<kuid2:96914:420:3> Norris 4-2-0 B&O

Скачать

Norris Locomotive Works was an early locomotive manufacturer located in Phildelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. The company had a relatively short run as a major manufacturer from the 1830s to 1850s. During the mid-1830s to early 1840s, the company built 4-2-0s exclusively. Due to the position of the driving axle ahead of the firebox, the Norris 4-2-0 had better adhesion (and more pulling power) than competing designs built by Matthias Baldwin and others. This was illustrated to the railroad industry by a well publicized test of the first Norris 4-2-0 on the 7% grade of the Belmont Incline in Pennsylvania during 1836. While John White, Jr. indicates this performance was likely achieved through excessive boiler pressure and weight transfer from the tender, the test was quite successful at selling Norris locomotives.

Prior to the mid-1830s, American locomotive manufacturing was in its infancy. Imported locomotives were quite common and the domestic products were crude, unrefined and somewhat experimental. The Norris 4-2-0 design essentially established the pattern American locomotives would follow until the end of the steam era: inside bar frames, outboard cylinders and horizontal boilers. In addition to establishing this pattern, the Norris 4-2-0s were one of the earliest standardized locomotive designs built in the United States, with nearly identical locomotives being shipped to dozens of distinct railroads. Finally, the Norris 4-2-0 was notable for being the first American locomotive to be exported, with examples being sold to railroads in England, Prussia, Austria, France, Germany and Cuba.

This model represents the seven locomotives built for the Baltimore & Ohio between 1837 and 1839.

Type A 4-2-0
Builder: Norris Locomotive Works
Drivers: 48 inch
Cylinders: 11 by 20 inch
Weight: 29,630 pounds
Tractive Effort: 3,000 pounds