Louis, There is that mysterious single signal lamp directly under the headlight, We have talked about this before but has any update as to what it was used for? Most of the engines carrying this type of lamp were passenger power. Archie
November 2, 2015 Hol - As for the "pre-Cuckoo Clock," as I'm going to call it, I'm attaching an image from the collection of my father M.L. Zadnichek. It shows Class P-2 4-4-2 type No. 2527 posed alongside the trestle leading up to the timber coal dock at North LaCrosse, WI, in 1905. The image gives a rare top view of the 4-4-2 including the headlight. Enlarge the image and you can clearly see how the headlight's top was fashioned. Even though there's a vent for an oil-burning font on top the headlight, it's been electrified as there's a turbo generation just in front of the cab with its exhaust pipe angled out over the cab roof. I think this image will be useful for anyone modeling such a headlight. No. 2527 was constructed by Rogers in 1903 meaning that this style headlight might not have been used just by Baldwin and was in fact mass produced by some headlight manufacturer for different locomotive builders of the era. No. 2527 was scrapped in February 1933, most likely at Eola. I'll keep an eye out for images of other non-Q/C&S locomotives with the same style of headlight. If I come across any, that would indicate the headlight was indeed mass produced and adopted by the Q until their own unique Cuckoo Clock was developed. Some interesting history here. Thanks for sharing your diagrams and images. Best Regards - Louis Louis Zadnichek II Fairhope, AL [Attachment(s) from Hol Wagner included below]
Louis:
Good point. I know the Q manufactured the early ones themselves, as I have seen correspondence relating to it -- though no mention of where the work was done. Possibly after the Q settled on the design they contracted with a headlight manufacturer to produce them for the railroad, and that is why nothing has been found relating to where the Q made them. It would be nice to see a detailed specification for one of the locomotives delivered with the cuckoo clock light, as that would definitively state its source. I have an S-2 specification somewhere, but I believe they came with an earlier headlight. I'll try to find it, though.
On a related note, the C&S adopted a quite similar design for its standard in 1906 (see attached drawing), before it was owned by the Q, and produced these oil lamps in company shops in Denver using commercially manufactured burners. They were never widely used, however, and apparently were abandoned when electric lights were mandated in Colorado in 1912. Also attached is a drawing for the locomotive number in red on the headlight glass and a shot of a locomotive with the headlight. Aside from being flat on top, this design is remarkably similar to the Q cuckoo clock.
Hol
[Attachment(s) from LZadnichek@aol.com included below]
November 1, 2015 Hol and Group - I've been side tracked the past several days and only now this Sunday evening I'm beginning to catch-up with Emails in chronological order. Hol, you state "Q-manufactured" for the headlight on No. 3103. Question, please note the attached Baldwin Locomotive magazine ad titled Burlington Pacifics dating from October 1918. Enlarging the image of Q 4-6-2 No. 2969. its headlight appears to be the same type as on No. 3103. Could this style of headlight instead have been a Baldwin Locomotive Works supplied headlight and not manufactured by the Q at Aurora or elsewhere? I would have to assume that the image shown is an official Baldwin builder's photograph taken in Philadephia, PA. Seems unlikely that the Q would've been manufacturing this style of headlight and then shipping them to Baldwin for installing on new locomotives. What do you think? Comments appreciated. Best Regards - Louis Louis Zadnichek II Fairhope, AL [Attachment(s) from Hol Wagner included below]
Jonathan:
The other Q-manufactured headlight is shown in the attached view of D-4-A 3103 at Galesburg in 1925. This one was a bit more complicated to produce, as the large diameter arc of the top had to be a separate piece, sealed where it met the sides. The arc of the top can be clearly seen on the tender backup light in this view. This lamp had no side number boards, instead employing a V-shaped pair of number boards located above the front glass. Early versions of this headlight burned kerosene and had a capped conical vent centered on top. This headlight was nearly as widely used as the cuckoo clock for about 20 years, then dropped from use rather suddenly.
Hol
Thank you, as always, Hol!
What was the also-ran, the headlight design which coexisted with but eventually lost out to the cuckoo clock?
Jonathan
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Posted by: archie hayden <klinerarch@charter.net>
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