The National Museum of Industrial History (NMIH) in Bethlehem, PA is
about to begin a campaign to move and preserve a historic former
Pennsylvania Railroad diesel locomotive. Hidden away in South
Philadelphia, this 1950s vintage locomotive moved cars on a triple
track horseshoe curve at Pier 122. Probably the most unusual
locomotive on the “Standard Railroad of the World,” this
narrow (42”)
gauge engine used pneumatically operated arms to push cars on parallel
standard gauge tracks as they were being loaded with imported iron ore
unloaded from ships at the pier. Conventional locomotives then moved
the assembled ore trains to Bethlehem Steel and other steel mills as
far away as West Virginia.
Known as a shunt engine, this locomotive was built by the steel mill
equipment maker, Atlas Car & Manufacturing Company in Cleveland, Ohio,
and will be the only diesel locomotive made by that firm to be
preserved. The very uniqueness of the locomotive defines it out of
most museum collection plans and its design would make it a misfit in
many museums. In the National Museum of Industrial History, however,
the engine will rest inside the steel mill it was built to send iron
ore to and join a collection of other rail equipment and industrial
machinery where an engine with arms is a concept that would not be out
of reach.
The locomotive was used until 1998 when Pier 122 closed, and it is
now available for preservation through the generosity of Conrail
Shared Assets. To help offset the nearly $3,000 needed to move the
locomotive, please consider making a donation to the National Museum
of Industrial History (a 501 (c)(3) corporation). Another way to
support the project is to purchase a photographic CD being sold to
benefit the engine.
Two CDs are offered, one detailing Pier 122 and another the blast
furnace complex at Bethlehem Steel, where the iron ore unloaded at the
pier became molten iron. Over a hundred digital photographs, saved as
JPEGS, are included in each CD. The Bethlehem Steel CD includes a
digital copy of The Blast Furnace Division, a full length 1950 book
from the Bethlehem Steel Collection of the National Canal Museum,
Easton, PA. The CDs 123 contemporary photographs show usually
inaccessible details within the blast furnace complex, from the below
ground flooded skip bucket pits to a cast house floor. The dozen 80
foot long blowing engines, fleet of hot metal and slag cars, and a
variety of other interesting machinery is shown, all of which is noted
and explained in a Word file of captions which can be printed.
Similar treatment is given to Pier 122, the length of which is covered
from ground level in 213 digital photographs, including views inside the pier’s machine shop and of the shunt engines.
The CDs cost $10 each, or both for $18, plus 6 percent sales tax and
$2 shipping and handling. They come to a total of $12.60 each or
$21.08 for both. Checks (no cash please) can be mailed and made
payable to:
National Museum of Industrial History
530 East Third Street, Bethlehem, PA 18015
The following form can be printed out and mailed in:
CD
Title------------Price-----------------Quantity--------Total
----------(including tax and S&H)-----------------
Bethlehem Steel Blast Furnaces-$12.60
Pier 122-----------------------$12.60
Both CDs---------------------$21.08
_____________________________________________________________________
-------------------------------Payment Due $______
PLEASE SEND MY CD(S) TO:
NAME:_____________________________________________
ADDRESS____________________________________________
____________________________________________
CITY ____________________________________________
STATE/ZIP__________________________________________
PHONE ____________________________________________
E-MAIL_____________________________________________
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Please feel free to contact me at
piersa@ptd.net if you have any
questions.
Mike Piersa, National Museum of Industrial History Volunteer
