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Builders’ Plates Needed for Restorations of Age of Steam Roundhouse Museum Steamers

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Builders’ Plates Needed for Restorations of Age of Steam Roundhouse Museum Steamers By John B. Corns The talented, experienced and dedicated steam locomotive repair and restoration experts at the Age of Steam Roundhouse Museum work diligently to locate, acquire, and install rare appliances for accurate physical representations of all 23 of these beautiful beasts currently …

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Builder's Plates in the Roundhouse Depot

Steam Locomotive Bronze Birth Certificates

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Steam Locomotive Bronze Birth Certificates By John B. Corns Some companies called them “manufacturer’s plates” or “identification plates,” and at least one railroad called them “badges.” But the name used most often was/is “builder’s plate,” a heavy, cast metal sign that displayed important information (at the minimum, the builder’s name, a serial number and date …

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Water Tank Drop-Spouts and Water Columns — “Fill ‘er up, mister?” “Yes, and please check the oil!”

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Water Tank Drop-Spouts and Water Columns — “Fill ‘er up, mister?” “Yes, and please check the oil!” By John B. Corns With the water tank tub securely sitting on top of its elevated tower, it was time to have some sort of mechanism to deliver that water into thirsty locomotive tenders below. While the tank …

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Other than a steam loco, nothing says “Old-Time Railroading” more than a wooden water tank—Part 2

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Other than a steam loco, nothing says “Old-Time Railroading” more than a wooden water tank—Part 2 By John B. Corns Having completed a satisfactory design and size for a wooden water tank tub to hold the water destined for filling steam locomotive tenders and, eventually, steam locomotive boilers, the next aspect was to design an …

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Other than a steam loco, nothing says “Old-Time Railroading” more than a wooden water tank—Part 1

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Other than a steam loco, nothing says “Old-Time Railroading” more than a wooden water tank—Part 1 By John B. Corns During the days of steam locomotion every railroad faced the same problem—supplying water to locomotive tenders while the generation of steam by the locomotive constantly emptied the tenders. At one extreme, several first class lines …

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Alabama, Tennessee & Northern 2-10-0 #401 — A locomotive blessed with the Luck of Lindy

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Alabama, Tennessee & Northern 2-10-0 #401 — A Locomotive Blessed with the Luck of Lindy By John B. Corns The basis for the word Decapod comes from the Greek for “10 footed.” Having 10 driving wheels (or “feet”), the 2-10-0 Decapod-type was a larger outgrowth of the very successful 2-8-0 Consolidation-type that had only 8 …

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Morehead & North Fork 0-6-0 #12 – Age of Steam Roundhouse’s First Complete Rebuild

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Morehead & North Fork 0-6-0 #12 – Age of Steam Roundhouse’s First Complete Rebuild By John B. Corns American Locomotive Company’s plant in Pittsburg (no “h”, thank you!), constructed saturated A-7 class 0-6-0 #1643 for the Southern Railway in September 1905 (serial #37672). After more than 40 years of service this yard goat was retired …

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Canadian Pacific #1278 4-6-2 – The Unheralded Hero of Modern-day Steam

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Canadian Pacific #1278 4-6-2 – The unheralded hero of modern-day steam By John B. Corns A little-known landmark locomotive is located at the Age of Steam Roundhouse Museum in Sugarcreek, Ohio. Most railfans know how former Canadian Pacific 4-6-2 #1278 gained notoriety for its infamous crown sheet incident in 1995, but far fewer fans are …

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#2630 “G.I.” 2-8-0 United States Army Transportation Corps (USATC)

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Photo: #612 under steam at Fort Eustis, Virginia in 1957 with a silver-painted smokebox and yellow pilot and footboards. #2630 “G.I.” 2-8-0 United States Army Transportation Corps (USATC) By John B. Corns As a naive teen-ager I was not enthralled with the flat sandbox, European-style buffers and somewhat awkward appearance of the U.S. Army’s 2-8-0 …

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The “Fireless Cooker” — Columbus & Southern Ohio Electric Company #2

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The “Fireless Cooker” — Columbus & Southern Ohio Electric Company #2 By John B. Corns In its basic form, a steam locomotive was a railroad machine that burned fuel with fire to heat water contained in a boiler to make steam, and that pressurized steam pushed against pistons that were connected to cranks on the …

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