First known use of the truck was on the British Eastern Counties Railway No. 248, a rigid-frame 2-4-0 built by Kitson in 1855. The leading wheels of the engine, as originally constructed, were attached to the frame in the same manner as the drivers and thus had [p128] no lateral freedom. For the test the front pedestals, which held the journal boxes of the leading wheels, were cut off and a Bissell pony truck was substituted. About a year later Alexander L. Holley reported on the success of the test.[19] The 248 had operated 17,500 miles, at speeds up to 50 m.p.h., safely and satisfactorily. The engine not only rode more steadily but showed a remarkable reduction in flange wear. The road was so pleased that by 1866 they had equipped 21 locomotives with Bissell trucks.[20] Several other British lines followed the example of the Eastern Counties Railway.
Figure 10.—The Hudson-Bissell truck permitted the introduction of Mogul and Consolidation type freight locomotives. This drawing shows a typical installation for a Consolidation of the 1880’s. Item A is the equalizing lever which connects the truck to the springs of the front driving wheels. From figures 891–3 in J. G. A. Meyer, Modern Locomotive Construction, New York, John Wiley, 1904, p. 543.
At first Bissell’s 2-wheel truck received wider application in Europe than in this country, because most American roads, despite the interest in developing heavier freight locomotives, continued to depend upon the 4-4-0 as a dual-purpose machine. It was not until after 1870, when Mogul and Consolidation types appeared in greater numbers, that the 2-wheel truck became common in the United States.
The first use, known to the writer, of the Bissell pony in this country occurred in November or December of 1859 on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad. D. H. Feger, master mechanic of the railroad reported, eight months later, that since the locomotive had been fitted with the Bissell truck “she has never left the rail and previous to her having this truck she was off the rail almost daily.”[21] In [p129] the same report Feger stated that he planned to re-equip another locomotive in the same manner.
Figure 11.—The New Jersey Railroad and Transportation Company No. 36, built by the Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works in 1863, was one of the first locomotives to be equipped by this firm with a 2-wheel Bissell truck. (Smithsonian photo 46806-m)
The Baldwin Locomotive Works in December 1860 built a group of rather awkward looking 2-6-0’s for the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. Equipped with Bissell trucks, these were undoubtedly among the very first new locomotives to be so built. The first consolidation type was built by Baldwin in 1866; it was equipped with a 2-wheel Bissell safety truck.