Jeddo Coal Number 85

You can’t go wrong with a visit to the Tractors and Trains Festival. Even if you don’t see something you like at the tractor show ( that’s not likely to happen ) for the six dollars you pay for admission you also get to spend the day checking out the exhibits at the North Carolina Transportation Museum and wandering the grounds of the historic Southern Railway’s Spencer Shops. This year there was a triple treat as the April 14 show date coincided with the Museum’s At the Throttle : Steam program featuring a saddle tank switch engine, Jeddo Coal No. 85. Rail fans can buy a half hour operating a steam locomotive for $160 ; not a bad deal when you consider what it would cost to own and operate your own engine. I would have liked to take a turn at the throttle myself, but the available slots sell out quickly. You can’t wait to see what the weather will be like if you want to get one.

This 0-4-0 tank engine was built in 1928 by the Vulcan Iron Works for the A.E. Dick Construction Co. of Scranton, Pennsylvania who used it in their stone quarry until 1933 when they sold it to the Jeddo - Highland Coal Company located near Hazelton, Pennsylvania. Jeddo named it Engine No. 85 and used it in their mining operations until 1964 when they sold it to a collector who moved it to Horseheads, New York. It pretty much sat there until 2007 when it was purchased by the Gramling Locomotive Works.

The name conjures images of a giant industrial conglomerate but don’t be deceived. The Gramlings are a father and son team of dedicated hobbyist and the works occupy a repurposed pig barn on their farm located near Ashley, Indiana. These guys have a wry sense of humor! All that aside they accomplish some amazing things at the “Works”. Restoring a machine that’s powered by a steam pressure vessel occupies a whole different dimension from an internal combustion engine project. To return one steam locomotive to operation is a major feat. The Gramlings have restored three of them.

The Jeddo Coal project was ten years in the making from 2007 until 2017 when it returned to service. It joins the Gramling’s other two engines; Flagg Coal No. 75 and Lehigh Valley Coal No. 126 as they tour the country for events at railroad museums and tourist railroads. The great thing about the tank engines is that they can be loaded on a trailer and transported by truck. Just imagine how far you would get if you were asking a major railroad for permission to travel on one of their mainlines!

Back in the day before mega horsepower diesel power was commonly available, the size and relative affordability of the “dinky” class engines made them the motive power of choice for a wide variety of applications. Companies like Vulcan and H.K. Porter produced 0-4-0 and 0-6-0 engines for a global market from North and South America to Europe and on to Australia. Any venture that moved a lot of material was a potential customer. The list included: large project contractors, steel mills and foundries, mining operations, factories, plantations, logging , freight switching and even passenger trains. 

Vulcan Iron Works was founded by Richard Jones in 1867. The plant located in Wilkes - Barre, Pennsylvania consisted of a machine shop, foundry, boiler shop and office.  Vulcan bought its way into the locomotive business with the acquisition of the Wyoming Valley Manufacturing Co.  in 1888. Over the course of the years that followed they built more than 100 different steam locomotive designs ranging from 7 to 70 tons on the drivers. The contractor size engines were Vulcan’s  primary market but they also custom built locomotives up to the 2-8-0 and 2-6-2 class to meet customer specifications.

In the years following World War 1 Vulcan expanded production to include gasoline powered engines and battery powered electric machines intended for use in mines. By the late 1920’s diesel - electric switch engines had been added to their product line. After WW2 dieselization was in full swing and demand for steam locomotives dried up. Vulcan was never able to compete in the new marketplace with big name companies like Baldwin. Vulcan only sold 54 diesel locomotives during the period leading up to 1954 when they declared bankruptcy and closed shop. 

Sources:

www.nctrans.org 

www.american-rails.com 

https://babel.hathitrust.org 

www.csxthsociety.org