CM books (Cafky, I think) the author had talked to L&A engineers who told him that they were not popular engines there, all the same problems as on CM, but that the one with SH was the best of the lot.
I've always wondered why nobody (CM or L&A) didn't just bite the bullet and rebuild them with smaller cylinders. If CM had survived the USRA I've often thought they might have, once they were all given SH, have wound up working freight on the west end where those 60" driver could have been used to advantage. Assuming newer engines took the helper jobs and the 300's were working road freight east of there... For a time, anyway.
Hank
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/07/2019 08:42AM by hank.
