Baldwin 4-4-0 - review by Model Railroader

[Pacific Northern]

Modle Railroader did a review and also posted a video of the Baldwin 4-4-0. Passing marks all around. The one thing that I had hoped would be covered in an interview was the differences between the Richmond 4-4-0 and the new Baldwin version.

[Doneldon]

PacNo-

And there are differences. Have you tried looking at them side by side?

                                                                                -- D

[Pacific Northern]

PacNo-

And there are differences. Have you tried looking at them side by side?

                                                                                -- D

I have only pictures of the new Baldwin 4-4-0, but comparing the Richmond version the only big difference I see are the fluted domes on the Baldwin and the smooth domes on the Richmond. The bell on some models is placed differently and of course the headlights on models of both vary?

so what are the differences?

[richg]

PacNo-

And there are differences. Have you tried looking at them side by side?

                                                                                -- D

I have only pictures of the new Baldwin 4-4-0, but comparing the Richmond version the only big difference I see are the fluted domes on the Baldwin and the smooth domes on the Richmond. The bell on some models is placed differently and of course the headlights on models of both vary?

so what are the differences?

You just told us what the differeences are.

Rich

[hminky]

I see are the fluted domes on the Baldwin and the smooth domes on the Richmond.

Baldwin stopped making fluted domes after 1885. The "Baldwin" 4-4-0 is a much later design.

Harold

[Johnson Bar Jeff]

Do we really mean "fluted" here--that is, "fluted" like my mother's old Jello mold?

Truly "fluted" dome covers were a Rogers trademark.

[Doneldon]

jbj-

Yes, fluting refers to folds or scallops alond the long
dimension, not rings around the circumference.
                                                               -- D

[ebtnut]

While I agree the the use of the term "fluted" more correctly refers to Rogers locos, I think some folks use that term more loosely to refer to what many folks refer to as "ringed" domes - those like the ones on the old-time 4-4-0's (Jupiter, etc.).  In the steam era, especially around the turn of the 20th Century, each builder had some trademark details, including dome design.  Alco/Richmond liked the smooth, nearly cylindrical style, while Baldwin opted for having the cylindrical portion essentially inserted into the base with the cap slid down over it, thereby giving the distincitve break in the dome sillouette.  Lima, for a while at least, used a taperd dome style.  Some other items, such as cab window designs, were more often a result of the indidvuidal railroad's specs.  

[hminky]

The common vernacular is "fluted" for ringed.

The term I have seen used for the Rodgers' domes is scalloped.

It is an anachronism for the "Baldwin" 4-4-0.

Harold

[Johnson Bar Jeff]

While I agree the the use of the term "fluted" more correctly refers to Rogers locos, I think some folks use that term more loosely to refer to what many folks refer to as "ringed" domes - those like the ones on the old-time 4-4-0's (Jupiter, etc.).  In the steam era, especially around the turn of the 20th Century, each builder had some trademark details, including dome design.

If you look at a photo of the actual "Jupiter," or of a brass model of her, you can see that the steam dome has a smooth silhouette that curves in at the top--no fluting, scalloping, or whatever you want to call it. This was a Schenectady Locomotive Works characteristic in the 1850s and 1860s; it's how you can tell in a period photograph that a locomotive is a Schenectady product.

At least some writers must use "fluted" to refer to the Rogers style.