# No. 25 Steams Up at The B&O RR Museum



## Big65Dude (Jan 2, 2008)

Yesterday (Saturday the 16th) I took my grandkids up to the Baltimore RR Museum for a train ride and to see one of the oldest (if not _the_ oldest) wood-burners in North America under steam. It was a beautiful and fun day.


According to Wikipedia[/i], the engine was built by William Mason for the Baltimore and Ohio in 1856, most likely for passenger service. The engine, while not given a name ("William Mason" was most likely added after retirement), was the road's second engine to be numbered 25, replacing an earlier 4-4-0 of that number built in 1839. Number 25 served on the Baltimore and Ohio for nearly forty years. It was renumbered 55 in 1882 and was retired in 1892 when it was placed in storage. Fortunately, the Baltimore and Ohio greatly favored its locomotives, and preserved its best examples, including Number 25. The engine was given the name "William Mason" to honor its builder, and displayed at the Chicago's World Fair of 1893. After that, the engine has been exhibited on many occasions, including the St. Louis Exposition of 1904, the 1948 Chicago Railroad Fair, as well as the railroad's own Fair of the Iron Horse in 1927. When not being exhibited, it remained in storage until 1953, when it was placed on display in the newly opened Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Museum, where it currently remains. (And, yes, this was the loco that "starred" - albeit repainted - as _The General_ in the Disney movie of the same name.)


Here are some pics (I'll spare you all the ones I took of my grandchildren):
 







 
 







 


(These were taken through the window of our coach during a "run by" along the oldest stretch of right-of-way in the country.)







 
 







 
 
Enjoy.


----------



## Chris France (Jan 3, 2008)

Glad you guys had fun. Hope that ugly engineer on the Mason didn't break your camera. You should have come over and said hi. 

PS the Mason is the oldest currently operable steam engine in the Western Hemisphere, and I believe the 2nd oldest in the world.


----------



## markoles (Jan 2, 2008)

I like seeing this locomotive in operation. So quiet and just smells like a wood fire. No airpumps thunking. No blower or appliances. But she does have a nice whistle, if the engineer knows what he's doing!! 

Thanks for posting!


----------



## Nicholas Savatgy (Dec 17, 2008)

That was a cool lookin loco, what was the old building behind it ? Last two pictures.


----------



## Steve Stockham (Jan 2, 2008)

Now _that's_ 19th century railroading!! Wonderful pics. Thanks for posting them!


----------



## Big65Dude (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Nicholas Savatgy on 17 Oct 2010 07:58 PM 
That was a cool lookin loco, what was the old building behind it ? Last two pictures.


Nicholas -

That's what remains of the old B&O tender shop, or so we were told.


----------



## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

what was the old building behind it 
To be precise, the concrete structure is the overhead crane support over the 2 tracks. The old wooden structure around it disappeared long ago. Tenders would come in one side, be stripped as they worked through the shop, and built up again on the other side on the way out. 

I like seeing this locomotive in operation. 
If you look closely, you will notice it has no flanges on the front drivers - just an extra-wide flat tire (last photo.) The truck pivot only allows the truck to rotate, and that keeps the drivers on the rails. 

The Museum uses modern switches without check rails - the frog has a raised check that leans on the outside of the wheel. When Chris takes the #25 through those switches, the whole fat front driver has to shift sideways when it hits the frog. 


The B&O RR Museum has 4 working steam engines. There's an old industrial tank, the "St Elizabeth" [Hospital] loco which is used for train rides to protect the historic locos like #25, and then there are 2 replicas built in 1927 for the B&O Centenary: a 4-2-0 "Lafayette " and the "Tom Thumb" replica. Both have boiler certificates, as they have modern welded boilers, and don't get used very often. #25 was given a new boiler in 1927 for the Centenary "Fair of the Iron Horse". Here's a pic of all 3 historic locos take about 10 years ago. #25 has a brass steam dome cover and lots of other brightwork, added for the "Wild Wild West" movie:


----------



## tacfoley (Jan 3, 2008)

Posted By Chris France on 17 Oct 2010 05:51 PM 
Glad you guys had fun. Hope that ugly engineer on the Mason didn't break your camera. You should have come over and said hi. 

PS the Mason is the oldest currently operable steam engine in the Western Hemisphere, and I believe the 2nd oldest in the world. 
Seems so. The oldest loco still in USE, as opposed to museum runs, is 'Fairy Queen' built in England in 1855. 
'The *Fairy Queen*, built in 1855, is the world's oldest steam locomotive in regular operation today, plying between New Delhi to Alwar in India. The locomotive was certified by the Guinness Book of Records to be the oldest operational locomotive after the Rajasthan government invoked it in 2004 to lug a deluxe train in order to boost tourism in the area. The _Fairy Queen_ is run on the lines of the Palace on Wheels, the internationally renowned luxury train.
The _Fairy Queen_ was constructed in Leeds, England in 1855, and reached Calcutta in the same year where it was christened as the _Fairy Queen_. The locomotive was given its serial number *22*, by its then owner, The East Indian Railway. It began to haul light mail trains between Howrah and Ranigunj, but was soon consigned to line construction duty in the state of Bihar, where it served until 1909. The locomotive spent the next thirty-four years on a pedestal outside the Howrah Railway Station near Calcutta. In 1943, the locomotive was shifted to the Railway Zonal Training School at Chandausi, where it served as a curiosity object for many of the students based there. In 1972, the Indian government bequeathed heritage status to the engine, rendering it a national treasure. The locomotive was spruced up and given a special spot in the newly built National Rail Museum, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi.'

tac
www.ovgrs.org
Supporter of the Cape Meares Lighthouse Restoration Fund


----------



## Chris France (Jan 3, 2008)

Even with a bad head cold it was a great weekend. The 25 performed flawlessly and is a sweetheart to run. The biggest trouble as Pete mentioned is having to slow to a crawl through the self guarded frogs. It's nice to bring a few smiles to people's faces and watch their reaction to the fact that the 25 is a 154 year old machine. BTW Mark, it does have a blower, but we don't need to use it much to keep 75 psi when running light.


----------



## markoles (Jan 2, 2008)

Ah, Ok. I still like that it just sits there and is so quiet. (Until she starts moving). 

By the way, I thought you weren't supposed to have nice things.


----------



## Nicholas Savatgy (Dec 17, 2008)

Posted By Big65Dude on 17 Oct 2010 11:38 PM 
Posted By Nicholas Savatgy on 17 Oct 2010 07:58 PM 
That was a cool lookin loco, what was the old building behind it ? Last two pictures.


Nicholas -

That's what remains of the old B&O tender shop, or so we were told





Thanks Jack


----------



## Chris France (Jan 3, 2008)

I think the 25 is the one nice thing that I'm allowed to have only because I give up one of my days off every week.... Although when one of my firemen left the injector running too long and put a little too much water in the boiler I did mutter under my breath "This is why I can't have nice things."


----------



## markoles (Jan 2, 2008)

You can mutter?


----------



## Big65Dude (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Big65Dude on 17 Oct 2010 03:07 PM 



(And, yes, this was the loco that "starred" - albeit repainted - as _The General _in the Disney movie of the same name.)

To quote any number of politicians lately: I'm afraid I "misspoke." What I meant to say was "...the Disney movie _The Great Locomotive Chase_" with good ol' Fess Parker - of _Davy Crockett_ fame. 

I guess I was thinking of the earlier Buster Keaton silent classic comedy, _The General_, which was filmed up in Oregon, I think, on an old logging railroad.


----------



## Chris France (Jan 3, 2008)

One of its best roles no doubt, but don't forget Wild Wild West, Tuck Everlasting, and Gods and Generals. Before I was her engineer I was on the crew for both Tuck Everlasting and Gods and Generals. It amazed me how long we filmed for a few seconds in each movie.


----------



## markoles (Jan 2, 2008)

It is pretty amazing that Warner Brothers paid to have the locomotive converted from an oil fired back to wood fired. As I understand it, the wood firing is actually easier on the boiler. Chris, can you confirm? What was the original Operating pressure? And finally, is that the original 1856 boiler?


----------



## Chris France (Jan 3, 2008)

It was never oil fired. It was built as a wood burner and converted to burn coal about 6 months later. Around 1927 most of the B&O's historic fleet was reboilered in preparation to operate at the Fair of the Iron Horse, and we believe that it was reboilered around then. Not sure what the original operating pressure was, but we presume it to be around the current 75 psi. Its actually very fortunate that its not the original boiler as it would most likely have been a lap seam boiler, whereas the current boiler is a much safer seam with the ends against each other riveted to plates above and below the seam making it much tougher to bust the rivets. When restored in the 90s it was converted back to a wood burner as the slower cooler fire will lengthen the life of the crownsheet.


----------

