I was born and raised in Lima, Ohio. To that, you would probably say "so what?" As a small child I was always fascinated by trains. The Nickel Plate RR and the Pennsylvania RR were common sites in Lima, and I can still recall vague images of steam locomotives in the 1950s. I was just a little kid then, and of course didn't realize the nostalgic value or the historic importance of the era. But then, most of us don't. It never occured to me that maybe I should've photographed some of those Nickel Plate locomotives and cabooses. I mean, who knew the caboose would no longer be a part of active railroading. It was always gonna be there, right? Nope. The Pennsy was always gonna run passenger service, right? Nope.
Anyone who knows anything about railroads knows that Lima, Ohio was, for many years, a leader in steam locomotive quality and craftsmanship. No finer locomotives were built in this country during a period in our history when the steam locomotive played a huge part in the development of our nation's economy, and gave workers the pride in themselves to create perfection. I am referring to the Lima Locomotive Works, as it was called in it's early days. Now, I'm not saying that other fine quality products were not built in other parts of the country also. But the workers at L.L.W. took such pride in their work, that the end product was perfect 97% of the time. No one else matched such a record in those days, and hasn't since. This plant pumped out Berkshire locomotives, the famed Shay side piston logging locomotive, and the heavy duty Allegheney class steam locomotives along with heavy construction equipment such as steam shovels before converting to a heavy machinery plant in the 1950s, becoming Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton Corp.
When B.L.H.lost out on the deisel locomotive production bidding to Detroit in the late '60s, it was sold to Clark Equipment, and ceased producing super heavy duty machines. My opinion is that this is when it just stopped producing, period. The plant closed in 1986, and in 1997 the site was cleared. Grown men broke down and wept at the destruction of that piece of national history. Some of the absolute best steam locomotives ever were built in that plant.
When I ended my tour with the U.S.
Navy, I settled in Illinois about 30 miles northwest of Chicago.The first
time I went to the windy city, I stumbled upon a huge railyard quite by
accident, and I began to recall the excitement I felt as a kid watching
those trains back in Ohio. There is just something about that massive hulk
of iron lumbering down the tracks, the incredible tonnage, and the ping
of metal wheels on metal rails that leaves me in awe, and commands my respect.
I hope you enjoy this site as much as I
enjoyed putting it together.
The Shay
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The Lima Locomotive Works was established in the late 19th century, and produced locomotives that are consdidered historical wonders of the steam era. Probably the most famous of these wonders was the Shay side piston locomotive made for the logging industry. It's small drive wheels and steady power made it ideal for climbing mountainous terrain. Although slow, the Shay proved it's power was consistant and reliable. This locomotive was manufactured so well that Lima never saw a defective unit returned. A few of these steam workhorses still rumble along today, but only as nostalgic excursion rides for paying customers at museum roads around the country. The Illinois Railway Museum has a working Shay that runs a regular show throughout the summer months. The Shay can be found from Oregon to New York, some working, but most not. |
The Allegheny
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The most massive steam locomotive designed and developed by the Lima Locomotive Works was the Mountain type Allegheney Class H-8. This behemuth of the rails was first produced in 1930 for the Pennsylvania RR, an order of 25 locomotives of this class. The Allegheney was a heavy freight hauling locomotive which had a 2-6-6-6 wheel configuration and a total weight of 538 tons with tender. Its trucks were articulated to compensate for less than forgiving curves in the roadbed, and its horsepower topped out at 7500, which was 1000hp more than the well publicized "Big Boy" of the Union Pacific. On the flat, the massive monster could travel at speeds up to 60mph. Approximatley one-third of all operational Allegheney series locomotives were fitted for running passenger service. Some of the Allegheney locos were sold to the Chesapeake & Ohio RR and the Virginian RR.
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| Lima's last steam locomotive production was the
NKP Class S-3, a 2-8-4 Berkshire built for the short Nickel Plate RR. #765 is
depicted here. The Nickel Plate had a total of 117 Berkshires. With tender, it weighed 404.4 tons, and was just
shy of 100 ft long. #779 was the last Berkshire. Built by Lima in 1949, it's final resting place is in
the city of Lima at Lincoln Park
along with a beautifully preserved Nickel Plate caboose and a pullman car
that saw nearly 70 years of service. Lima manufactured and delivered its
last steam locomotive in 1949, and by 1960 all but six of these beauties
built since 1934 survived being scrapped. One of these locomotives was
selected as the tractive unit for the United States Bi-centennial. NKP
Class S-3 #759 is known as one of several power plants for the "Freedom Train", and
now resides at Steam Town in Scranton, Pensylvania.
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