This model is very similar to a full size engine
at the Lake Superior Railroad
Museum. One of 18 Yellowstone-type coal-burning steam locomotives, it
was built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1941 for hauling iron ore from the
Missabi Iron Range in northern Minnesota to Duluth. The ore was then
loaded on boats destined for steel mills in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The
mammoth engine ran 24 hours a day, seven days a week during the war to keep up
with demand for steel to build tanks and other weapons of war. With 128
feet of length, it had to be "articulated." That means the front end was
on a swivel joint to go around turns without derailing. You can see some
of that in the photo.
|
Railroad history is something everyone should know. Mark
