Eastlake Park Scenic Railway (photo by the Davis Siblings Collection)

John J. Coit (1875 – 21 September 1910) was an experienced

railroad engineer A train driver, engine driver, engineman or locomotive driver, commonly known as an engineer or railroad engineer in the United States and Canada, and also as a locomotive handler, locomotive operator, train operator, or motorman, is a pers ...

, who built and operated four

miniature railways A ridable miniature railway (US: riding railroad or grand scale railroad) is a large scale, usually ground-level railway that hauls passengers using locomotives that are often models of full-sized railway locomotives (powered by diesel or petro ...

in California.

Life and work

John J. Coit worked initially as a master machinist at the Johnson Machine Works but could not continue in this profession because he became physically handicapped.Peter Panacy
Venice Miniature Railway. A Brief History and Its Influence on the Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad.
/ref> He built and operated several miniature railways in succession: * Seaside Park Railway *

Long Beach and Asbury Park Railway The Long Beach and Asbury Park Railway was a profitable but short-lived miniature railway with the unusual gauge of , which operated from 1902 until 21 August 1903 at Long Beach in California. History John J. Coit, an experienced locomotive dr ...

Eastlake Park Scenic Railway The Eastlake Park Scenic Railway was a long miniature railway in the List of scale model sizes, 1:3 scale with a gauge of , which operated from 19 May 1904 to 11 May 1905 in the Eastlake Park: Replaced by The Now Venice Miniature Railway! (now Lin ...

Arthur W. Line: ''Model Railways – XIX. – Eastlake Park Scenic Railway, Los Angeles, California.'' The Model Engineer and Electrician, 23 April 1908. Pages 395,

396 __NOTOC__ Year 396 (Roman numerals, CCCXCVI) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Augustus (or, less ...

, 397, 398 and 399. *

Venice Miniature Railway The Venice Miniature Railway was a long miniature railway in the 1:3 scale with a gauge of , which was in operation from July 30, 1905, to February 13, 1925, in Venice near Los Angeles in California. Location Trips on the loop track started ...

His oilfired steam locomotive No 1903 with a total length of from tip of pilot to end of tank couple and a height of from the top of rail to the top of stack was of the

2-6-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and no trailing wheels. ...

type Mogul.Arthur W. Line: ''Model Railways – XIX. – Eastlake Park Scenic Railway, Los Angeles, California.'' The Model Engineer and Electrician, 23 April 1908. Pages 395,

, 397, 398 and 399. The locomotive had some technical innovations, such as a valve control without eccentrics, which was easy to adjust and to maintain. The locomotive had also automatic couplings and a bespoke oil burner, for which Coit filed a patent. From July 1908 he worked as a locomotive engineer on the main line of the Panama railroad, while the Panama Canal was being built. He was employed by the Atlantic Division, and his residence in the Canal Zone was at Culebra.
The Canal Record
', Ancón,

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

, 21 September 1910, Page 3.

Death

Coit died in an accident in the morning of 21 September 1910 at the age of 35, when the locomotive No 500, with which he pulled a work train, derailed on the main line of the

Panama Canal Railway The Panama Canal Railway ( es, Ferrocarril de Panamá) is a railway line linking the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean in Central America. The route stretches across the Isthmus of Panama from Colón (Atlantic) to Balboa (Pacific, near P ...

from Gatún to Culebra after colliding with a cow. The locomotive derailed approximately in front of bridge No 47 near Mamei and tipped over onto the adjacent track, which ran towards the south. Coit died immediately at the scene of the accident and his

West Indian A West Indian is a native or inhabitant of the West Indies (the Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago). For more than 100 years the words ''West Indian'' specifically described natives of the West Indies, but by 1661 Europeans had begun to use it ...

fireman was seriously injured. The tipped-over locomotive was removed from the tracks to allow other trains to pass. As Coit was not married, his sister, C.J. Stanton, 418 Solano Avenue, Los Angeles, was the

next of kin A person's next of kin (NOK) are that person's closest living blood relatives. Some countries, such as the United States, have a legal definition of "next of kin". In other countries, such as the United Kingdom, "next of kin" may have no legal d ...

. Three of his miniature locomotives are known to survive today. Venice Railway No. 1 and Eastlake Park No. 1903 are with private owners, while Venice Railway No. 2 operates at the

Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad William Jones (1884–1968), a seasoned veteran of the steam era who established the Wildcat Railroad in Los Gatos, California, was born the son of a teamster in the town of Ben Lomond, California, USA. Jones found employment as an engine wiper at ...

Los Gatos, California Los Gatos (, ; ) is an incorporated town in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population is 33,529 according to the 2020 census. It is located in the San Francisco Bay Area just southwest of San Jose in the foothills of the ...

. Railroads of Los Gatos, Edward Kelley with Peggy Conaway, Arcadia Publishing 2006

Patents

* Trolley-pole controller
US 879034 A
20 October 1906. * Air-brake mechanism
US 850564 A
15 November 1906.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coit, John J. 1875 births 1910 deaths Locomotive builders and designers American railroad mechanical engineers Inventors from California American people in rail transportation Railway accident deaths