ALCo-GE-IR CNJ #1000 Boxcab Page keywords = boxcab CNJ Central New Jersey 1000 B&O Baltimore Ohio museum ALCo GE IR I-R American Locomotive Company General Electric Ingersoll Rand oil electric diesel engine rail road marine water front dock pocket
Updated: 17 Mar 2005, 15:35 ET
{balance of missing images restored 18 Feb 03}
[Ref: This is boxcnj1k.html (URL http://home.att.net/~Berliner-Ultrasonics/boxcnj1k.html )]

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S. Berliner, III's

ALCo-GE-IR
CNJ #1000
Boxcab Page

Consultant in Ultrasonic Processing
"changing materials with high-intensity sound"
Technical and Historical Writer, Oral Historian
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Rail, Auto, Air, Ordnance, and Model Enthusiast
Light-weight Linguist, Lay Minister, and Putative Philosopher

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)

ALCo-GE-IR CNJ #1000 BOXCAB

Oil-Electric Locomotive

(American Locomotive Company - General Electric - Ingersoll-Rand)

There are now more than fifty (50) BOXCAB pages;
see the main Boxcabs page and the Boxcabs INDEX.

DISASTER!

The snow load on the roof of the B&O Museum's 1884 Roundhouse caused fully one-half of the outer roundhouse roof to collapse in two parts early on the morning of 17 Feb 03! CNJ #1000 was almost exactly opposite the collapse - WHEW!

Here, from a posting on the Railway Preservation News INTERCHANGE, by Steve Zuiderveen on Wednesday, 19 Feb 2003, at 10:14, is an aerial view of the awful mess, by first full light:

This photo, by Doug Kapustin, is from the 19 Feb 2003 Baltimore Sun - I don't normally do this but perhaps they will forgive Steve and me in this particular case. It is important for you to understand the full magnitude of this calamity.

(22 Feb 03) The Museum posted 24 pictures of the Roundhouse and each item in each bay! See Continuation Page 2.

The arrangement of equipment is on the new CNJ #1000 Continuation Page 2, but the antique yellow car in the distance in the inside view below is smack in the middle of this chaos!

Better unlimber your wallets; this was a bad time for the Museum! This is an analogous disaster to the time the tornado went through the New England Air Museum at Bradley Field or the hurricane pulled the roof off the RR museum in Florida; everyone rallied behind them, then. Even though the restoration is complete, donations are always in order to help with the work of the Museum. (12 Nov 04)

Roundhouse Restoration Fund

Please make all checks payable to:

The Roundhouse Restoration Fund

c/o Mercantile Bank & Trust Co.

409 Washington Avenue, Suite 100

Towson, Maryland 21204

Please ONLY use U.S. mail to send donations.

Please DO NOT send cash or credit card information.

All proceeds from your donation will be tax deductible and will go directly to the Restoration and Re-building of The B&O Railroad Museum and it's collection.

[If you have any questions, please contact Stefanie Fay at sfay@borail.org, or 410-752-2462, x 204.]

PLEASE, donate quickly (before you forget) and GENEROUSLY!

BIG NEWS! "The Museum will reopen to the public

on Saturday, November 13, 2004"!

A formal Grand Reopening Celebration is scheduled for Memorial Day weekend (29-30 May) 2005. (12 Nov 04)

More on the new CNJ #1000 Continuation Page 2.

This page overloaded! I moved the background of this disaster to a new CNJ #1000 Continuation Page 2.

PAGE INDEX:

TECHNICAL DATA and

NOTES (by item number per listing on the Survivor Boxcab Roster).

The rest of the page is unindexed; scroll away.

This site has now been visited times since the counter was installed.

Refer to the preceding SURVIVORS page for a

ROSTER OF SURVIVING ALCo-GE-INGERSOLL-RAND
BOXCAB OIL-ELECTRIC (DIESEL) LOCOMOTIVES

[in no particular order (yet) but eventually to be in order built]

This page is a special page added 13 Jun 99 just to feature the 1925 ALCo-GE-IR demonstrator unit #9681 cum 1925 Central Railroad of New Jersey Boxcab Oil-Electric Locomotive #1000, which, amazingly, survives today exactly as when her engine was last shut down ca. 1956.

A large collection of detailed photos of this loco are on other pages.

Well; looky here! Browsing through old photographs on 23 Jan 2002, what should I find but my then-3¾-year-old daughter posed in front of no other than CNJ #1000 at the B&O Museum ca. Aug 1966:

[Obviously, I brought my children up right!]

SPECIAL COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Please be advised that the images shown on this page, unless otherwise noted, are reproduced here by special permission of the B&O Railroad Museum and may NOT be reproduced further in any form, or for any purpose, without without prior written permission of the photographer, S. Berliner, III, AND of the B&O Railroad Museum.

(Photo from TRAIN SHED CYCLOPEDIA #43)

TECHNICAL DATA on #1000

2. 60-ton, 300-hp CNJ #1000:

Builder's Plate Data

OIL-ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE
CLASS B-B¹²⁰/₁₂₀-0-4HM840G
GENERAL ELECTRIC CO.
AMERICAN LOCOMOTIVE CO.
INGERSOLL-RAND CO.
G.E. CO. NO. U.S.A. A.L.CO. NO. 9681 DEC 1925 65979
Now this is decidedly odd! I have the data hand-transcribed
(from my trip to the B&O Museum on 09 Jun 99) as above,
yet recorded elsewhere (I forget from whence - some historian, I!) as follows: 9681 DEC 1926 65978
1925 or 1926? 65978 or 65979?
Could the plates be different on one side and the other?
Unfortunately, my film photo of the plate is too blurred to tell.

I'll have to look into this further.

#1000 has a 24' 2" total wheelbase, 7' 2" truck wheelbase, 36" wheels, 124,000 lbs. total weight, 37,200 lb. starting force, and was built in December of 1924.

NOTES on #1000

The 60-ton, 300-hp CNJ #1000 is at the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, Maryland (more about the Museum to follow).]

CNJ #1000 was the very first of the production oil-electrics sold, a true pioneer!

There are several other survivors listed on the Survivors page, notably an early B&O engine, #1/195/8000, and two I-R locomotives.

Assuming possible duplications are wrong, there are at least 8 ALCo-GE-IR (and just GE-IR) boxcab units surviving and, if they are all right, there are at least 7 units surviving.

There is a wealth of historical information on this locomotive on the late John F. Campbell's extremely detailed and accurate site focusing exclusively on the earliest history of the ALCo-GE-IR (AGEIR) locos, at " ALCO / General Electric / Ingersoll-Rand (AGEIR) Diesel-Electric Locomotives", and especially on his Page 4. I heartily recommend it to you! (17 Mar 05)

#1000 sits in almost pristine condition at the B&O Railroad Museum (formerly the B&O Transportation Museum), in the 123'-high, fully-enclosed, circular 1884 roundhouse, where it is flanked by one of the world's finest collections of historic engines and cars (over 100 of both) and memorabilia. The roundhouse is adjacent to the 1851 Mt. Clare Station (now used as the entry) and the 1884 Car Shop Annex (originally a lending library for B&O employees and then the B&O Print Shop). This museum is well worth a trip; to be able to walk right up to, and all around, and even into the cab of the great-grand-daddy of all diesels is simply awesome!

The Mt. Clare Station is very near the site of an even earlier building built in 1830, where, on 24 May 1830 the B&O sold the very first ticket for a regularly-scheduled American passenger train.

The Roundhouse and the Annex were both designed by Ephraim Francis Baldwin, architect of the B&O from 1873 to 1881.

FYI, the B&O has an Historical Society.

[Please note - these grainy photos are just teasers; I just took digital snapshots of my 35mm prints. My new flatbed scanner is set up and you can see these and a lot more (5 rolls!) in sharp detail on the detailed photo page and two additional pages.]

Here's what you see as you leave your car in the parking lot; the roundhouse is rather obvious, the station is in the center, and the annex is to the right:

B&O Museum 1884 Roundhouse
Copyright © 1999 S. Berliner, III - All rights reserved

B&O Museum 1851 Mt. Clare
Copyright © 1999 S. Berliner, III - All rights reserved

[Only 13 miles away in Ellicott City is the old Ellicott Mills Station (also still standing and a museum), the original terminus for the train from Mt. Clare.]

By special permission of the Museum, I was allowed to take detailed photographs of #1000 and its surrounds inside the Museum (on 09 Jun 99) for the benefit of those who care but can not get to the B&O Museum (or others around the country with surviving early boxcabs).

More of these pictures (and better reproductions), which include exacting details of trucks, radiators, underbody, ends, etc., now appear on three separate page because they are so image-intensive.

SPECIAL COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Please be advised that the images shown on this page, unless otherwise noted, are reproduced here by special permission of the B&O Railroad Museum and may NOT be reproduced further in any form, or for any purpose, without prior written permission of the photographer, S. Berliner, III, AND of the B&O Railroad Museum.

Once inside the station, you buy a ticket, make your way through many exhibits
(don't miss the giant three-scene HO model of the B&O and other exhibits on the second floor),
and approach the door into the roundhouse. You can see her, inside on the right, but "it ain't easy"!

Passing through the door, there she is (somewhat obscured by an information desk, a small, circular HO layout, a diorama, and an interactive TV guide to the exhibits:

B&ORRM CNJ #1000 inside door
Copyright © 1999 S. Berliner, III - All rights reserved by photographer and B&O RR Museum.

Walking around toward the front, notice the "F" in the lower left front corner on the left side; you start to get a feel for #1000 up close and for real:

B&ORRM CNJ #1000 left front
Copyright © 1999 S. Berliner, III - All rights reserved by photographer and B&O RR Museum.

Dead on from the front, she truly shows why she's called a "boxcab"; we find a large platform which allows children (like me) to go inside the cab:

B&ORRM CNJ #1000 front
Copyright © 1999 S. Berliner, III - All rights reserved by photographer and B&O RR Museum.

There was no convenient way to get a good shot of the informational placard in front of the engine so here is the text:

American Railroad Dieselization Started Here

CENTRAL R.R. OF NEW JERSEY
NO. 1000

Built by General Electric/American Locomotive Co./Ingersoll-Rand, 1925

Boxy, bland, and completely unpretentious, this utilitarian
switcher nevertheless led a railroad revolution. It was the first com
mercially available diesel-electric locomotive put to work on an
American railroad. It then proceeded to set an example by working
regularly and reliably for over 50 years.

High utility and operating economy always were the diesel's
major selling points, but No. 1000 and many of its early sisters found
a market for another reason. A 1923 smoke abatement law had required
railroads operating in New York City to eliminate steam power. The
Central of New Jersey assigned the new locomotive to its little Bronx
freight terminal, where No. 1000 worked all its active life.

American experimentation with railroad diesel power began in
1917. But it took seven more years before the partnership of General
Electric and engine-builder Ingersoll-Rand produced a reliable work-
ing demonstrator locomotive. No. 1000 was a standardized stock model
based on that demonstrator; successful from the start, it spawned 50
similar copies.

____________________________________________________________________
Locomotive weight: 60 tons
Power: Ingersoll-Rand 6-Cylinder Model "PR"; 300 h.p.
Starting tractive effort: 37,200 pounds
Speed: 30 m.p.h.

Walking around to the engineer's (right) side, notice again the "F" in the lower right front corner on the right side AND (miracle of miracles!) the BUILDER'S PLATE:

B&ORRM CNJ #1000 builder's plate
Copyright © 1999 S. Berliner, III - All rights reserved by photographer and B&O RR Museum.

The Builder's Plate reads:

OIL-ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE
CLASS B-B - 120/120 - 0 - 4HM840G

GENERAL ELECTRIC CO.
AMERICAN LOCOMOTIVE CO.
INGERSOLL-RAND CO.
G.E.CO. NO. U.S.A. A.L.CO. NO.
9681 DEC 1925 65979

Here's the right rear, a quarter shot showing the brake wheel through the window (more on that later):

and then a more distant view of the rear and the right side:

and an even more distant view of the rear and the right side:

Now, here's the big teaser; here's what it's all about! From on high, here's the detail of how the radiator coils are fastened to the lower header!

While I'm at it, I really should show you the air horn:

The horn sits abaft on the right side facing forward alongside the rear stack.

No sense keeping this up endlessly, especially with such blurry pictures, but you get the idea of the depth of detail now available on the page of detailed photos of CNJ #1000 and two additional pages and each of the three pages has a fully-linked index, with captions, to the photos on all three pages.

Two correspondents weighed in with more details about #1000. From an article that was a reprint in the Anthracite Railroads Historical Society's magazine "Flags Diamonds and Statues", originally written by N. W. James, Director of Publicity, Jersey Central Lines, when #1000 was delivered, it was painted in shiny black with the letters "CRR of NJ" in gold Gothic lettering. Later, in 1947, #1000 was sent to Elizabeth Port* shops for an overhaul and was painted in deep-sea green with yellow lettering and a yellow Miss Liberty herald. John Campbell writes that the loco's later class was SD-3 and that "S" stood for switching, "D" stood for Diesel, and "3" stood for continuous tractive effort.

* - I don't know how long that lonely asterisk has been up there without any reference material. For a funny story about Elizabeth Port, see Yarns on my Naval & Maritime page 1.

It's interesting (and embarassing) to note that the brake wheel is at the back (see #108, on the detailed photo page, and 19 Jul 2001 shots inside rear cab (to follow there) and thus that the stacks are offset to the back!

In addition to what is already on my Boxcabs Bibliography, some publications with info. about CNJ #1000 might include:

"Jersey Central Diesels" by someone named Bernet.

Anthracite Rail Roads Historical Society Magazine "Flags Diamonds & Statues",

Volume 4, Fall 1981 -This issue is claimed to have an exceptional article on CNJ 1000

complete with photographic images.

"Locomotives In My Life" by Don Wood

This book is supposed to have photo images of CNJ 1000

at the Jersey City Terminal.

Happy ending to what was a sad epilogue: On 10 Dec 99, I received a message from the son of a CNJ employee who was the Freight Traffic Manager in the CNJ's Jersey City office. He (the son) was 12 years old when he was standing by the tracks at Grant Avenue in Plainfield (N.J.) with no idea what was coming westbound. All of a sudden, in the distance, he could see one of the new diesels coming, so he waited. They weren't traveling fast, almost like a funeral; coupled to the diesel was the camelback and coupled to her was the boxcab and behind them the CNJ business-observation car. Everything was all decked out with the American flag except for the lead diesel. Then, all of a sudden, they were gone, except in the boy's memory. The railroad had donated her and the camelback to the B&O Museum and the boy asked for photos but never got them. Well, he's got them, now.

DATES - follow-on to the preceding; the Museum advises that #1000 "was retired on June 13, 1957 and 'presented to the B&ORR Museum.' CNJ #592 {the camelback} was retired on February 16, 1949 and pictures show it being moved to Baltimore with coach #445 on May 1, 1954." Emphases and {comment} mine; those photos will have to be scrutinized carefully. Much more on this move on CNJ #1000 Continuation Page 2 - Last trip.

Here she (#1000) is in Z-Scale (an incredible 1:220, and with a flywheel, no less!):

You can also ride on a real, old train on weekends and holidays -
click on the Train Rides page on the Museum's Website for details.

[B&O/C&O buffs might wish to look at some other B&O/C&O information
(on my Railroad continuation page).]

- - - * - - -

There are now more than fifty (50) BOXCAB pages;
see the main Boxcabs page and the Boxcabs INDEX.

THUMBS UP!

THUMBS UP! - Support your local police, fire, and emergency personnel!

S. Berliner, III

To contact S. Berliner, III, please click here.

To tour the Boxcabs pages in sequence, the arrows take you from the previous page to the Boxcabs index), to the first Boxcabs page, and on to continuation pages 3 and up, then 100-tonner LIRR #401 and her sisters, survivor boxcabs (with map) and survivor notes, survivor CNJ #1000 (the very first), Ingersoll-Rand boxcabs (with instruction manual), other (non-ALCo/GE/I-R) boxcabs, Baldwin-Westinghouse boxcabs, odd boxcabs, and finally model boxcabs.

PHOTOS - I deliberately have NOT included the page of detailed photos (and the two additional pages) of CNJ #1000 in this tour; they are so image-intensive that you should only go there intentionally by clicking HERE!