A new type of locomotive!
Ingersoll-Rand 1925 Demonstrator #9681
(later CNJ #1000)
(ALCo builders photo S-1484 - source uncertain;
possibly from 1980s AAR flyer)
(and a few other British boxcabs or
reasonable simulations thereof)
There are now more than forty (40) BOXCAB pages;
see the main Boxcabs page and the Boxcabs INDEX.
(04 Mar 05)
On the Survivor Boxcabs Roster page:
On the succeeding Survivor Boxcabs Continuation Page:
The page of NOTES was split off from the Survivors Roster page and the engine listings renumbered on 10 Sep 99.
There will now be separate pages for each surviving boxcab. This unit is Item "B" on the map.
times since the counter was installed.
I am indebted to, and thank, Prof. Peter Excell in England for this information.
I hope to dig up more on this unusual survivor and welcome any contributions.
- a member of the railway "involved with the railway's museum/archives" advised
(05 Apr 01) that the engine, delivered to Ford as their No. 1 (one of three),
is not only alive and well but "has just been overhauled and was in service at the
Diesel Weekend last month" (emphasis mine)!
He further advised that the railway has "a
web page with a recent photo and full technical details".
There is so much there that I will content myself (for the nonce) with the link, above,
and some minor additions and corrections to this page, as noted. Be sure to
click on the link; it is a fascinating account [and there were two sister locos built -
wonder (and I asked) if they survive?].
As to the last musing, the two sister locos apparently went to the breakers (scrapper)
shortly after #1 went to the K&ES, first as their #16, later being renumbered to their
#40.
Further, the engine in No. 1 (40) was replaced whil(e)(st) still at Ford(s) with the one
from No. 2; it was originally equipped with American-style "buckeye" (knuckle)
couplers, long since replaced by British screw couplings.
My sincere thanks to my correspondent, who (i)(e)nquired of photographer John
Liddlel and got gracious permission for me to reproduce his photo of No. 1 (40) as
restored; the photo was taken originally for the K&ES magazine, the "Tenterdon
Terrier":
* - I owned and drove two British Ford Anglias ('54 and '57) and have "always" known that the plant was in Dagenham, Kent. A resident thereabouts, who certainly should know, advised 27 Dec 02 that Dagenham is in Essex, the county on the north side of the River Thames east of London; Kent is the county immediately south of the River Thames east of London. So much for MY memory!
NEWS! - from Old Blighty comes news (on 25 Mar 04) that the "April 2004 issue of the magazine 'Railway Bylines', has an article on the Ford plant and its railway system, with photos of many of the locos (mostly British 0-4-0 tanks, of course). But the pictures also include all three British Thomson Houston 150 bhp boxcabs. The photos date from the 1950s/60s on the occasions of works visits by specialist enthusiast groups (Railway Correspondence & Travel Society, etc.), so the locos appear to have been 'buffed up' for the visit, everything looking smart and polished, wheel rims freshly painted white, etc. And the engines have been carefully positioned for the benefit of visiting photographers."
"- - - the stylised 'Ford' name on the sides of the boxcabs was not merely sign-painted, but seems to have been a cast or stamped metal plate. There is no question that it stands an inch or more {beyond} the flat sides of the loco."
"The magazine is devoted to the celebration of 'small is beautiful (and interesting!)' in British railways, focusing on small branchlines, light railways, industrial railways, narrow gauge, etc. It is A4 format and generally uses only top quality photos (albeit black-and-white), mostly two-to-a-page, occasionally full page, each comprehensively captioned. Articles are well-researched, well-written and backed-up by tables, diagrams, etc. There is a full-page map of the Ford works and its railway system."
" - - - up to now we have accepted that BTH boxcab Ford #1 went to the K&ESR under its own power, but the article says that it was shipped by road, and there is a photo of the body being lifted from the underframe and bogies (trucks) prior to being placed on a road trailer alongside."
There were side and end view drawings of these BTH locos, which might interest modelers, in another magazine, 'The Railway Gazette' and was published when the locos first entered service, back in 1932. I will try to get them for us. The drawings show the truck centres were 18' 0" apart and truck wheelbase was 7' 0". "That is pretty close to the 18' 9" and 6' 10" of the GE-44 ton switcher which is modeled by Bachmann in their Spectrum range."
Even better yet, I now have the Railway Bylines magazine for April 2004; the article ("Focus on Ford" by Ian P. Peaty) and photos on pp. 233-243 are outstanding! Railway Bylines is a publication of Irwell Press in the U.K. To top that off, there is an article, "British Box-Cabs!", about the BTH in the April 2003 issue of Satellite 1:87#, "The Journal of the British 1:87# Society"; it includes a general arrangement drawing (side and end views). It seems (per Peaty) that the BTH "coachwork" was done by Metropolitan-Vickers of Sheffield.
(07 Mar 05)
(04 Mar 05) and
(07 Mar 05)
(modified from photos courtesy of B. Loraine - all rights reserved)
[Thumbnail image; click on the picture for a larger image.]
Oh, I say; if Barry enters the fan-motored model in contests, it will just blow away
the competition!
(07 Mar 05)
She is a 75-tonne diesel-hydraulic and is technically similar to a 67-tonne hood unit but with a full-width and -length body.
Predecessor company Hunslet Engine Company, founded in 1864, has been associated with locomotives since the early days of steam; their diesel line was introduced in 1928. The firm acquired North British Locomotive Company, with its B-B designs, in 1962 and also bought the rail vehicle business of Volvo in 1991 (as well as several other rail operations).
My especial thanks to Peter Excell and to Messrs. Hunslet-Barclay, Ltd. for the lead, the information, and the picture.
[I was asked, "Is that not a boxcab with a vengeance?", but it is not; it is a
boxcab with two separate center-flow cars. I was also told it was "nearly
brand new too!" but it is just brand-spanking-new; there isn't one iota of dirt or use
on it!] :·)
Uh, oh! Peter Excell's just excelled again! Here's another boxcab
{?} he's unearthed, a 1938 2-foot gauge Simplex loco at the
Leighton Buzzard Railway in England, some 40 miles north of London (oh, if
only I'd known!). She's only minimally a boxcab, with precious little box and
only one driving position (if THAT!) and only about 40HP (she could only manage
about 3 or 4 skip wagons) but she's irresistible, eh? Normally sold only for
export, she was the only one of her breed sold domestically and was used at a
brickworks near Bedford.
The 1919 Leighton Buzzard Railway ("England's Friendly Little Line") is a narrow-gauge h{e}aven and seems to have more of such; I've asked for details/photos.
@ - I had gone into Alan Whitaker's site backwards and only just noticed that he does not make the Caravan model; he is the "main agent" for I. P. Engineering, which firm does make it. Looking even more carefully at Alan's site, there is the Caravan without cladding (as "Atlanta"); revealing its innards even better:
Notes on surviving ALCo-GE-IR (and just GE-IR or GE alone) boxcabs are on the Survivor Boxcabs Notes page.
Other surviving gas/oil-electric/diesel boxcabs (including +, @, and *, on map on Survivor Boxcabs page) are noted on the Other Boxcabs continuation page.
Other surviving electric (and any other odd) boxcabs (including e and ?, on map) are noted on the Odd Boxcabs continuation page.
Surviving boxcabs in Mexico should appear on these pages shortly.
To contact S. Berliner, III, please click here.
{Not inserted into the Boxcabs Tour sequence, yet.}
Return to Top of Page