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 

E & M Number 5 Turns 100

Edgemoor and Manetta Engine Number 5 turns 100 this month. It rolled out the door of the H.K. Porter and Co. shops in November 1917. At that point in its career it was known as type 0-4-0T , construction number 5980 and it was bound for it’s first job as a shunting engine at the Watertown Arsenal in Massachusetts. The arsenal was a major supplier of gun carriages for artillery among other war materials so no doubt the little engine was kept busy for the duration of World War 1.

How long it remained employed by the arsenal is a question mark but by 1942 it had passed into the hands of Birmingham Rail and Locomotive Co. who in turn sold it to the Edgemoor and Manetta Railway. E & M was a short line railroad chartered by the State of South Carolina in 1899 that ran 2 ½ miles from Manetta Mills in Lando, SC to an interchange with a Seaboard RR mainline at Edgemoor, SC. E & M was owned by the mill and the mill was the only customer,  

From 1942 until 1975 Engine No. 5 hauled raw materials to the mill and finished cotton products back to the Seaboard connection. Apparently sometime in the summer of 1975 an inspection revealed that the engine was no longer safe to operate and it was retired from service. It would be almost impossible to say for sure but it would definitely be among the last, if not the last steam engine used in regular freight hauling operations in the United States.  After Number 5 was retired, the mill switched to using truck transport and rail operations ceased.

In 1866 Henry Kirke Porter and John Y. Smith formed a partnership and opened a machine shop in Pittsburgh, Pa.  By 1867 they had built their first steam locomotive for Newcastle Railroad and Mining Co. From the beginning they specialized in light duty engines for industrial and short haul customers. They manufactured forty-three of the four wheeled saddle tank locomotives before a fire destroyed the factory and the partnership was dissolved.

Porter soon formed another partnership with Arthur W. Bell and organized under the name of Porter, Bell & Co. The firm manufactured 223 engines before Bell’s death in 1878. Porter reorganized again and pushed ahead under the name of H.K. Porter and Co. Porter was a pioneer in the practice of using off the shelf components and was able to quickly produce engines to meet his customer's specifications.  His company came to dominate the industrial locomotive niche market and made over 8,000 light duty engines before production ended in 1950.

The majority of engines were steam power 0-4-0T “Dinky” saddle tank switch engines, but Porter also made gasoline powered engines and compressed air and “fireless steam engines” for use in underground mines.

Long haul mainline locomotives usually have a tender in tow to furnish a supply of fuel and water but due to the limited range in which they operate switch engines usually carry an on board supply. A tender is unnecessary and would mainly get in the way. A number designs exist with different locations for the water tank, including side tanks and tanks located underneath the boiler. With the saddle tank design the water tank is draped across the boiler like a saddle on a horse.

In 1995 the Heath family who were the owners of the mill and the railroad donated the engine to the town of Richburg, SC and it was moved to Richburg Community Park at 116 North Main Street where it is presently on display. Happy Birthday “Dinky”, and many Happy Returns.

Sources:

Historic Marker at Richburg Community Park

En.wikipedia.org

www.american-rails.com

www.kevinboone.net/steam101_types.html

www.abandonedrails.com

www.onlinechester.com