''Mastodon'' was the unofficial name of the

Central Pacific Railroad The Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR) was a rail company chartered by Pacific Railroad Acts, U.S. Congress in 1862 to build a railroad eastwards from Sacramento, California, to complete the western part of the "First transcontinental railroad" in N ...

's number 229, the world's first successful

4-8-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, usually in a leading truck or bogie, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and no traili ...

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

History and career

The engine was designed and built by the road's master mechanic, Andrew Jackson "A.J" Stevens at Sacramento Locomotive Works in 1882. The locomotive had two highly unusual features: the firebox shape and the steam distribution. The only other locomotives to use such a valve gear were the 20 copies of ''Mastodon'' (see below) and CPR #237 '' El Gobernador.'' All other steam locomotives with

slide valve The slide valve is a rectilinear valve used to control the admission of steam into and emission of exhaust from the cylinder of a steam engine. Use In the 19th century, most steam locomotives used slide valves to control the flow of steam into ...

s had just a single valve in the center. CPRR 229 as SPRR 2925

After being readied for its initial shakedown run, the engine met with a minor mishap in which its large "balloon" stack was knocked away from the

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, central h ...

. During all the careful preparations, apparently nobody noticed that the stack was nearly taller than the doors to the roundhouse. The problem was fixed and an impressive series of trials on the steep grades of the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

soon followed, in which it easily outperformed the smaller

4-4-0 4-4-0 is a locomotive type with a classification that uses the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement and represents the arrangement: four leading wheels on two axles (usually in a leading bogie), four po ...

and

4-6-0 A 4-6-0 steam locomotive, under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, has four leading wheels on two axles in a leading bogie and six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles with the abse ...

engines used by the railroad in those days. Later, ''Mastodon'' was sent east to the

Cooke Locomotive and Machine Works The Cooke Locomotive and Machine Works, located in Paterson, New Jersey, manufactured steam railroad locomotives from 1852 until it was merged with seven other manufacturers to form American Locomotive Company (ALCO) in 1901. History The firm wa ...

, along with blueprints and men who had built the engine, where more than 20 copies were produced; these were identical except for having their cylinder bore increased to (from ''Mastodons ). The success of this engine inspired railroad president

Leland Stanford Amasa Leland Stanford (March 9, 1824June 21, 1893) was an American industrialist and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 8th governor of California from 1862 to 1863 and represented California in the United States Se ...

to instruct Stevens to build an even larger locomotive, which would be the largest the world had ever seen up until that time. This engine, a 4-10-0 named '' El Gobernador'' (CPRR #237), looked virtually identical to ''Mastodon'', with the exception of being longer and having an additional pair of

driving wheel On a steam locomotive, a driving wheel is a powered wheel which is driven by the locomotive's pistons (or turbine, in the case of a steam turbine locomotive). On a conventional, non-articulated locomotive, the driving wheels are all coupled ...

s. Unfortunately, this engine, unlike its predecessor, was doomed to failure and was scrapped in 1894. Sometime in the early 20th century, No. 229 (now renumbered as Southern Pacific 2925) was converted from wood to oil-firing and was later assigned to the

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

lines. Despite its historical significance, the engine was broken up for scrap at the Brooklyn Shops in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, in June 1935 after a working life of 53 years.

References

* * *{{cite book , last = Carling , first = D. Rock , title= 4-8-0 Tender Locomotives , publisher = Drake Publishers Inc. , year = 1972 , isbn = 0-87749-150-X Southern Pacific Railroad locomotives 4-8-0 locomotives Steam locomotives of the United States Railway locomotives introduced in 1882 Scrapped locomotives Standard gauge locomotives of the United States

History and career

See also

References