Class Triplex (Locobase 3301)
Like the Erie's Triplex 2-8-8-8-2s, this single locomotive showed all the limitations of trying to cram so much tractive power under one boiler. Although this design had slightly smaller cylinders under a slightly larger boiler, the grate and evaporative heating surface were still too small. Drury (1993) notes that compared to the Erie engines, the 700 "was slower and ran out of steam faster[!]..." He adds that one tunnel had only 4 inches of clearance, which must have made a passage hell on earth for the locomotive and its crew. "It never made a successful trip," according to Drury. The engine units were turned into a 2-8-8-0 Mallet and a 2-8-0 Consolidation which ran until 1953.
