An operable model (figure 68) in the Museum’s collection (USNM 309515),
appears to represent a New York Central and Hudson River Railroad 4-4-0
locomotive of the period of about 1890. This class of locomotive was
built by the Schenectady Locomotive Works to the New York Central’s
design, and had 78-inch driving wheels, cylinders with a bore of 19
inches and a stroke of 24 inches, and weighed 120,000 pounds.
[Illustration: Figure 68.—Operable model of an American-type
locomotive of about 1890.]
Work on this model was commenced by the donor, the late Robert E. M.
Bain, in 1916, and it was completed about three years later, only spare
time having been employed in its construction. The model was given to
the Museum in 1928. The length of the locomotive and tender is 80
inches, the gauge is 6½ inches, the diameter of the driving wheels is
8⁹/₁₆ inches, and the bore and stroke of the cylinders are 1½ and 3
inches, respectively.
The brakes on the model are inoperative, as the actuating cylinders for
the brake system are dummies. On the other hand, such parts as the
boiler, firebox, steam gauge, water gauge, throttle, and valve motion
are all operable, and the donor has asserted that there is even ring
packing in the cylinders. Although capable of being fired and steamed
up, using coal as the fuel, the locomotive has never been operated.
The number on the locomotive and tender apparently represent the year
the donor commenced his work on the model, as there was never a New York
Central locomotive of this type bearing that number.