HOME | DD

Description
Prior to the legendary Union Pacific Big Boys and Challengers that steamed over mountains of the Wasatch Range, or the iconic shot of Southern Pacific's fabulous Cab-Forwards'
exhausting air compressors echoing through the mountainous terrain of the Sierra Nevada's, there was a particular kind of articulated locomotives known as the 'Ocean Toads'.
Between 1909 and 1910, the Harriman lines which comprised of three western railroads took the delivery of the first mallet locomotives on the system, classified as 'MC-1's.
Designed and built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works, these 2-8-8-2 mallets were only modestly successful in their intended roles.
Around the same time as they were built, similar-looking copies had been made for the Norfolk & Western, classified as 'Y-1's.
These cumbersome steamers differed in a number of dimensions and aesthetic differences, with their story having the distinction of being the story of trial and error,
presenting as early pioneers lighting the way for some of the most impressive feats in steam locomotive design.
In operation, the MC-1 proved to be accurate enough but it wasn't normally considered a successful locomotive design.
Members of the MC-1 class sported a unique Baldwin-designed two section boiler while the rear boiler happened to be the normal boiler with the front boiler
providing reheated steam before being used.
This was a earlier attempt of superheating methods; but not as successful.
The firebox of the MC-1 was familiar in size compared to the Harriman Common Standard 2-8-2 design, but it wasn't enough to satisfy the voracious hunger of the
articulated engines as well as issues having too small grates with not-enough heat, which plagued the coal-burning railroads.
Oil-burning MC-1's fared a little better as the fuel choice made less of a issue for the small firebox.
The Southern Pacific meanwhile had found most of the use out of their copied mallets, as the design spurred the many successful cab-forward types which would
make up every last unit of the SP's articulated roster.
And for a good reason, numerous snow sheds and tunnels on Donner Pass presented the greatest challenge for the SP when crews would often suffocate from
breathing in the smoke and toxic gases spewing out of the stack of the locomotive.
It was then, the railroad began to provide their crews with gas masks to wear inside the tunnels in hopes of alleviating this issue which never resulted entirely
with good news, resorting the SP to simply run the MC-1's in reverse.
This other solution might have had the crews on the wrong sides of track, but they would no longer suffocate inside the tunnels.
It was eventually solved when the Southern Pacific flipped the crew positions and place the tender on the "back" of the iron horse, behind the smokebox.
Thus was sown the seed for the blossoming birth of a ever-so-popular Cab-Forward type locomotive.
Once the first Baldwin-built Cab-Forwards arrived on the system, the MC-1's were pulled off Donner Pass and then reassigned to Colton where they began their
service as helpers without being overstated.
During the road tests in the 1910's, the Southern Pacific calculated a 135 percent tonnage increase in comparison to a single 2-8-0 Consolidation.
Two conventional MC-1's were eventually converted into cab-forwards which were identical to their original built in the 1920's, continuing their service on the
SP for another two decades before they both succumbed to their end of service in the early 50's.
Four other railroads such as the Union Pacific, the Oregon Railroad & Navigation, the Oregon Short Line and the Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation had
more mixed options of operating the monstrous mallets.
Since the "Ocean Toads" were aptly named, these proven rotund locomotives had the capacity to handle great tonnage over steep grades though they were
troublesome at steaming because of the lower quality coal which the two railroads burned unlike the Southern Pacific which used oil.
Drafted smokeboxes including smokestack extensions would be acquired and installed to assist the improvement of draft and increase the temperature in the firebox.
Although this helped to some degree, the OWR&N would later follow the Southern Pacific before converting its 3800-series mallets into oil-burners.
The Union Pacific found the 2-8-8-2's to be highly capable of the work they were designed to pull, particularly when there was no leaking steam.
The reason for this was because the articulated joints were constantly leaking steam which resulted it into a collision with a stalled train on one 'MC-1'
during a blinding snowstorm, no questions asked.
Perhaps the best compliment from the Union Pacific crews was the MC-1's outclassed any other locomotive on the road in strength and efficacy.
On one particular iron horse, a unique poem was planted by chalk on the tender, a nod to their magnificent strength for the time.
It described the MC-1 being built for a battleship but with no place for guns, leaving the railroad to place it on Sherman Hill hauling 10,000 tons.
Eventually the Union Pacific gave the MC-1's to the OWR&N, becoming their 3600-series articulated engines before they were transferred to the Oregon Short Line
as the 3700-series locomotives.
These engines would spend their last years in helper service on the OSL until they were all scrapped by 1928.
The remaining MC-1's on the OWR&N's similar jobs, designated as the 3800-series, would gain 6,000 gallon auxiliary tenders from the recent-retired pre-1900 consolidations.
Steaming to history with the distinction of being unreliable, difficult to fire and above all incredibly slow, the MC-1 was overshadowed by the much more famous
and successful designs it spurred for other railroads in America.
Despite the shortcomings, the MC-1's historical significance can never be overstated, for it was this class that because of the suffocations from locomotive crews
inside the tunnels and snow sheds of Donner Pass had pushed the Southern Pacific to adopt the Cab Forward arrangement.
The slow speed of the MC-1 on the other hand led the Union Pacific to combine the efficacy of a new locomotive with great speed, leading to the iconic Big Boy
and Challenger types.
Last but not least, on the Norfolk & Western railway, their experience with the 'Y-1' class and its competitor the 'X-1' class led to the eventual development
of the 'Y-6B' as the pinnacle of drag power.
For all of their mistakes though, the MC-1's had cleared the way for the improved designs of bigger and stronger locomotives which followed, and they're always
remembered the most for highlighting the changes needed to keep freight traffic rolling on some of the country's toughest ever stretches of railroad.

Model by: daylightrain
Available at Trainz Forge

Description
Prior to the legendary Union Pacific Big Boys and Challengers that steamed over mountains of the Wasatch Range, or the iconic shot of Southern Pacific's fabulous Cab-Forwards'
exhausting air compressors echoing through the mountainous terrain of the Sierra Nevada's, there was a particular kind of articulated locomotives known as the 'Ocean Toads'.
Between 1909 and 1910, the Harriman lines which comprised of three western railroads took the delivery of the first mallet locomotives on the system, classified as 'MC-1's.
Designed and built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works, these 2-8-8-2 mallets were only modestly successful in their intended roles.
Around the same time as they were built, similar-looking copies had been made for the Norfolk & Western, classified as 'Y-1's.
These cumbersome steamers differed in a number of dimensions and aesthetic differences, with their story having the distinction of being the story of trial and error,
presenting as early pioneers lighting the way for some of the most impressive feats in steam locomotive design.
In operation, the MC-1 proved to be accurate enough but it wasn't normally considered a successful locomotive design.
Members of the MC-1 class sported a unique Baldwin-designed two section boiler while the rear boiler happened to be the normal boiler with the front boiler
providing reheated steam before being used.
This was a earlier attempt of superheating methods; but not as successful.
The firebox of the MC-1 was familiar in size compared to the Harriman Common Standard 2-8-2 design, but it wasn't enough to satisfy the voracious hunger of the
articulated engines as well as issues having too small grates with not-enough heat, which plagued the coal-burning railroads.
Oil-burning MC-1's fared a little better as the fuel choice made less of a issue for the small firebox.
The Southern Pacific meanwhile had found most of the use out of their copied mallets, as the design spurred the many successful cab-forward types which would
make up every last unit of the SP's articulated roster.
And for a good reason, numerous snow sheds and tunnels on Donner Pass presented the greatest challenge for the SP when crews would often suffocate from
breathing in the smoke and toxic gases spewing out of the stack of the locomotive.
It was then, the railroad began to provide their crews with gas masks to wear inside the tunnels in hopes of alleviating this issue which never resulted entirely
with good news, resorting the SP to simply run the MC-1's in reverse.
This other solution might have had the crews on the wrong sides of track, but they would no longer suffocate inside the tunnels.
It was eventually solved when the Southern Pacific flipped the crew positions and place the tender on the "back" of the iron horse, behind the smokebox.
Thus was sown the seed for the blossoming birth of a ever-so-popular Cab-Forward type locomotive.
Once the first Baldwin-built Cab-Forwards arrived on the system, the MC-1's were pulled off Donner Pass and then reassigned to Colton where they began their
service as helpers without being overstated.
During the road tests in the 1910's, the Southern Pacific calculated a 135 percent tonnage increase in comparison to a single 2-8-0 Consolidation.
Two conventional MC-1's were eventually converted into cab-forwards which were identical to their original built in the 1920's, continuing their service on the
SP for another two decades before they both succumbed to their end of service in the early 50's.
Four other railroads such as the Union Pacific, the Oregon Railroad & Navigation, the Oregon Short Line and the Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation had
more mixed options of operating the monstrous mallets.
Since the "Ocean Toads" were aptly named, these proven rotund locomotives had the capacity to handle great tonnage over steep grades though they were
troublesome at steaming because of the lower quality coal which the two railroads burned unlike the Southern Pacific which used oil.
Drafted smokeboxes including smokestack extensions would be acquired and installed to assist the improvement of draft and increase the temperature in the firebox.
Although this helped to some degree, the OWR&N would later follow the Southern Pacific before converting its 3800-series mallets into oil-burners.
The Union Pacific found the 2-8-8-2's to be highly capable of the work they were designed to pull, particularly when there was no leaking steam.
The reason for this was because the articulated joints were constantly leaking steam which resulted it into a collision with a stalled train on one 'MC-1'
during a blinding snowstorm, no questions asked.
Perhaps the best compliment from the Union Pacific crews was the MC-1's outclassed any other locomotive on the road in strength and efficacy.
On one particular iron horse, a unique poem was planted by chalk on the tender, a nod to their magnificent strength for the time.
It described the MC-1 being built for a battleship but with no place for guns, leaving the railroad to place it on Sherman Hill hauling 10,000 tons.
Eventually the Union Pacific gave the MC-1's to the OWR&N, becoming their 3600-series articulated engines before they were transferred to the Oregon Short Line
as the 3700-series locomotives.
These engines would spend their last years in helper service on the OSL until they were all scrapped by 1928.
The remaining MC-1's on the OWR&N's similar jobs, designated as the 3800-series, would gain 6,000 gallon auxiliary tenders from the recent-retired pre-1900 consolidations.
Steaming to history with the distinction of being unreliable, difficult to fire and above all incredibly slow, the MC-1 was overshadowed by the much more famous
and successful designs it spurred for other railroads in America.
Despite the shortcomings, the MC-1's historical significance can never be overstated, for it was this class that because of the suffocations from locomotive crews
inside the tunnels and snow sheds of Donner Pass had pushed the Southern Pacific to adopt the Cab Forward arrangement.
The slow speed of the MC-1 on the other hand led the Union Pacific to combine the efficacy of a new locomotive with great speed, leading to the iconic Big Boy
and Challenger types.
Last but not least, on the Norfolk & Western railway, their experience with the 'Y-1' class and its competitor the 'X-1' class led to the eventual development
of the 'Y-6B' as the pinnacle of drag power.
For all of their mistakes though, the MC-1's had cleared the way for the improved designs of bigger and stronger locomotives which followed, and they're always
remembered the most for highlighting the changes needed to keep freight traffic rolling on some of the country's toughest ever stretches of railroad.

Model by: daylightrain
Available at Trainz Forge