Baldwin Modern 4-4-0
Spectrum 80129 - Baldwin 4-4-0 SAL #106 DCC & Tsunami Sound fitted.
Spectrum 80104 - Baldwin 4-4-0 SAL #108 DCC Fitted.
Both models: Steel cab, alternative pilot and tender trucks and wheels, cow-catcher, chimneys, and old-time boiler domes included as spares in sealed parts bags; only coal load for tender, no oil bunker, though you get an oil bunker as a spare in the undecorated Baldwin.
What were the origins of SAL 4-4-0s #106 and #108?
These two locos were built by Rhode Island Locomotive Works in 1889 for the Savannah, Americus and Montgomery Railway. Their RI works #s were 2254 (#108) and 2282 (#106). Both locos were also named. #106 was “J.A. Hendrick” and #108 was “G.W. Glover”.
In 1895 the SA&M became the Georgia & Alabama Rly. 4-4-0s #106 and #108 are indicated by Prince to have kept their numbers and possibly their names right through three changes of company identity / ownership from 1899 to their renumbering in 1916.
The G&A became part of the Seaboard on 1 July 1900. The pair were designated SAL Class D1 and E17 at different times - I don't know the dates. They retained their previous #s until August 1916, when #106 became #128 and #108 became #129.
SAL #129, ex-#108 only lasted three more years, and was retired on 31 March 1919 at Jacksonville, Florida.
SAL #128, ex-#106 lasted almost to the end of the 4-4-0 type on the SAL, and was retired in October 1928, also at Jacksonville.
I cannot make definitive comments on how close the Spectrum models are to the real #106 and 108, as I have not found any photos of either engine. However, one thing is clear, whilst Bachmann have used the same boiler casting for their Richmond and Baldwin 4-4-0s, and so their #106 and #108 models are much the same size as their Richmond #159, the real #106 and #108 were much smaller engines. This is not surprising as they were built ten years earlier than #159. Specifically:
#106 + #108 had 63” drivers, engine weight 94,800 lbs, max axle load 31,200lb (estimated), and could run on 52lb per yard rail. They had 140 psi boilers and could produce 13,101 lbs tractive effort. They had 73,000 lb tenders with 3,000 gal water capacity.
#159 + #160 had 69” drivers, engine weight 122,800 lbs, max axle load 37,450 lbs, and required minimum 62lb per yard rail. They had 185 psi boilers and could produce 20,675 lbs tractive effort. They had 95,800 lb tenders with 4,200 gal water capacity.
Original source for the above data is the SAL locomotive diagrams, and much fuller info can be found here:
http://www.steamlocomotive.com/american/?page=salSo what else can be said for the modeller about the originals in the absence of photos?
They were built for the SA&M in 1889, two years before it reached Alabama, and I think it possible that they were built as wood burners. There is a photo on page 81 of “Seaboard Air Line Railway – Steam Boats, Locomotives, and History” by Richard E Prince that shows SA&M Baldwin 2-6-0 #101, also built 1889, and it has a huge hopper chimney. This looks like a builders photo, and there is no fuel visible in the tender, but it looks like a wood burner to me!
Would they have stayed as wood burners, and if so, for how long? There are two builders photos of a 4-4-0 and a 4-6-0 built in 1896 for the G&A which have straight stovepipe chimneys but no fuel in their tenders to absolutely confirm their fuel, and there is a photo of a 4-6-0 built in 1898 for the G&A which has a stovepipe chimney and a tender heaped with coal. The implication is that the SA&M switched to coal, at least for its main line, in the early to mid-1890s. By then this pair would have already become small locos with comparatively limited power, and so may have gone to branch line duties rather than been modernised to burn coal.
As they both retired in Florida there is a distinct possibility that even if they were converted to coal in the 1890s they were converted back to wood-burners in later life. However, Bachmann do not supply a wood fuel option with any of their Baldwin models and the wood load and railings from their Richmond do not fit without modification as the tenders are different and have different shaped coal spaces.
Maybe builders photos exist in the archives of the Rhode Island Locomotive Works if those survive. And maybe photos exist in local collections around the Savannah – Montgomery line or around Jacksonville?
Finally for your railroad, this pair carried the numbers on the Spectrum models from first building in 1889, but in SAL lettering from July 1900 to August 1916. Thus with those #s they only overlapped Spectrum “Richmond” 4-4-0 SAL #159 for about 10 months, from 23 October 1915 when it received the #159 to August 1916 when #106 + #108 became #128 + #129.
A curious point about the various re-numberings is that I have not found any other locos that took up the vacant #s 106 and 108 in 1916, so they were not renumbered to make way for other locos. The only benefit seems to be that their new #s, 128 & 129, were adjacent, so it may have been done for class reasons.
Overall verdict – whilst it is not possible to verify the accuracy of these models as #106 and 108, they are very typical of lots of SAL 4-4-0s carrying 100 series #s between 1900-30. There is also plenty of licence to fit coal or wood fuel loads, or even oil, as the SAL did have some oil burners in Florida, seemingly to avoid lawsuits when sparks from its woodburners set fire to crops and buildings.
Bill.