[Illustration: Figure 49.—Full sized operable replica of
_Lafayette_, built in 1927 by Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Co.]
An operable replica (figure 49) of another locomotive of the same period
also exists. The _Lafayette_, built in 1837 by William Norris of
Philadelphia, was the first Baltimore and Ohio locomotive to have either
a horizontal boiler or six wheels. As B & O _No. 13_, with a 4-2-0 wheel
arrangement, it represented the first stage of the transition from the
old 4-wheeled vertical-boiler types. It was the first of a group of
eight ordered from Norris and was placed on the road in April 1837.
According to the railroad historian J. Snowden Bell, these locomotives
were known as “one-armed Billys,” a term derived from the name of the
builder and the single connecting rod on each side. Some of them were in
service with light local passenger trains as late as 1857, but by 1839
it had been realized that they could not meet the rapidly increasing
requirements of the expanding B & O railroad system. As a result, only
the eight “one-armed Billys” were bought by the company, and as early as
September 1839 the road introduced on its lines the more advanced 4-4-0,
or American-type locomotive—the second stage of transition from the old
“grasshoppers” and “crabs.”
The replica of the _Lafayette_ has one pair of 42-inch driving wheels,
and a leading truck with four 29-inch wheels, although the diameters of
the wheels of the original were 48 inches and 30 inches, respectively.
It looks somewhat like the Chicago and North Western’s Baldwin-built
_Pioneer_, but whereas it was Baldwin’s practice to locate the driving
axle behind the firebox, the Norris engine had it located ahead. This
feature gave the Norris 4-2-0’s greater adhesion and tractive force. The
_Lafayette_ replica, with a wheelbase of 112¾ inches and a weight of
29,200 pounds, has a tractive force of 2,323 pounds. Its cylinders have
a 9-inch bore and an 18-inch stroke, and it operates on a steam pressure
of 90 pounds per square inch.
The replica was built in 1927 for the Fair of the Iron Horse and later
appeared at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1933 and 1934, the New York
World’s Fair in 1939 and 1940, and the Chicago Railroad Fair in 1948 and
1949. It has also been taken several times to the west coast, where it
has been used in the filming of motion pictures. In the fall of 1955 it
was used in northern Georgia in a film based on the story of the famous
Civil War locomotive _General_ (see p. 84).
For many years the replica carried the nameplate _William Galloway_,
this name having been given it shortly after it was built, to honor a
famous early locomotive engineer of the Baltimore and Ohio. Today,
bearing the correct nameplate, the _Lafayette_ is usually to be seen at
the B & O Museum in Baltimore.