"MASON ELEGANCE; both trucks and engine pivoted on these very flexible
machines. Built in 1874 with 15" x 22" cylinders and 50" drivers,
her assignment was freight."
(from the text of the book)
"In the foregoing table a locomotive of somewhat unconventional form was
listed. This was a Mason tank engine with an 0-4-6T type wheel arrangement. The
"T" stood for tank. Originally numbered 499, and later listed as road
number 2, it was sometimes called Mason's "double ender" or Mason's
suburban engine. Built at Mason's Taunton Locomotive works, in Massachusetts, in
May, 1874, the 0-4-0 type locomotive section was rigidly connected to a small
tender supported upon a six-wheel non-powered swivel truck. This provided marked
flexibility allowing the locomotive to run with equal facility in either
direction. Such a design for a locomotive had been and patented years before by
Matthias N. Forney. Scores of these engines operated in the elevated railroads
in New York City and Chicago. Many railroad used this kind of locomotive in
suburban passenger service, but Erie records indicate that their engine, No.2,
was assigned to freight service on the Buffalo division. On the 1878 locomotive
roster, No.2 was incorrectly listed as a Fairlie locomotive, which it is
not."
The engine was built in 1874, and the Erie did not even begin to convert to
standard gauge until 1876. complete conversion to standard gauge was not
complete until 1881.
So the locomotive was built broad-gauge (six-foot gauge) and must have been
converted to standard gauge at some point, because she is still listed on the
roster in 1888.
Date built - May 1874
Type - 0-4-6T
Road nos. - 2
Cyl. in. - 15 X 22
Driver dia.- 50
Weight on drivers, LB. - 56,000
I just
worked out the dimensions for our new friend Erie #2.
and it looks like she is the exact same size as The Leviathan.
Archivist notes - some of the above is from the book. Other is comments
by Scot Lawrence (scottychaos from MLS).
