Steeplecab
Encyclopedia
Electric locomotive
An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or an on-board energy storage device...
; the term is rarely if ever used for other forms of power. The name originated in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and has been used in Britain as well as the alternative camelback.
A steeplecab design has a central or nearly central driving cab
Cab (locomotive)
The cab, crew compartment or driver's compartment of a locomotive is the part of the locomotive housing the train driver or engineer, the fireman or driver's assistant , and the controls necessary for the locomotive's operation....
area which may include a full-height area in between for electrical equipment. On both ends, connected to the full-height cab areas, lower (usually sloping) "noses" contain other equipment, especially noisy equipment such as air compressor
Air compressor
An air compressor is a device that converts power into kinetic energy by compressing and pressurizing air, which, on command, can be released in quick bursts...
s not desired within the cab area. When overhead lines are used for power transmission, the cab roof usually supports the equipment to collect the power (either by pantograph
Pantograph (rail)
A pantograph for rail lines is a hinged electric-rod device that collects electric current from overhead lines for electric trains or trams. The pantograph typically connects to a one-wire line, with the track acting as the ground wire...
(s) bow collector
Bow collector
A bow collector is one of the three main devices used on tramcars to transfer electric current from the wires above to the tram below. While once very common in continental Europe, it has now been largely replaced by the pantograph.-Origins:...
(s) or trolley pole
Trolley pole
A trolley pole is a tapered cylindrical pole of wood or metal, used to transfer electricity from a "live" overhead wire to the control and propulsion equipment of a tram or trolley bus. The use of overhead wire in a system of current collection is reputed to be the 1880 invention of Frank J....
(s)), although on some early designs (such as the North Eastern Railways Electric number 1
British Rail Class ES1
British Rail Class ES1 was a class of two electric locomotives commissioned by the North Eastern Railway in 1902. They were of steeplecab design....
-- later known as an "ES1") a bow collector might be mounted on one of the bonnets (or "nose hoods")
Hood (vehicle)
The hood or bonnet is the hinged cover over the engine of motor vehicles that allows access to the engine compartment for maintenance and repair. In British terminology, hood refers to a fabric cover over the passenger compartment of the car...
instead.
The steeplecab style was developed in America, and in 1900 Thomson-Houston and General Electric designed and built a 650v DC 3rd rail locomotive of this type for use between Milan and Varese in Italy, becoming FS420.001 (in 1937 this engine was sold to the Cumana railway, Naples). In 1902, the British North Eastern Railway
North Eastern Railway (UK)
The North Eastern Railway , was an English railway company. It was incorporated in 1854, when four existing companies were combined, and was absorbed into the London and North Eastern Railway at the Grouping in 1923...
placed an order for two steeplecab locomotives of virtually identical design, the ES1
British Rail Class ES1
British Rail Class ES1 was a class of two electric locomotives commissioned by the North Eastern Railway in 1902. They were of steeplecab design....
(although they had a dual collection system, using both 3rd rail and pantograph) . These were for the Tyneside Electrics
Tyneside Electrics
The Tyneside Electrics refers to the suburban railways on Tyneside that were electrified by the North Eastern Railway and the London and North Eastern Railway. The North Tyneside loop was electrified from 1904 onwards and formed one of the earliest suburban electric networks, the South Tyneside...
system in North East England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, where their job was to haul very heavy mineral trains relatively short distances but over a route that included gradients as steep as 1 in 27. These locomotives started work in 1905 and were only retired in 1964.
Advantages and disadvantages
The steeplecab design was especially popular for electric switcherSwitcher
A switcher or shunter is a small railroad locomotive intended not for moving trains over long distances but rather for assembling trains ready for a road locomotive to take over, disassembling a train that has been...
locomotives, and on electric locomotives ordered for interurban
Interurban
An interurban, also called a radial railway in parts of Canada, is a type of electric passenger railroad; in short a hybrid between tram and train. Interurbans enjoyed widespread popularity in the first three decades of the twentieth century in North America. Until the early 1920s, most roads were...
and industrial lines. It offers a large degree of crash protection for the crew combined with good visibility.
Disadvantages include reduced room for bulky electrical equipment compared to other designs.
The overall design pattern of a central crew area with lower and/or narrower equipment hoods on each end has been repeated many times, although the lack of equipment space has meant it has largely died out in recent years.
Australia
The first two members of the Victorian RailwaysVictorian Railways
The Victorian Railways operated railways in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companies failed or defaulted, the Victorian Railways was established to take over their operations...
E class
Victorian Railways E class (electric)
The Victorian Railways E class was a class of electric locomotive that ran on the Victorian Railways from 1923 until 1984. Introduced shortly after the electrification of the suburban rail system in Melbourne, Australia, and based on the same electrical and traction equipment as Melbourne's early...
electric locomotives, introduced in 1923, were of a steeplecab design.
Italy
A single locomotive was built in 1900 by Thomson-Houston and General Electric for the Milan & Varese railway. The Hungarian designer Kálmán KandóKálmán Kandó
Kálmán Kandó de Egerfarmos et Sztregova was a Hungarian engineer, and a pioneer in the development of electric railway traction.-Education:...
was employed by the Ganz
Ganz
The Ganz electric works in Budapest is probably best known for the manufacture of tramcars, but was also a pioneer in the application of three-phase alternating current to electric railways. Ganz also made / makes: ships , bridge steel structures , high voltage equipment...
works to electrify the Italian Valtellina
Valtellina
Valtellina or the Valtelline valley ; is a valley in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, bordering Switzerland. Today it is known for its skiing, its hot spring spas, its cheeses and its wines...
railway, Milan: his steeplecab locomotive was operational in 1901.
United Kingdom
When the Central London Railway (now the Central LineCentral Line
The Central line is a London Underground line, coloured red on the tube map. It is a deep-level "tube" line, running east-west across London, and, at , has the greatest total length of track of any line on the Underground. Of the 49 stations served, 20 are below ground...
of the London Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
) opened in 1900, its trains were hauled by camelback (steeplecab) electric locomotives. Due to severe vibrations as a result of their most of their weight being unsprung, they were withdrawn in 1903 and replaced by
multiple-unit trains.
The North Eastern Railway
North Eastern Railway (UK)
The North Eastern Railway , was an English railway company. It was incorporated in 1854, when four existing companies were combined, and was absorbed into the London and North Eastern Railway at the Grouping in 1923...
operated three classes of camelbacks between 1905 and the company's merger under Grouping
Railways Act 1921
The Railways Act 1921, also known as the Grouping Act, was an enactment by the British government of David Lloyd George intended to stem the losses being made by many of the country's 120 railway companies, move the railways away from internal competition, and to retain some of the benefits which...
in 1922. These became:
- British Rail Class EE1British Rail Class EE1British Rail Class EE1 was an electric locomotive commissioned by the North Eastern Railway in 1922. Ownership passed to the London and North Eastern Railway in 1923 and to British Railways in 1948....
- British Rail Class EF1British Rail Class EF1The British Rail Class EF1 was a class of electrically powered locomotives used by British Rail in England. They were used during the pre-TOPS period...
- British Rail Class ES1British Rail Class ES1British Rail Class ES1 was a class of two electric locomotives commissioned by the North Eastern Railway in 1902. They were of steeplecab design....
The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was incorporated in 1847 from an amalgamation of several existing railways...
also built at least two steeplecab locomotives. One was a straight electric which could pick up current from third rail
Third rail
A third rail is a method of providing electric power to a railway train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway track. It is used typically in a mass transit or rapid transit system, which has alignments in its own corridors, fully or almost...
or overhead wire. The other was battery powered. See external links for photos.
United States
In the United States, several examples of steeplecab electric locomotives can be found preserved at various railway museums. At least one common carrier railroad, the Iowa TractionIowa Traction Railroad
The Iowa Traction Railroad is an electrically operated common carrier railroad running between Mason City and Clear Lake, Iowa, Iowa. It can trace its roots back to the Mason City and Clear Lake Railway which was founded in 1896. The shops were situated in Emery, the midpoint between the two...
, still operates several locomotives of this style.
- The Western Railway MuseumWestern Railway MuseumThe Western Railway Museum, in Solano County, California is located on Highway 12 between Rio Vista and Suisun. The museum is built along the former mainline of theSacramento Northern Railway...
features two former Sacramento Northern locomotives in its collection, both built by General ElectricGeneral ElectricGeneral Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
. - The Orange Empire Railroad Museum rosters several such locomotives, including one from the Sacramento Northern and a Yakima Valley Railroad locomotive that originally ran in Glendale, CaliforniaGlendale, CaliforniaGlendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population is 191,719, down from 194,973 at the 2000 census. making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 22nd largest city in the state of California...
. - The Illinois Railway MuseumIllinois Railway MuseumThe Illinois Railway Museum is the largest railroad museum in the United States and is located in Union, Illinois, northwest of Chicago...
rosters several locomotives from The Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company and the only surviving articulated steeplecab, originally from Commonwealth Edison plant on California Avenue in Chicago. - The New York Transit MuseumNew York Transit MuseumThe New York Transit Museum is a museum which displays historical artifacts of the New York City Subway, bus, commuter rail, and bridge and tunnel systems; it is located in a decommissioned Court Street subway station in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood of New York City...
has three preserved South Brooklyn RailwaySouth Brooklyn RailwayThe South Brooklyn Railway is a railroad in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It continues to operate today as a subsidiary of MTA New York City Transit...
steeplecab locomotives in its collection, at least one of which operated on fan trips during the subway's centennial in 2004.
Similar designs
Other, similar, designs included some very large locomotives such as:- the "CrocodileCrocodile (locomotive)Crocodile electric locomotives are so called because they have long "noses" at each end, reminiscent of the snout of a crocodile . These contain the motors and drive axles, and are connected by an articulated center section. The center section usually contains the crew compartments, pantographs...
" design used in Europe - the PRR GG1PRR GG1The PRR GG1 is a class of electric locomotives that was built for the Pennsylvania Railroad for use in the northeastern United States. A total of 140 GG1s were constructed by its designer General Electric and the Pennsylvania's Altoona Works from 1934 to 1943....
- the Milwaukee Road class EP-2Milwaukee Road class EP-2The Milwaukee Road's class EP-2 comprised five electric locomotives built by General Electric in 1919. They were often known as Bipolars, which referred to the bipolar electric motors they used. Among the most distinctive and powerful electric locomotives of their time, they epitomized the...
"Bi-Polars"