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Bill, Hol and Group - Here's another image of 5626 at Lincoln, NE, on
April 11, 1954 after it had been converted to burn oil and reclassed O-5B
for service on Lines West, but prior to being equipped with a Mars
Light. Always a beautiful locomotive. 5626 met an unfortunate end in June
1959 while powering an Illini Railroad Club "Journey To Yesterday" fan
trip. On the return trip to Chicago when east of Denver, CO, its eccentric rod
broke at speed disabling the locomotive. Since the Q was no longer making heavy
repairs to steam power by that date, 5626 was condemned and sold for scrap in
November 1960 at the relatively young age of 20 years. Seeing as the 4-8-4 had
spent its last four of five years stored serviceable until the ill
fated fan trip, 5626 only had about a 15 year service life. It
can be argued 5626 was obsolete within five years of its birth at West
Burlington due to dieselization. But, for those of us old enough to still
remember Class O-5As and Bs in regular service and on fan trips on Lines East
and West, these dual service 4-8-4s were truly magnificent locomotives. Hol,
thank you so much for taking the time to scan that great image from 5626's
infancy and providing the excellent descriptive text, Best Regards -
Louis
Louis Zadnichek II
Fairhope, AL
In a message dated 1/23/2014 7:46:57 P.M. Central Standard Time,
clipperw@gmail.com writes:
Hol,
Here is a photo of No. 5626 taken by my late father, two months and 17
days later on June 17, 1940. The scene, of course, is Downers Grove and the
train, which looks like it might be the Empire Builder, is eastbound. Thanks
for sharing the construction image.
Bill Barber
Gravois Mills, MO
Thu
Jan 23, 2014 9:15 am (PST) . Posted by:
Here's
another neat view showing O-5-A 5626 nearing completion and posed outside
the shop at West Burlington on April Fools Day 1940. Interesting to see the
way new and overhauled locomotives were painted, a bit at a time. In this
case the cab was attached to the rear of the boiler while still in primer,
though the rest of the locomotive wears a coat of gloss black. The area
where the numbers and initials would be placed on the cab sides was
brush-painted black, then the decal letters and numbers were applied and a
coat of varnish added to seal them. Once the varnish is completely dry they
will be masked off and the cab spray-painted black, with a mineral red roof.
Note that the tender is fully painted and the herald applied and varnished.
At the moment the door is off the stoker engine compartment and the Standard
BK stocker engine is visible. Cylinder head covers are not yet in place, the
bell rope has not yet been strung back to the fireman's side of the
cab, and there are other minor details to attend to, but in all likelihood
the locomotive has been brought outside to be fired up for the first time. A
coat of graphite and oil will first be applied to the smokebox and firebox
and baked on by that first fire.
Note the painted plate on the side
of the smokebox. I'd love to know what it says, but it is in all likelihood
a Baldwin extra order plate, since Baldwin built and furnished the boilers
of all the O-5-A's assembled at West Burlington. The plate will be removed
before the smokebox is graphited. The railroad's own small rectangular
builder's plate, showing the locomotive class, the location and date
built and the cylinder dimensions, is in place, unpainted as yet, on the
cylinder jacket. An image of such a plate is also
attached.
Hol
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