Laurel & Tullahoma Western Other Articulated Locomotives in the USA

Class 64 (Locobase 4071)

Data from Record of Recent Construction #68, Mallet Articulated Locomotives (Philadelphia: Baldwin Locomotive Works, 1910), p. 15, and DeGolyer, Volume 34, pp.302. See also [] and Mississippi Rails, Eastman Gradiner & Company at [], last accessed 12 January 2015. (Thanks to Chris Hohl for his 24 January 2017 email providing the fuel quantity.) Works number was 34876 in June 1910.

This engine, ordered by Eastman Gardiner for service on the 26-mile (42 km) L&TW, headquartered in Laurel, Miss. It was designed for 30 deg curves, 5% grades, and relatively hefty 60 lb/yard (30 kg/metre) rail. The specs also asked Baldwin to "provide plenty of space over crown sheet to flucuate on account of steep grades." and the uneven track called for "ample clearance" between the springs and the boiler and "extra space" above and below [axle] boxes in pedestal jaws. Fittingly, the engine burned green pine wood and carried 450 cu ft ( 12.75 cu m) in the long, low tender.

64 was the behemoth of Baldwin Atlantic Mallets, but 64 did not last long in service. Perhaps the very low number of BTUs available in its fuel (less than 3,000, compared to 11,000 in low-calorie coal) doomed it. The L&TW returned the 64 in 1914 to Baldwin and the builder scrapped the frame as an experiment gone bad, although BLW retained her boiler to generate steam.