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1917. "Baltimore and Ohio Railway. Safety first train." The train, according to newspaper accounts, carried exhibits "informing the public of the careful and effective means that are being taken by the government in the interest of good health, safety and preparedness." Shown here at Union Station in Washington. Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size.
If you read my post you'll see that I call it that as well. In the meantime, you might want to look up the word tandem in the dictionary.
When there are two engines on the head end it's called double-heading, not tandem.
Double-heading of steam locomotives was rather common, actually. Getting them started together and running was no harder than it is with diesels or electrics. Problem in those days was that you had to use two engine crews, therefore driving up the labor costs of operation. Things are different now; several diesel locomotives can be controlled by one engineer due to a feature called Multiple Unit Control, known as MUing.
I don't see many pictures of tandem steam engines. I would think it would be difficult to synchronize their operation- unlike diesels and electrics which can be cabled together for common control.
Gorgeous locomotives! What I would give to be able to step into this photograph...
Both locomotives shown were designated as Class P-3 engines by the B&O and are of 4-6-2 wheel arrangement. They were both built at the Baldwin plant in Eddystone, outside of Philadelphia. During Baldwin's lifetime, 1839-1956, the company produced more than 70,000 locomotives; all but a small number were steam engines.
According to this steam locomotive site, these two engines (#5115, #5117) were part of 30 P-3 Pacific class locomotives built for B&O by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1913. The Pacific class 4-6-2 engines were the most common steam locomotives for passenger service in the early 1900s with over 6000 operating in the U.S. and Canada.
No. 5117 was not without safety incidents. On Sept 19, 1919, faulty fasteners caused the ventilator to fall off the back of the cab, injuring one person.
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