The First Quarter-Century of Steam Locomotives in North America: Remaining Relics and Operable Replicas with a Catalog of Locomotive Models in the U. S. National Museum. United States National Museum Bulletin 210Oliver, Smith Hempstone
History
The First Quarter-Century of Steam Locomotives in North America: Remaining Relics and Operable Replicas with a Catalog of Locomotive Models in the U. S. National Museum. United States National Museum Bulletin 210
Oliver, Smith Hempstone
Locomotives -- History
Of the many hundreds of locomotives built by Holmes Hinkley, the only
one extant is the interesting old _Lion_ (figure 57), built in 1846 in
Boston at the Hinkley and Drury plant. It is not Hinkley’s first
locomotive, as has often been said, nor is it his first _Lion_, as his
22d locomotive, built in 1844 for the Nashua and Lowell Railroad, also
bore that name.
[Illustration: Figure 56.—Controversial _Peoples’ Railway No. 3_,
built in the 1840’s, as it appeared in 1923.]
The second _Lion_, now preserved in the Crosby Mechanical Laboratory at
the University of Maine at Orono, Maine, was built for the Machiasport
Railroad (later called the Whitneyville and Machiasport Railroad)
running between the towns of Whitneyville and Machiasport in Maine.
Strictly a lumber road about 7½ miles long, it was abandoned in the
early 1890’s when lumber became scarce in that region. The _Lion_ and a
similar but slightly older Hinkley locomotive, the _Tiger_, fell into
disuse, and were subsequently sold as junk to Thomas Towle of Portland.
What happened to the _Tiger_ is today not known, but quite probably it
was broken up for scrap.
Alderman E. E. Rounds of Portland succeeded in raising funds to acquire
the _Lion_ for exhibition in the Fourth of July parade held in Portland
in 1898. It then remained in Portland on city property until 1905 when,
through the efforts of Alderman Rounds, the President and alumni of the
University of Maine, and friends of the University, it was shipped to
the University to be preserved as a museum piece. Once on the campus it
was stored in various places and received little attention, until it was
moved in 1929 to the then newly completed Crosby Mechanical Laboratory.
[Illustration: Figure 57.—_Lion_, built in 1846 by Holmes Hinkley of
Boston, as it appeared in what is probably the Portland, Maine,
junkyard from which it was rescued in 1898.]
As the result of a study made in the fall of 1929, some missing parts of
the _Lion_ were replaced, and it was restored to the point where it can
now be operated on compressed air. Today the locomotive, jacked up so
that its four wheels can be made to operate, is a valued relic at the
University of Maine (figure 58).
[Illustration: Figure 58.—_Lion_ as now exhibited at University of
Maine.]
It has been stated that the _Lion_ cost $2,700, exclusive of the tender.
The bore and stroke of its cylinders are 9¼ inches and 17 inches,
respectively, and the diameter of the four wheels is approximately 42½
inches. The gauge is standard, 56½ inches. The locomotive alone weighs 9
tons.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account