Baldwin Built Reading Railroad Camelback #1187 Postcard

From www.railphotoexpress.biz Reading Company 0-4-0 #1187 was A Camelback Steam Locomotive built by The Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1902. It was retired in 1935. The Reading had 57 0-4-0 Locomotives. The #1187 later became Strasburg Railroad #4. The camelback was not a very safe design for its crew. The engineer was perched above the siderods, vulnerable to swinging and flying metal if anything below should break. The fireman, meanwhile, was alone and exposed to the elements at the rear. In 1927, further orders were completely prohibited on grounds of safety. Many camelbacks were converted into end-cab locomotives. the advent of the mechanical stoker and its associated underfloor machinery placed cab floors and tender decks higher, and from that vantage point the engineer could see ahead. John E. Wootten was the Superintendent of Motive Power for the then Philadelphia and Reading Railroad (later simply the Reading Railroad) from 1866, and General Manager of the system from 1876. He saw the vast piles of anthracite waste in the area as a possible plentiful, cheap source of fuel if he could develop a firebox that could burn it effectively The Wootten firebox was very wide to allow combustion of anthracite coal waste, known as Culm. Its size necessitated unusual placement of the crew, examples being camelbacklocomotives. The Wootten firebox made for a free-steaming, powerful locomotive, and the cheap fuel burned almost smokelessly; the combination made for an excellent passenger locomotive, and many camelbacks operated in this service.