Work on this model was commenced by the donor, the late Robert E. M. Bain, in 1916, and it was completed about three years later, only spare time having been employed in its construction. The model was given to the Museum in 1928. The length of the locomotive and tender is 80 inches, the gauge is 6½ inches, the diameter of the driving wheels is 8⁹/₁₆ inches, and the bore and stroke of the cylinders are 1½ and 3 inches, respectively.
The brakes on the model are inoperative, as the actuating cylinders for the brake system are dummies. On the other hand, such parts as the boiler, firebox, steam gauge, water gauge, throttle, and valve motion are all operable, and the donor has asserted that there is even ring packing in the cylinders. Although capable of being fired and steamed up, using coal as the fuel, the locomotive has never been operated.
The number on the locomotive and tender apparently represent the year the donor commenced his work on the model, as there was never a New York Central locomotive of this type bearing that number.
New York Central Locomotive 999, 1893
The Museum’s nonoperable model ([figure 69]) of the famous 999, long the holder of the world’s speed record, was built especially for the Museum’s collection (USNM 313161), and was the gift in 1947 of the New York Central System. Constructed by Edwin P. Alexander of Yardley, Pa., it is about 15 inches long with tender and is accompanied by a train of four model cars of the period. Locomotive and cars are built to a scale of ¼ inch to the foot.
Figure 69.—Model of New York Central American-type locomotive 999, 1893.
One of the best known of all locomotives, the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad’s 999, with engineer Charles H. Hogan at the throttle, reached a speed of 112½ miles an hour over a measured mile on May 10, 1893, while pulling the Empire State Express westward between Batavia and Buffalo, N. Y. This was a new world’s record, and the 999 was shortly withdrawn from active service and placed on exhibition at the World’s Columbian Exposition at Chicago.
At the conclusion of the exposition it was again placed in service with the Empire State Express, but was later withdrawn because, although having great speed with a light train, it lacked the pulling power required for the larger and heavier trains then coming into use. Today, the 999, altered somewhat, and with smaller driving wheels than when built, is preserved by the New York Central System as one of its historic relics. It is usually to be seen at the Collinwood shops near Cleveland, Ohio, but it still occasionally appears at fairs and expositions.
Designed by the superintendent of motive power, William Buchanan, and constructed at the West Albany shops of the New York Central, the 999 is of the 4-4-0, or American, type and was fitted originally with 86-inch driving wheels. The bore and stroke of the cylinders are 19 and 24 inches, respectively, and a steam pressure of 180 pounds per square inch was used. The fuel was bituminous coal. The extreme wheelbase is 287 inches, and the distance between the two driving axles is 102 inches. The weight of the locomotive is 124,000 pounds, that of the loaded tender is 80,000.