Two-Foot Gauge Locomotives
In 1890, The Portland Company acquired patterns used by the Hinkley Locomotive Works for 2-foot gauge locomotives. Portland improved the pattern into the most successful design on Maine's 2-foot gauge railroads. The Portland design retained ornate Victorian features including capped domes and a cab roof with graceful reversing curvature. The first of the design was the heaviest and most powerful locomotive on any of the Maine 2-foot gauge railroads at the time of delivery. Portland locomotives became the standard for passenger service as larger freight engines were built. Portland locomotives were subsequently used for yard service and on lines with lighter rail. Portland Company was the dominant manufacturer of freight cars for the Maine 2-foot gauge railroads between 1890 and 1907.
The final 2-foot gauge locomotive built by The Portland Company was a less successful enlargement of the original design. Vulcan Iron Works built two modernized versions of Portland's basic design for the Monson Railroad in 1913 and 1918 after Portland Company ceased manufacture of railway locomotives. The basic Portland design pulled the last Kennebec Central Railroad train in 1929, the last Wiscasset, Waterville, and Farmington Railway train in 1933, and the last Monson Railroad train in 1943.
Works number | Date | Type | Weight | Railroad | Number | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
615 | 7 October 1890 | 0-4-4 Forney locomotive | 18 tons | Phillips and Rangeley Railroad | 1 | became Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad #7 |
616 | 22 October 1890 | 0-4-4 Forney locomotive | 18 tons | Sandy River Railroad | 4 | became Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad #5 |
621 | December 1890 | 0-4-4 Forney locomotive | Kennebec Central Railroad | 2 | ||
622 | 2 May 1891 | 0-4-4 Forney locomotive | 18 tons | Sandy River Railroad | 5 | became Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad #6 then Kennebec Central Railroad #4 then Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway #9 preserved WW&F Railway Museum |
624 | 14 April 1892 | 0-4-4 Forney locomotive | 19 tons | Bridgton and Saco River Railroad | 3 | became Kennebec Central Railroad #3 then Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway #8 |
626 | November 1894 | 0-4-4 Forney locomotive | 19 tons | Wiscasset and Quebec Railroad | 2 | |
627 | November 1894 | 0-4-4 Forney locomotive | 19 tons | Wiscasset and Quebec Railroad | 3 | |
628 | November 1906 | 2-4-4 Forney locomotive | 27 tons | Bridgton and Saco River Railroad | 5 |
Read more about this topic: Portland Company
Famous quotes containing the word locomotives:
“The flower-fed buffaloes of the spring
In the days of long ago,
Ranged where the locomotives sing
And the prairie flowers lie low:”
—Vachel Lindsay (18791931)