Ron's Books continues to sell reproductions of railroad equipment catalogs published by Silver Lake Images, LLC, Manufacturers’ Catalog Archive. Each book sells for $35.00.

I have samples of the following
four books:

• Western Wheeled Scraper Company: Western Dump Cars. This 80 page catalog discusses the virtues of the company’s four and eight wheeled dump cars. There are many images of dump cars at work, showing industrial scenes. Some 25 pages of builders’ photos and technical data provide modeling information. There are also some wonderful scrapers shown that would make great models.

• Plymouth Locomotives, Volume 1, has 86 pages of illustrations, charts and graphs of Plymouth locomotives. There are many images of four and six wheeled Plymouths showing them inside and out. The engines and transmissions are illustrated in case you really want to go all out on a model. I even found the prototype for the old HOn30 Egger Bahn model.

• Vulcan Locomotives, Volume 1: Gasoline Locomotives. Most narrow gaugers know about the two Vulcan steam locomotives used on the 2-foot gauge Monson Railroad. But if you are looking for a critter with a distinctive look, get one of these 112-page catalogs. It is filled with four and six wheel outside crank, worm drive locomotives perfect for an industrial scene. There are plans, illustrations of the insides of Plymouths, and pages of builders’ photos, and of the locomotives in use. There is a brief section on an oil burning steam locomotive with a photo of an 0-6-0 and a plan of an oil burning system for a steam locomotive.

• Beyer-Garratt Articulated Locomotives. The Beyer-Garratt was one of the most unusual locomotives built. They had mechanisms running from 0-4-0s to 2-8-2s. The boiler and cab were suspended between two mechanisms for maximum flexibility. They were popular all over the world, but I am unaware of any in the U.S. (that should get me some emails). After a discussion of the Beyer-Garrett design, this 188-page catalog describes these unusual locomotives country by country. The catalog lists Beyer-Garratts in 2-foot, 3-foot, meter gauge, 3-foot 6-inch gauge, 4-foot 8½-inch gauge, 5-foot gauge, 5-foot 3-inch gauge, and 5-foot 6-inch gauge.

These catalogs are a great source of information on their subjects and are invaluable if you are planning to build a piece of equipment described in one of them. Bob Brown.

Timber Titans

Baldwin’s Articulated Logging Locomotives

By Martin E. Hansen, Steve Hauff and Dale Sanders, 2021.

Hardcover, 12 3/8 inches wide by 9 1/2 inches tall, 256 pages, 6 color diagrams, numerous charts and 455 photos. $79.95.

White River Productions
877-787-2467
info@WhiteRiverProductions.com
shop.WhiteRiverProductions.com

If you are intrigued when you see a photo of a logging Mallet or have enjoyed riding behind or photographing one of the eleven remaining engines (four of which are operational), then this book is a must have for your library.

The authors start with several short chapters that cover the argument for articulation, early attempts at building flexible locomotives including Baldwin’s first attempts which were not successful, the evolution of Baldwin’s designs over the next 37 years, the marketing department’s role, a little about the competition (there really was none) and some remarks on the engines built
for export.

The next chapter, “The Timber Titans” runs some 219 pages covering the 44 logging articulates that Baldwin turned out from 1909 through 1937 for the U.S. market. The presentation is in builder number sequence. A data box is provided for each builder number that includes the construction date, the Baldwin class and code, the configuration, cylinder size, boiler pressure, driver diameter, tractive effort, weight on drivers, water, fuel, original paint and Baldwin builder photo negative number (when available). This is followed by a short bullet point history of the locomotive owners from the original, up through disposition. The history section also includes text for anything the authors thought to be important for the reader to know, but could not be easily addressed in photo captions.

Each photo caption is well written providing detail and context that integrates with the main text. With 455 photos, those captions provide a lot of additional information. The photos are presented as one, two or three to a page, are sharp, and while most are black and white, a surprising number are color. The photos include builders’ photos, in service photos under the various owners for a given locomotive, shop photos, wreck photos, restoration photos and more.

For the 3-foot gauge fan, two of the construction numbers are for Uintah Numbers 50 and 51. Included are photos and details of the Sumpter Valley ownership as 250 and 251, and finally life on the International Railways of Central America as 250 and 251.

The next chapter is “Mechanical Minutiae” which includes sections on making and using steam, carrying water, fuel, platforms and draft gear, and cabs and cab modification. There is also a side bar on tractive effort. The photos included in this section are particularly helpful in understanding the various configurations for carrying water, platforms and draft gear and cabs and modifications.

“Paint and Style” is a two-page chapter discussing the fact that 40 of the 44 locomotives did not leave the Baldwin plant in basic black, but rather a dark glossy green that Baldwin called “olive green,” or other color treatment. Four 3-D color renderings show what two of the locomotives would have looked like as delivered.

“Titan Tabulation” is next and consists of five helpful tables. The first is “Baldwin Class Roster” listed in class order, and for each, the construction number, original owner, the road number and cylinder size is listed. “Construction Number Ownership History” is the next table. For each construction number, the construction date, owners, their road numbers, and locations are provided in addition to the page number the construction number information and photos start on. This tabulation makes it easy to see that most engines had multiple owners and served in multiple locations. Curiously, the oldest locomotive had the most owners (10) and is one of the four operational locomotives today. This listing is followed by the “Alphabetical Ownership Roster” and each entry includes road number, construction number, date acquired, the disposition and the page number in the book. Next, “Geographical History” lists by State, Province or Country, the city, county, construction number, owner and road number of a locomotive that once called that location home. The last table is “Timber Titans Summary” and lists by construction number the original owner, road number and for each identifies technical data and characteristics of each engine.

The last page is titled “Titan Territory.” This is a map of the U.S. west of Tennessee, and Vancouver Island, British Columbia, which shows the geographical location where a particular construction number locomotive was delivered, and if it currently exists, shows that location
as well.

This book was enjoyable and informative to read through, and I am sure will be pulled from the bookshelf and revisited often in the future. If you have not yet discovered the alure of these logging machines, then spending some time with this book will likely make you a fan.
Dave Adams.