# The Unedited Mason Bogie History for the Accucraft Manual



## David Fletcher (Jan 2, 2008)

Chaps,
as mentioned in the other thread, I wrote too much for the intro in the Accucraft Mason Bogie manual, so cut it back accordingly, and rather than delete lines from every topic in the article, I deleted whole sections to keep other sections intact. I'm not unhappy with what was printed in the end, its a really nice short summary and a good basis for people to understand their loco purchase. Most who were involved in the MLS Mason Bogie masterclass knew this engine inside out anyway, so nothing I wrote in the manual could replicate 7 chapters of loco design and build!

Below is the unedited article originally proposed for the Accucraft manual. A variation of this, with many other architectural background issues can be found at the Pacific NG web site, where I wrote a more general article about design colour and style. None of this would have been possible without the wisdom of my mentor Jim Wilke.

Have a look at the article here - a really nice visual article:

http://www.pacificng.com/template.p...uction.htm

The article for the Mason Bogie Manual is this:

*William Mason:* _*Melodies Cast and Wrought in Metal*_ *By David Fletcher.* 




The name William Mason is synonymous with the ‘Mason Bogie’ - the most famous, yet least successful innovation of the Mason Works. Where the Bogie locomotive never lived up to expectations, their artistry and architecture became the crowning achievement of the Mason Works, and it is perhaps for that reason that these otherwise obscure but beautiful locomotives are remembered. The Mason Bogie was among the first of a new breed of articulated or ‘flexible’ locomotives designed to provide greater power to the restrictive narrow gauge lines during the narrow gauge boom in the United States. The term ‘Bogie’ references the flexible ‘truck’ design of the engine. 

The flexible Bogie Locomotive concept was not of Mason’s design, but came from the Scottish engineer, Robert Fairlie during the late 1860s. The Fairlie locomotive enjoyed mixed success around the world, but many believed, as did Mason, that the Fairlie concept was the future of locomotive design. Consequently, the Mason Bogie became the primary type of loco to be outshopped from the Mason works through the 1870s and early 1880s. 

William Mason founded his locomotive works at Taunton, Massachusetts in 1852 after leaving a career in building textile machinery. Between 1853 and 1883 Mason built some of the most stunningly beautiful locomotives in the US, completing 700 by the year of his death in 1883. Mason tended toward perfectionism, and it has been said that he was more interested in locomotive design for the fun of it, than to actually make any money out of it. To the frustration of some railroads, Mason's perfectionism tended to delay delivery. He was innovative, and rarely took accepted design philosophies at face value. Above all he believed his locomotives should be beautiful, and there is no doubt his were the most beautiful and refined machines of their time. This meant the perfect union between the functional and the aesthetic. His drive to remove undesirable clutter from the clean lines of a locomotive brought about many innovations in locomotive architecture. He was the first to use horizontal cylinders on the long framed locomotives such as the 4-4-0. Previously locomotives had slanted cylinders with an awkward appearance. To avoid the ungainly, asymmetric appearance of counterweighted wheels, he used the hollow cast iron spoked wheel, and counterweighted these wheels by pouring lead into the spokes. Perhaps Mason's most famous contribution was the adoption of the Walschaerts valve gear, the first in the US, used on one of his Mason Bogies in 1874. 

Through the 1850s to 1870, Mason would build leading edge 4-4-0s and 4-6-0s. In 1869, always looking for ideas to improve the steam locomotive concept, Mason came across the Fairlie Patent locomotive and the following decade was spent developing and perfecting this machine. To the end Mason believed in the principal of the locomotive – flexibility, unified weight distribution atop the drive wheels for maximum output and efficiency. No heavy tender in tow, rather all of the locomotive’s functional weight contributing to the tractive effort. 

With Mason’s entry into locomotive design in 1852 came some notable changes to the locomotive form and decoration, which became a virtual architectural standard in locomotive design by the 1870s, adopted by most US builders. This was the period of Industrial artistry, the High Victorian period, where buildings as well as machinery were highly appointed and coordination of form, colour and decoration was paramount. William Mason’s input into the architectural form and aesthetic of the locomotive is probably his single greatest achievement, yet least celebrated. Through the 1100s-1800 the world had enjoyed an almost constant love affair with classical architecture. During the 1800s America was in the grip of yet another Classical revival period, with much of the eastern US Architecture being of classical influence, leading to the construction of Washington DC almost exclusively as a Neo Classical city. Gothic revival, Renaissance revival and Neo Baroque all left their mark on 1800s civilization, influencing architectural form, machinery and locomotive design. Classical form had a direct effect on the human psyche; the grand porticos and colonnades had long been associated with officialdom, power and stature, and with the growth of the railroads through the 1800s, these classical devices were again used to evoke feelings of power, stability and pride in the railroad. 

Prior to the 1850s locomotive design was essentially functional – form followed function, and with a bit of paint and decoration, even an ungainly looking machine could look welcoming. With Mason’s first locomotive in 1852, symmetry, careful alignment of components and clear horizontal and vertical lines transformed the locomotive to a rolling work of classical architecture. Whether to show his love of classical architecture, or to simply act as a commercial sculptor responding to the popular desires of the community, Mason translated his love for classical concepts into elegant locomotive design over the two decades that followed. The most notable element to come from the Mason works in the mid 1850s was the development of the ‘ringed’ or ‘fluted’ dome, used as a sand box on the boiler top, and as a casing around the steam dome. This became one of the most recognized elements of US locomotive design, with almost all US builders adopting their own version by the 1870s. The fluted dome itself was essentially inspired by classical column elements, from the base and head of columns from the Doric order. Other architectural features also adorned US locomotives, including cabs with arched windows set to classical proportion and steam chests corniced in classical form. 

In terms of colour and decoration, Mason believed in simplicity, using a single deep toned base colour across most of the loco. Mason believed in the ‘Less is more’ approach, where bulk areas of single colour best highlight the locomotive form as a whole, without the distraction of multiple colours adorning each separate element. Surviving lithographs from the Mason works indicate Mason’s approach. The ‘Amazon’ 4-4-0 of 1856 indicates a dark blue engine with red wheels. The dark blue is used across the entire engine, except for the red wheels. The domes are simply lined using gold leaf and touches of red. The Lithograph of Mason’s 4-4-0 ‘Phantom’ from 1857 is similarly decorated. Decoration is kept to a minimum over a deeply toned blue colour scheme, with simple basic coloured bands on the tender and dome sides. The coloured lithograph of Mason’s most famous 4-4-0, the ‘Highland Light’ of 1867 indicates the very same principle still in use by Mason some 10 years later, however this time, the engine is painted a dark green colour with red wheels. In all cases, as was customary in the US, boilers were jacketed in Russia Iron, an unpainted pressure and heat treated iron jacket with a natural gun metal gray colour. 

By the early 1870s other builders followed Mason’s lead in developing simply lined and decorated machines with fewer colours. As an example, Baldwin had left behind their intricate Baroque inspired decoration of the 1860s for the much simpler geometric patterns of Moorish design, known as ‘Arabesque’ in the early 1870s. Baroque revival styles in Architecture at the time took in classical Baroque form, and mixed in elements from the Orient, Near East and Moorish design, bringing the exotic to the classical. Excellent examples of the Baldwin colour schemes of 1875 and 1880 are reproduced on Accucraft’s Live Steam 4-4-0s, ‘Grass Valley’ of 1875 painted Lake, Style 1, and ‘Col. Boone’ of 1881 painted gloss back, style 49, both indicate the simple arabesques decoration and basic bands of colour atop deeply painted locomotives of single base colour. 

By the early 1870s William Mason had also moved to simple geometric patterns, stylized leaf and plant patterns along with simple horizontal lines. Where Baldwin’s decoration was of Baroque revival design, mixing in inspiration from Near Eastern influences and Moorish design, Mason took on the popular decorative styles inspired by Charles Eastlake. Eastlake design had become popular in the US through the 1870s, mostly known for his simply decorated carved wooden furniture. Eastlake was a British architect who found fame in furniture design and carved wooden architectural elements. The simple geometric patterns of Eastlake became popular and evolved into many forms of American art, extending to timber decoration in US houses, and even as far as William Mason’s locomotives. 

Examination of the decorative styles of the Mason Bogies through the 1870s reveals his constant use of Eastlake’s simple decorative design on deeply painted engines. The vast majority of Mason’s Bogie locos were adorned with simple linework, bands of colour on the tender sides, and some small areas of Eastlake decoration on the dome sides and tender corners. A selected set of locomotives were extensively decorated with Eastlake styles across the entire engine and are a contrast to the bulk of the simply decorated engines coming from the Mason plant. Interestingly, this same set of engines was photographed for Mason’s catalogues and advertisements. The famous builder’s photos of the Denver, South Park & Pacific RR ‘San Juan’, ‘Breckenridge’ and ‘Denver’ were the 3 most decorated machines to run on the South Park line. 

Two years before DSP&P 2-6-6T ‘San Juan’ was photographed, Mason built his iconic locomotive for the 1876 Centennial Exposition. This was a large exhibition in Philadelphia celebrating the 100 years of US innovation since Independence. All the major locomotive builders exhibited their latest wares, and the three foot gauge rail loop around the exposition was powered by exhibition narrow gauge samples. Mason’s entry was a typical Bogie locomotive showing his latest innovations. The 0-4-4T locomotive featured the latest version of the Walschaerts valve gear, latest flexible steam pipe arrangement, and some innovations to enable the power truck to pivot more easily to reduce flange wear to the lead axle. 

Following the ‘Highland Light’ 4-4-0 of 1867, surviving texts indicated Mason’s colour of choice in the 1870s was ‘green and gold’. It is reasonable to suggest the 1876 Centennial engine along with many of the Bogie engines through to the late 1870s were so painted. Surviving documents from other builders indicate a move away from the red wheels by the mid 1870s. Since Mason is known to have led artistic trends in locomotive design, it is likely that the Centennial 0-4-4T was painted with matching dark green wheels. Where Mason’s spindly red wheels of the 1860s created visual celebration of the machine in motion, the matching green wheels of the 1870s provided a sleek modern style, with the wheel motion highlighted via the gilding on the hub and spokes. 

The South Park Masons are probably the most well known of all Mason Bogie locomotives built. The line would own the 2nd largest fleet of Bogie locos at 23 built between 1878 and 1880. The largest fleet of Mason locomotives however was managed by the Boston Revere, Beach & Lynn RR in Massachusetts. The first South Park Bogie loco of 1878 was their #3, ‘Oro City’ and was an 0-6-6T of almost identical design to the North Pacific Coast’s 0-6-6T ‘Bully Boy’. The grades and sharp curves of the South Park line were hard on the little engine, and flange wear to the lead driver was again a note of concern. At this point, Mason, having done all he could on the Bogie designs to lift the cylinder weight off the lead axle, and reduced the friction on the truck pivot, chose to create a pilot truck which could lead the drive wheels into the curves and reduce flange wear. The first 2-6-6T type engine to come from the Mason Works was the South Park #4, ‘San Juan’ of late 1878, which was the 2nd Bogie built for the line. With the shipment of ‘San Juan’ came also an additional pilot truck for the ‘Oro City’. The South Park then set about converting ‘Oro City’ to a 2-6-6T. All of the remaining South Park Bogies built were of 2-6-6T and 2-8-6T configuration. 

DSP&P #6 ‘Tenmile’ was built in the final months of the 1879. Tenmile was the most photographed Bogie of the South Park, mostly captured in the post 1885 black paint scheme, with large ‘42’ on the tender side. As built, the Tenmile was likely either dark green or dark chocolate brown, probably with matching wheels. A later recollection of a crewman who ran the 1879 2-6-6T ‘Gunnison’ from new, described his engine as having been painted Chocolate brown. It is not known whether all of the DSP&P Bogies were chocolate brown, or only some, or only the ones after 1879. But it does seem to indicate a change in Mason’s colour choice from dark green to Chocolate brown sometime in the late 1870s. Mason had remarked that his locomotives could be discerned from afar just from the paint colour alone. Notably Baldwin Locomotive Works had moved from dark Brown (Lake) to dark Olive Green in 1878, so Mason may have changed his base colour to deep brown in 1878 in order to differentiate his work from other builders. These deep tone base colours used by locomotive builders of the 1870s were wholly consistent with the deep pigments used in Victorian Architecture, including wine colours, Lakes (dark browns) and dark bronze greens. 

The Bogie Locomotive concept slowly faded after Mason’s death in 1883. To the end he firmly believed in the engineering superiority of these engines, also believing this was only the start, rather than an end. Were Mason and Fairlie wrong in their beliefs? History has since proved they were not wrong. While the Mason Bogie is little more than a decorative footnote in the history of locomotive design, the concepts did not die with it. In the years that followed, the very virtues that Mason and Fairlie considered mandatory in locomotive design resurfaced in the Meyer locomotive, Garratt locomotive, the articulated Mallet locomotives and today virtually every electric and diesel locomotive is a twin truck design carrying the entire weight of the locomotive and ensuring that all of its weight including fuel loads contributes to operational efficiency. 

The Mason Bogie represents everything precious to William Mason at the end of this remarkable career. The most advanced and carefully design machines built to accommodate the needs of the difficult narrow gauge environment, appointed with all the classical revival elements and simple decorative styles popular in the US at that time. Upon the passing of William Mason, friend and locomotive authority, M.N. Forney, wrote: "He was a wonderfully ingenious man and combined with his ingenuity a high order of artistic sense, so that his work was always most exquisitely designed. It might be said of his locomotives that they are melodies cast and wrought in metal."


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## peter bunce (Dec 29, 2007)

Hi, 

Thanks David - both very interesting and helpful.


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## Alan in Adirondacks (Jan 2, 2008)

David, 

Thanks for sharing the history and thanks especially for shepherding the project. 

Best regards, 

Alan


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## rdamurphy (Jan 3, 2008)

Interesting reading! I live near the unincorporated town of Eastlake, which is on a UP line, and I wonder if it was named after Charles Eastlake? The UP bought DSP&P. The only thing I could find on line about the town was that it was named for the lake just east of it. It seems that if that were true, it would be East Lake. 

Thanks, Robert


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## David Fletcher (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi Rob, 
Pure conicidence I would think. Charles Eastlake, the Architect was UK, early arts and crafts movement, was responsible for popular decorative motifs in the 1870s, seems more popular in the US than in the UK. Not sure the UP would have named a town for him though! I think it is as you say, due to the lake nearby!


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## SailorDon (Jan 6, 2008)

David,

Thank you for posting the detailed history of the Mason Bogie designs.

In your link to the PacificNG website, there is a photo of a Mason Bogie 0-6-6T Bully Boy. 
Bully Boy
It looks identical to the San Juan except for the forward single axle pilot...
And a cowcatcher on the tender end (as well as the standard cowcatcher on the front end).

I'm guessing that they ran it "backwards" as much as they ran it "forwards". Do you have anymore info on why the cowcatcher at the tender end?

Sailor Don


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## zubi (May 14, 2009)

David, thanks for posting the unedited manual. A few days ago, I finally received Tenmile, San Juan came three months ago on Christmas Eve, what a great timing. I could hardly believe, in fact, I still can hardly believe that these locomotives were actually made. Many thanks for your great contribution, and thanks to Jay (the pump actually works;-), and it makes this beauty a full grown up live steamer!) and all others who made this unlikely project possible. Best wishes from Tokyo, Zubi


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