Virginia-Carolina Chemical #50 rests in Lakeland,
Florida’s Adair Park. #50 was originally
sold to Osceola Cypress Lumber and is an identical “twin” to Everett
Railroad 50.
An Eleven Update
by Dan Myers
I
recently had an opportunity to meet 11’s owner, Alan Maples, in Lakeland,
Florida on a trip to inspect one of 11’s sister engines. Virginia Carolina
Chemical 50 is displayed in the city’s Adair Park and was originally built
as an identical twin to the 11.
Three identical engines were built under Alco Shop order C-659. These three
engines were part of a larger order of locomotives destined for Cuba, an
order that was ultimately cancelled. Inspection of the casting dates on the
11 and on Osceola Cypress Lumber 50 show that the cylinders for both
locomotives were cast during a two-day period in August of 1920. Little is
known about the third engine, Maryland and Delaware Coast #1.
Builder’s photos in the Alco Collection indicate that Maryland and Delaware
Coast 1 was built in December of 1920, Osceola Cypress Lumber 50 was built
in May of 1922 and Narragansett Pier 11 in March of 1923. A more plausible
explanation of the three engines is that they were all built in the fall of
1920, soon after their castings were poured. Cancellation of the Cuban
order then placed the completed engines in Alco-Cook’s Locomotive yard until
they could be sold to short line railroads around the country. Upon sale
the engines were likely lettered, builder and number plates cast and mounted
and the engines sent on their way.
Inspection of engine 50 found many similarities and a few differences from
11. The most obvious change in 50 is the conversion of the tender from a
standard configuration to a slope back design. This change was evidently
intended to increase visibility in switching and yard service. Alan Maples
also noted that 50 is setup to burn oil and stated that all of the “Cuba
Sugar” engines were originally set up that way as coal is not a common
commodity in Cuba.
The provision to burn oil includes an oil control lever in the cab and
furnace like fire door instead of a traditional “Butterfly Fire Door”. Alan
also pointed out a heat exchanger under the cab on the fireman’s side. This
heat exchanger surrounded the oil to be burned with hot steam to warm it up
and reduce its viscosity making it flow more easily through the firing
nozzles.
Osceola Cypress 50 was donated to Lakeland’s Adair Park in the early sixties
by its subsequent owner the Virginia-Carolina Chemical Company and has been
kept painted by the city’s Parks and Recreation staff. The author is
indebted to Parks Department for allowing us unrestricted access to the
locomotive.
Fifteen months have now passed since Middletown & New Jersey Railway 11
became Everett Railroad 11. The 11 has been receiving constant attention
from the shop crews on the Western Maryland Scenic Railway (WMSR) in between
their normal duties running the railroad.
In the months immediately following the locomotive’s move an anonymous
package arrived at the WMSR shop containing original correspondence dealing
with the locomotive dating back to the 1930’s. This packet included letters
from the Bath and Hammondsport to locomotive dealer Thomas Carey on the 1939
purchase of the locomotive and the long-sought Federal Railway
Administration “Form 4”. It saddens the author to think that an
unauthorized individual “rescued” this packet from the closed “Rail City
Museum” in Sandy Creek, NY and sat on it as M&NJ President, Pete Rasmussen
hunted for the data for over twenty years.
Alan Maples, owner of the 11, reports that a new, all-steel, pilot beam has
been fabricated and that the boiler has been cleaned and scaled. The boiler
has been ultrasound tested to ascertain the thickness of the boiler and
firebox walls. Ultrasound tests indicate that in most areas there are only
a few thousandths of an inch of wear and corrosion in the boiler when
compared to the original plate thicknesses shown in the Boiler Specification
Card (Form 4). One repair must be made to a sheet inside the firebox.
Number 11 will soon be brought back into the shop and the drive wheels and
axles will be removed so that the flanges can be turned. Locomotives like
the 11 without trailing trucks tend to see a lot of wear on the flanges of
their last set of drive wheels. Years of operation on the 7-mile Bath and
Hammondsport, where turning facilities were unavailable, took their toll on
the flanges of the rear driver wheels. The drive wheel sets will be taken to
a shop equipped for turning and truing (both Strasburg and Tennessee Valley
have wheel lathes capable of handling the 50” drivers).
The ash pan and grates will be removed from the 11 while the drivers are out
for servicing, enabling a welder to easily work inside the firebox. Once
these major tasks are completed and the flues installed, the hardest part of
the job will be complete. It is hoped that the boiler can be test fired
late this year.
Virginia-Carolina 50 has lost her bell, whistle and injectors
but stands relatively intact in the Florida sunshine.
Front view of Virginia-Carolina 50 shows subtle differences
from the 11. Her large, drum style headlight has been replaced and
she features a cast smoke box door where 11’s door was a fabrication. 50’s
number plate clearly shows a build date of 1922.
Builder’s card for the 11. Compare this card with
photo two and you’ll see the family resemblance.
Unfortunately, of the three locomotives built on Shop order C-659 only 11’s
builder photograph is missing from the Alco collection.
A rear three quarters view of Virginia-Carolina 50 clearly
shows the slope back tender that replaced the original.
Ravaged by time and vandals the cab of
Virginia-Carolina 50 still retains its throttle, brake stand, try cocks, and
gauge set.
Among major appliances, only the lubricator seems to be missing.
