Prospect Park & Coney Island 2-4-0 "Porter" Locomotives in the USA

Class Bay Ridge (Locobase 16623)

Data from DeGolyer, Volume 11, p 195; Volume 14, 181. See also Locobase 16620 for a more detailed view of the PP&CI. Works numbers were 8499 in April 1887 and 9267 in May 1888.

Otherwise, increasing the cylinder diameter by an inch over the Prospect Park of 1876 (Locobase 16621) and adding 21 fire tubes to the boiler and lengthening all of the tubes by just over a foot (330 mm) sought to provide more power. The two low side tanks were connected by equalizing pipes that prevented an imbalance between them.

After the line was electrified in 1900, the Bay Ridge wound up on Tiger Bay, Florida's Palmetto Posphate Company's roster while the Jockey Club was sold in 1902 to Elk Tanning Company.

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Class Brooklyn (Locobase 16622)

Data from "Brooklyn Excursion Railroads", Railroad Gazette, Volume 9, (10 August 1877), pp. 365-366; and DeGolyer, Volume 8, p 109 and Volume 9, p.80. See also the extensive archival material on the at [], last accessed 24 December 2022; and Locobase 16620 for a more detailed view of the PP&CI. Works numbers were 4100 in Ju ne 1877; 4640, 4644, 4648 in May 1879.

The 1879 locomotives built to this design were named West Brighton, Rosedale, and Idlewild. These were updates of the original Baldwin six-wheel tank design delivered in 1875 (Locobase 16620). Increased demand from cylinders one-inch (25.4 mm) larger in cylinder diameter and two inches (50.8 mm)longer in stroke was met by increasing the tube length by 27" (685 mm).

But as with the earlier engines, this class apparently failed to impress. They couldn't have been wholly satisfactory as it took until August 1889 for the railroad to send a letter to Baldwin.

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Class Coney Island (Locobase 16620)

Data from "Brooklyn Excursion Railroads", Railroad Gazette, Volume 9 , (10 August 1877), pp. 365-366; and DeGolyer, Volume 7, p 142. See also the extensive archival material on the at [], last accessed 24 December 2022. Works numbers were 3714, 3716, and 3719 in April 1875

This was the latest of the three standard-gauge excursion line to open and, in RG's opinion as of 1877, "is or has been in advance of them all in very many respects." (The other two were Brooklyn, Bath & Coney Island--Locobase 16616 to Locobase 16618) and the Canarsie Line of the Brooklyn & Rockaway Beach (Locobase 16620). Like the other two featured, the railroad ran mostly on 45 lb/yard (22.5 kg/metre) rail with some being upgraded to 56 lb/yard (28 kg/metre). Its 5 1/2 mile run fell between the B&RB (4 miles) and the BB&CI (7 1/2 miles).

RG observed that the PP&CI (aka The Culver Line) enjoyed the most favorable track conditions, according to the RG report. Its trains ran along "practically one long tangent except for one or two slight swerves." and, unlike the other two, had engaged in "considerable ballasting." All was not roses, however: :A very disadvantageous feature ...is a long and heavy grade immediately adjacent to the Brookly terminus." It climbed for 1/4 mile at 4 % and another 1/4 mile at 2% while negoitating a 14 degree curve.

To the extent that these Baldwin six-wheelers (the other two were Gravesend and Parkvale) differed from the others delivered to the BB&CI, it was in somewhat higher weights. Also, their water rode in low side tanks rather than in saddle tanks.

The greater demands imposed by the starting grade included the usual 80-ton , five-coach trains with each coach carrying about 80 persons. Moreover, the PP&CI ran 35 round trips per day, 60% (or 21 trips) running express and covering the distance at a relatively high 28 mph (45 kph). The other 14 "way" trips made stops and averaged 17 mph (27.4 kph). In 1874-1875, the trains accumulated 23,377 miles (37,637 km) carrying an average of 64 passengers per train.

Locobase suspects these levels were the source of a handwritten comment in the Baldwin specification. (A substantially larger tank locomotive arrived in 1876.) The note simply advised "For criticisms of these engines see letter ....[dated] 1 August 1889.". In 1899, the PP&CI, still running under steam, was taken in by the Brooklyn Heights Railroad and a year later, the BHR electrified its service. The steam stud was scrapped or sold.

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Class Parkville (2) (Locobase 16624)

Data from DeGolyer, Volume 16, p. 62. See also Locobase 16620 for a more detailed view of the PP&CI Works numbers were 10959, 10962 in June 1890.

The final throw of Baldwin's dice in support of the PP&CI's steam-train service to the beach at Coney Island featured this pair. As with virtually all of the line's locomotives, the wheel arrangement consisted of a leading truck ahead of two driven axles and low side tanks. A recent addition (described in Locobase 16623) was the 20" (509 mm) extended smokebox.

Possibly to encourage water circulation among the boiler's fire tubes, tube diameters came in two sizes. 143 retained the original 1 1/2" diameter of 14 Birmingham Wire Gauge wall thickness while 18 offered 1 3/4" diameters of the thicker BWG 13 for exhaust gases and water-side heating surface area. Interestingly, the total heating surface essentially duplicated that of the Bay Ridge engines, which had 161 1 1/2" tubes. (Almost all locomotives in Locobase used tubes of one diameter only, hence the use of the 161 figure in the specifications.)

Parkville apparently remained on the Brooklyn Heights Railroad (a later incarnation of the PP&CI) roster for almost a decade after its 1900 electrification service to the Elk Tanning Company. Coney Island (2) went to the Pennsylvania Tanning Company.

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Class Prospect Park (Locobase 16621)

Data from DeGolyer, Volume 13, p 222. See also Locobase 16620 for a more detailed view of the PP&CI. Works number 3883 was in May 1876.

It's likely that Baldwin knew from the start of its relationship--a sale of three small tanks in 1875--that traffic and grade demands would stretch them unduly. So the next tank was this larger edition of the basic layout. All the major dimensions and weights increased as was the water capacity, this by 50%.

But the Prospect Park remained a loner for eleven years before the Bay Ridge (Locobase 16623) offered much the same locomotive design.

Like the other PP&CI engines, the Prospect Park soldiered on until electrification of the line in 1900. It was then sold to J J O'Brien as the John O'Brien.

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Class West End (Locobase 16625)

Data from DeGolyer, Volume 11, p 195; Volume 14, 181. See also Locobase 16620 for a more detailed view of the PP&CI; and the Trainorders thread started by "tolland" on 9 February 2013, archived on trainorders at [],2990027,nodelay=1, last accessed 25 December 2022. Works numbers were 8499 in April 1887 and 9267 in May 1888.

This single tank represents a transition in the design of the six-coupled tanks pulling the PP&CI trains from the smaller power system of the 1870s. They adopted a larger boiler with more boiler tubes, but kept the original cylinder volume and 40-41" drivers.

Apparently the railroad complained about the indifferent draft over the fire and up the stack This may have been one of the criticisms mentioned in a August 1889 letter from the railroad. So, starting with the West End, Baldwin extended the smokebox's length by 20" (508 mm). Also, the railroad specified an additional gear on the throttle valve lever.

According to a well-attended Trainorders thread from 2013, extending the smokebox led to a smoother draft [rehun], helped settle the cinders at the bottom of the smokebox [Realist on 11 February], and got the most out of "cheap fuel with less than ideal thermal qualities"[bioyans reply on 9 February 2013] "Shafty" added that "For lower quality coal the various arrangements of deflector plates and netting were even more important. The idea was to break up the cinders before they went out the stack."

Otherwise, increasing the cylinder diameter by an inch over the Prospect Park of 1876 and adding 21 fire tubes to the boiler and lengthening all of the tubes by just over a foot (330 mm) sought to provide more power. The two low side tanks were connected by equalizing pipes that prevented an imbalance between them.

After the line was electrified in 1900, the Bay Ridge wound up on Tiger Bay, Florida's Palmetto Posphate Company's roster while the Jockey Club was sold in 1902 to Elk Tanning Company.