Western Maryland Scenic Railroad 734

Western Maryland 734
WMSR No. 734 at the Cumberland Station in 2006
hideType and origin Power type Steam Builder Baldwin Locomotive Works Serial number 43105 Model 10 43 E 93 Build date April 16, 1916 Rebuild date 1992–August 1993
hideSpecifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 2-8-0  • UIC 1'D'l Gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) Driver dia. 57 in (1,448 mm) Wheelbase 60.96 ft (18.58 m)(LS&I) 69.54 ft (21.20 m)(WMSR)  • Engine 26 ft (7.9 m)  • Drivers 16 ft (4.9 m) Adhesive weight 238,000 lb (108,000 kg) Loco weight 268,000 lb (122,000 kg) Tender weight 167,000 lb (76,000 kg)(LS&I) 276,000 lb (125,000 kg)(WMSR) Total weight 435,000 lb (197,000 kg)(LS&I) 544,000 lb (247,000 kg)(WMSR) Fuel type Coal Fuel capacity 12 t (12 long tons; 13 short tons)(LS&I) 18 t (18 long tons; 20 short tons)(WMSR) Water cap 9,500 US gal (36,000 l; 7,900 imp gal)(LS&I) 18,000 US gal (68,000 l; 15,000 imp gal)(WMSR) Boiler pressure 200 lb/in2 (14 kg/cm2)(LS&I) 175 lb/in2 (12.3 kg/cm2)(WMSR) Cylinders Two, Outside Cylinder size 26 in × 30 in (660 mm × 760 mm) Valve gear Baker
hidePerformance figures Maximum speed 55 mph (89 km/h) Tractive effort 60,484 lb (27,435 kg) Factor of adh. 3.93
hideCareer Operators Lake Superior and Ishpeming Railroad Marquette and Huron Mountain Railroad Western Maryland Scenic Railroad Class SC-1 Numbers LS&I 18 LS&I 30 LS&I 34 WMSR 734 WMSR 729 Nicknames Mountain Thunder Last run April 9, 2016 Retired 1961 (revenue service) April 2021 (excursion service) Restored August 1993 Current owner Western Maryland Scenic Railroad Disposition In storage, awaiting cosmetic restoration and eventual overhaul, based in Ridgeley, West Virginia

The Western Maryland Scenic Railroad No. 734, also known as Mountain Thunder, is a preserved class "SC-1" 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type steam locomotive originally built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1916 for the Lake Superior and Ishpeming Railroad. The locomotive was built for service as a dock switcher and was originally LS&I No. 18. In 1924, the LS&I purchased the Munising, Marquette & Southeastern Railroad and the engine was renumbered to No. 34. It served the LS&I until it was retired from revenue service in 1961. In 1963, it was sold to the Marquette and Huron Mountain Railroad, but never operated under the M&HR flag. In 1971, the locomotive was sold to the Illinois Railway Museum for static display. Since 1991, No. 734 has been owned by the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad in Cumberland, Maryland.

History[]

Original service life[]

1916 drawings for the SC-1, No. 734's original class.

When the American Locomotive Company’s (ALCO) Pittsburgh facility was close to being shut down, and as World War I broke out, the Lake Superior and Ishpeming Railroad^[1] decided to get locomotives larger and more powerful than their B-4 class to pull passenger and iron ore trains between West Ishpeming and Marquette, Michigan,^[2] and the ore industry continued to rise. And so, they went to the drawing board to create a 'step up' of the B-4s, a locomotive with an 88'' diameter boiler, cylinder dimensions of 26'' x 30'', an engine weight of 270,000 pounds and a tractive effort of 55,900 pounds.^[3]

The railroad ordered these newly designed locomotives from Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and they were numbered 18-20, and one more was purchased by the Munising, Marquette and Southeastern Railway, bringing the total number of these giants to four. Since both the sand domes and steam domes were squashed flat, and their bells were mounted on the sides of their boilers, they were earned the name "hogs", an epithet which they still hold. These giants also hold a distinction for being the largest and most powerful 2-8-0 locomotives in the world, as well as the most powerful locomotives in Northern Michigan, even though they did not go very fast. While the B-4s could pull 45 loaded hoppers on a %1.6 grade, the hogs could pull up to 60 loaded hoppers up on that same grade without a hitch. That is more than any other consolidation have ever done before. Because of this, the hogs succeeded the B-4s to work "day in and day out" on the hill to the ore range.

In 1924, the LS&I received some additional 2-8-0s, including that road's one hog, after purchasing the Munising, Marquette and Southeastern Railway, so a renumbering system and reclassification system were in order, and the hogs were reclassified as SC-1s, while being renumbered 30-33. No. 18 was renumbered 30, and the number 18 was given to an SC-4 class. Just one year later, the LS&I purchased two former Chicago River and Indiana 2-8-0s 1 and 2 from the General Equipment Company, and while they were renumbered 30 and 31, Nos 30 and 31 became 34 and 35. Until the arrival of the LS&I's 2-10-2 "Santa Fe" types in 1930, the SC-1s remained as the backbone of the LS&I's mainline ore services. These husky hogs resumed muscled heavy car loads of iron ore and passenger trains on the Michigan short line, but they were infrequently used during the winter. No. 34 was in charge of the pinch-hitting for diesel locomotives, especially when its classmates are under repair. This career for the locomotives ended, when the LS&I even decided to fully dieselize by the early 1960s. No. 34 was retired in 1961, and it was stored near Marquette. The LS&I ended all steam operations the following year.^{[citation needed]}

Early preservation[]

In 1963, the railroad sold twelve of their 2-8-0s, as well as some of their passenger cars, to the Marquette and Huron Mountain Tourist Railroad.^[4] Even then, there are no known records of the 34 pulling any trains for that railroad. Only some of the SC-4s, Nos 19, 22, 23, and 24, were known to pull tourist trains there between Marquette and Big Bay.^[5] Instead, No. 34 sat with the rest of its sisters in the form of a 'scrapline', until 1971. That year, No. 34 was sold to the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois, where it was cosmetically restored, and it remained on static display for the next twenty years.

Western Maryland Scenic Railroad[]

The Western Maryland was a railroad that served a small town called Cumberland, Maryland along with a branch line that ran between there and Frostburg, as well as stretching to other small towns, like Hancock and Connellsville. In 1973, though, that said branch line was abandoned and mostly ripped up, as one year prior, the WM joined the Baltimore and Ohio and Chesapeake and Ohio railroads to group into the Chessie System, which would eventually be completely merged into the new CSX transportation system. In the late 1980s, the City of Cumberland started seeing the old branch line as a possible tourist attraction,^[6] so a joint effort was formed; Allegheny County ponied up $585,000, the city $2,470,560, and the city of Frostburg $338,427 to purchase the corridor. As part of the deal, the Allegany Central Railroad was given the old WM shops in Ridgeley, West Virginia, a 1913-built Station in Cumberland, and an 1891-built Cumberland & Pennsylvania wooden depot in Frostburg.

No. 734 being aligned on a Turntable in Frostburg.

During this acquisition of course, the tourist railroad was looking for locomotives to pull the trains. Some of the first locomotives they used were Canadian Pacific 4-6-2 "Pacific" types Nos 1238 and 1286.^[7] Soon, the Allegany Central was moved to Staunton, Virginia to make way for Scenic Railroad Development Corporation's newly founded Western Maryland Scenic Railroad (WMSR). The steam locomotive they acquired was No. 34, which was taken away from the Illinois Railway Museum in 1991. Later that year, restoration work began while multiple modifications were given, and of course, the locomotive was renumbered 734.^[8] The modifications were intended to make the locomotive represent the Western Maryland's own series of 2-8-0s, none of which survived the scrapper's torch. Although this is now numbered after an original H-7a No. 734, the locomotive also now has an appearance of an H-9.

Restoration work was completed in August 1993, and No. 734 was ready to start its new career as a tourist steam locomotive. In September 2013, the scenic railroad was visited by 0-4-0 tank engines Viscose Co 6 and Flagg Coal Co 75, and they operated alongside No. 734 and stayed for a night photo session for the 25th anniversary of the grand re-opening of the tourist line.^[9] The following month, No. 734 was temporarily renumbered 729^[10] to pay tribute to another long lost WM 2-8-0, and this was for a photo session of the locomotive pushing and pulling freight.^[11]

No. 734 crossing the Potomac River with an EMD GP30.

In 2014, the WM Scenic Railroad^[12] announced that they would purchase Chesapeake and Ohio 2-6-6-2 "Mallet" No. 1309^[13] from the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, Maryland and operational restoration work for the locomotive began. Over time operations changed and grew, and No. 734 was often being pushed far beyond her normal operating capabilities, resulting in extreme wear and tear, or ran with a diesel helper which increased operating cost, so a larger engine was needed. In 2015, the Scenic Railroad announced that No. 734 was going to be taken out of excursion service, as it was getting close to being due for a mandated 1,472-day boiler inspection required by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA).^[14] It made its last passenger run on September 26, 2015,^[15] and after hauling one last photo freight train on April 9, 2016,^[16] roughly the locomotive's 100th birthday, Mountain Thunder was silenced.

No. 734 is now sitting in front of the Western Maryland's Ridgeley shops receiving a cosmetic stabilization. The railroad has revealed that the locomotive is in extremely poor mechanical condition. Therefore, the locomotive needs to go through a complete overhaul which will start whenever the time is right, pending the outcome of a full evaluation to determine if it is economically feasible. While very powerful, No. 734 is much too small to handle the busier trains of the Summer and Autumn seasons, so No. 734's role would primarily be as power for off-season steam runs and stand-by power for No. 1309 in the busier season. More news about No. 734 was announced on April 19, 2021, the locomotive's 105th birthday, saying that after the railroad was misquoted by the Cumberland Times-News, it was revealed that the trackage is currently at FRA Class 1 standards, and operations can begin as soon as No. 1309 is ready, though they intend to complete a tie-replacement program to bring the railroad back in line with FRA Class 2 standards which will allow operation of passenger trains at up to 30 mph. For the time being, Mountain Thunder would go through brief cosmetic restoration to improve its overall appearance as a static display. The railroad indeed wants to get the engine operating again sometime in the future, but for the time now they feel it's time for No. 1309 to shine.^[17]

Modifications[]

The locomotive received some minor to major modifications from as early as its revenue career on the LS&I in the early 1920s to as late as its excursion career on the WMSR in the mid-1990s.

• During the MM&SE's merger into the LS&I in 1923, the locomotive's original oil lamp was replaced with a golden glow headlight with a lightbulb, and the locomotive received a new tender.
• No. 34 originally held 55,900 pounds of tractive effort, but during a rebuild in the 1930s, said tractive effort was boosted to 60,484 pounds.
• During its restoration on the WMSR, the locomotive was modified to be permanently masqueraded as an original WM locomotive: the small four-axle tender was replaced with a bigger six-axle tender that used to belong to New York Central 4-8-2 "Mohawk" No. 2662 for better coal and water capacity, and the original tender was also badly damaged in a fire, creating a huge hole in the water bunker. Other notable modifications include the headlight being relocated to the center of the smokebox door, a replacement bell that used to belong to Western Maryland H-9 No. 816, and a replacement steam whistle which is a flat-top long-bell 3-chime that once belonged to Western Maryland I-2 No. 1114.
• In 1995, another one last modification was given to the locomotive, which was a new 'Rock Knocker' cowcatcher to knock rocks off of the trackage while climbing through the rocky mountains.

Original locomotive[]

The original Western Maryland No. 734 was an H-7a class 2-8-0.^[18] It was built by the American Locomotive Company's former Richmond Locomotive Works of Richmond, Virginia in 1911 for freight service on the WM's mainline, but as larger locomotives were built, it was downgraded as a branch line locomotive, and as a helper locomotive by pushing heavy trains up steep grades. No. 734 was different than the current LS&I 34, by having a switcher-style cowcatcher, a high-mounted headlight, a more rounded cab, a smaller four-axle tender with a lower fuel and water capacity, it had older-style cylinders that were 25 x 30 inches(635 x 762 millimeters), it was over 27,000 pounds lighter than 34, it had a driving wheel diameter of 60 inches, and used Walschaerts valve gear, instead of Baker valve gear. It's parts were also meant to be interchangeable with other WM locomotives, including the K-2 class 4-6-2s. The locomotive was removed from service by 1954, and it was subsequently sold for scrap.^[19]

See also[]

• Lake Superior and Ishpeming Railroad
• Grand Canyon Railway 29
• Lake Superior and Ishpeming 33
• 2-8-0 Consolidation
• Baldwin Locomotive Works
• Western Maryland Scenic Railroad
• Chesapeake and Ohio 1309

External links[]

• Western Maryland Scenic Railroad Official Website

Further reading[]

• Unknown Author(1916). Railway and Locomotive Engineering; A Practical Journal of Motive Power, Rolling Stock and Appliances: Volume 29. Classic Reprint Series ISBN 978-1334191183

References[]