During the winter of 1936-1937, The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Co. conducted in conjunction with the magazine “The Model Craftsman” a contest among model builders for the construction of a model of the railroad’s Washington-to-Jersey City lightweight, streamlined train, the “Royal Blue,” first placed in operation on June 24, 1935.
Figure 76.—Model of B & O Hudson-type locomotive Lord Baltimore, 1935.
The contest, with a first prize of $500, was won by Fletcher G. Speed of New Rochelle, N. Y., and his prize-winning train ([figure 76]) was presented by the Baltimore and Ohio in 1937 to the National Museum (USNM 311191). The train consists of the Hudson-type, or 4-6-4, steam locomotive Lord Baltimore and tender, together 2 feet long, plus five cars. Beautiful in workmanship, and powered with a small electric motor, the model is built to a scale of ¼ inch to the foot.
The original locomotive Lord Baltimore was designed by the Baltimore and Ohio, and was constructed at the company’s Mount Clare shops in Baltimore. The weight of the locomotive and tender in working order was 527,000 pounds, and the tractive force was 38,000 pounds. The driving wheels were 84 inches in diameter, and the driving wheelbase was 178 inches. The bore and stroke of the cylinders were 20 and 28 inches, respectively, Walschaert valve gear was used, and a steam pressure of 350 pounds per square inch was employed. The fuel was bituminous coal.
On September 11, 1935, an average speed of 59.28 miles an hour was obtained between Washington and Jersey City while pulling a dynamometer car and five other cars. Although designated as No. 2 when built in 1935, the locomotive was changed to No. 5340 in 1942. As it was not designed to handle standard weight trains, the locomotive was later removed from service, and after being in storage for several years was scrapped on July 19, 1949.
Lima Northern-Type Locomotive, 1937
A black, red, and orange nonoperable model ([figure 77]) in the collection represents the Southern Pacific Co. No. 4410, the first of the many such streamlined 4-8-4, or Northern-type, steam locomotives built for that line. This model of No. 4410 and its tender, about 27 inches long, is built to the scale of ¼ inch to the foot. The gift of the Southern Pacific Co. in 1937, it was made early in that year especially for the Museum’s collection (USNM 311340).
The first group of this type of streamliner, which was the conception of George McCormick and Frank E. Russell of the Southern Pacific, was completed by the Lima Locomotive Works in January 1937. The first run with one of these streamliners was made on March 21 with the “Coast Daylight” passenger train between San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Of the total of 50 essentially similar locomotives of this streamlined class, the Southern Pacific still had 49 in November 1954, only No. 4414 having been authorized for scrapping. At that time, these locomotives had averaged approximately 13,000 miles a month since being placed in service, although many had completed over 15,000 miles in particularly productive months. The earlier ones, represented by this model, developed 4,500 horsepower at 55 miles an hour and had a top speed of 90 miles an hour, although 75 was the highest allowable operating speed. They were able to maintain a 9¾-hour schedule between San Francisco and Los Angeles.