Baldwin 60000
Encyclopedia
Baldwin 60000 is an experimental steam locomotive
built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works
in Eddystone, Pennsylvania
in 1926, during the height of the railroading industry. It received its number for being the 60,000th locomotive built by Baldwin.
It was designed to be the best locomotive that Baldwin ever made. It boasted three cylinders, weighed about 350 short tons (318 t), including tender, and could pull a load of up to 7000 short tons (6,350.3 t). Its top speed was 70 mph (31.3 m/s).
60000 was also was very innovative, carrying unusual technology, including a water-tube firebox. This was intended to improve efficiency but the tubes tended to burst inside the firebox. It also was a compound
, expanding the steam once in the inside cylinder and then again in the two outside cylinders. Although compounding increased efficiency, it was an extra complication that the US railroads had mostly rejected by the middle twenties. Also, the weight and length of the engine was too much for all but the heaviest and straightest track.
This locomotive was experimental and was meant to be the model for future development. However, its demonstration runs never persuaded railroads to purchase more and in 1933, it was purchased by the Franklin Institute Science Museum for $1 and remains there today.
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works
Baldwin Locomotive Works
The Baldwin Locomotive Works was an American builder of railroad locomotives. It was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, originally, and later in nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania. Although the company was very successful as a producer of steam locomotives, its transition to the production of...
in Eddystone, Pennsylvania
Eddystone, Pennsylvania
Eddystone is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,442 at the 2000 census.-Early history:The area at the mouth of Ridley Creek was first called "Tequirassy" by Native Americans. The land was owned by Olof Persson Stille, one of the early settlers from New...
in 1926, during the height of the railroading industry. It received its number for being the 60,000th locomotive built by Baldwin.
It was designed to be the best locomotive that Baldwin ever made. It boasted three cylinders, weighed about 350 short tons (318 t), including tender, and could pull a load of up to 7000 short tons (6,350.3 t). Its top speed was 70 mph (31.3 m/s).
60000 was also was very innovative, carrying unusual technology, including a water-tube firebox. This was intended to improve efficiency but the tubes tended to burst inside the firebox. It also was a compound
Compound locomotive
A compound engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages.A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure cylinder, then having given up heat and losing pressure, it exhausts directly into one or more larger...
, expanding the steam once in the inside cylinder and then again in the two outside cylinders. Although compounding increased efficiency, it was an extra complication that the US railroads had mostly rejected by the middle twenties. Also, the weight and length of the engine was too much for all but the heaviest and straightest track.
This locomotive was experimental and was meant to be the model for future development. However, its demonstration runs never persuaded railroads to purchase more and in 1933, it was purchased by the Franklin Institute Science Museum for $1 and remains there today.