Climaxes
A little over a year ago, we took a look at geared steam locomotives, specifically the Shays. I promised that we would return to the topic. (It’s been over a year(??)!) While I have a soft spot for all geared steamers and have a few nice operable HO Shays and Heislers, I have a slight preference for the Climax. I stumbled across a couple nice photos of Climaxes in Pinterest, which got me on topic:
Climaxes were built by the Climax Manufacturing Co. (later renamed Climax Locomotive Works) in Corry, PA. Over 1,000 were built between 1888 and 1928. The identifying features are the 2 cylinders (often at an angle on the side of the boiler, or vertical) with piston rods attached to a transmission. The transmission turns a drive shaft that runs down the center of the loco under the boiler. At the center of the trucks, the drive shaft is geared to the wheel axles.
Charles D. Scott is attributed to the invention of the Climax. He ran a forest railway near Spartansburg, PA in the late 1870’s. Attempting to improve logging locomotive performance, he designed a locomotive and took the drawings to his brother-in-law, George Gilbert, who was a civil engineer that worked for the nearby Climax Manufacturing Co. The original patent was not accredited to Scott – he was an uneducated lumberjack. The first Climax was patented in Gilbert’s name.
The original Climaxes had differentials on the drive wheel axles such that like an automobile, one wheel received power while the other wheel was left to rotate at it’s own speed. The idea was to reduce friction on the tight curves often seen on logging railroads. The pistons were vertical. The transmission had two operating speeds. But, the differential on the wheel axles proved to be a problem because of the loss of traction.
Here’s a pic of the truck patented by Gilbert. It was only used on a few of the initial Climaxes. The differential is open and obvious in the center of the near axle.
Rush S. Battles is credited with designing (and patenting) a design of the drive train that eliminated the differentials. He also shifted the pistons to horizontal. Here’s Battles patent diagram. These were referred to as Class B Climaxes.
Scott (the original lumberjack inventor) got back into the fray by revising his original drawings and applying for a patent. A lawsuit from Gilbert and Battles ensued, but eventually Scott received a patent in 1892 for what is referred to as a Class A Climax. The Class A’s had a 2-speed transmission gear box with vertical pistons similar to the original design. But, he dropped the differentials and produced a drive train similar to Battle’s design. In 1893, he hinged a separate tender from the loco frame, and added a drive to the tender truck. These three truck Climaxes led to the eventual Class C Climaxes (though the Class C’s were more like a Class B with a powered tender). He also closed the axle drives with housings to protect the gears (the first time protective housings were used). Since Scott didn’t have the funds to produce his new design, Climax continued with production of all three classes of Climaxes.
Here’s a 15-ton Class A Climax – Clemons Logging Company, 1926. Photographer: Clark Kinsey. Note the boxed in locomotive style common with the Class A’s. This helped keep the crew and fuel dry.
These are Class B Climaxes. The original Class B’s had horizontal pistons, but as the design evolved, the pistons were set at a roughly 30 degree angle as shown here. The small tenders still fixed to the locomotive frame.
Here’s a great pic of a small Class B.
Caption: “Seattle Car Manufacturing Company ‘Climax Locomotive Works’, Two Truck, Horizontal (Tee) Boiler, Class A, Geared, Steam Locomotive (#101).” The Class A’s tended to be smaller locomotives, generally under 17 tons. The caption mentions a “Tee” boiler which would be the horizontal boiler with a vertical firebox & pistons.
Here’s another Class B Climax at Durbin, West Virginia (4rail.net). The Class B’s started at around 17 tons and went up to as high as 60 tons.
Here’s a larger Class B.
This pic shows Sunkist #3 – a great example of a 3-truck Class C Climax. With the larger tender, the Class C’s could run longer without refilling the water and fuel. Plus with the tender trucks powered, they had greater tractive effort.
Here’s C&N RY #2, another great example of a Class C. (I think that’s the Cheyenne & Northern Railway.)
Check out San Joaquin & Eastern RR #109 in Auberry, California. #109 was built in 1922 as Climax Class C #1627, was standard gauge, and weighed in at 70 tons.
Going back to Class B’s…not much info on this one.
Again, not much info, but a nice pic of a Class A. Note the wheel width and flanges on this unit. Often times, the early logging RRs used logs in lieu of steel track. The loco would be fitted with wheels that have concave tires to fit the logs – flanges on both sides of the wheel. I believe the early Climaxes often came from the factory with these wheels.
Here’s a builder’s rendition of the Class A. You can see why the boiler is referred to as a “Tee” boiler.
I believe this is a builder’s photo of a Class A…though it could also be a rendition – hard to tell.
Here’s a rendition of a Class B.
…And finally, a rendition of a Class C.
Great pic of a Class A – loco and crew taking a break from work for a quick photo op!
The next three Climaxes worked overseas – I believe in New Zealand.
This is a narrow gauge (3’-6” gauge) Class A, built in 1904. It worked for five different lumber companies until it was left idle in 1942, and finally scrapped in 1957.
Here’s Climax #898, a Class B built in 1908. It worked for three different lumber companies until it was scrapped in 1956. Again, it ran on 3’-6” gauge track
1203 was built in 1913 for 3’-6” gauge. It worked for five different lumber companies before being bought for the final time – it’s still in service.
This is a pic of one of the earliest Climaxes built. It’s listed as a Class A, but only has 4 wheels. Again, note the concave tires for running on logs (as AT #65 is demonstrating!). It was built in 1889 for Arkansas Traveler in Madison, AR. It operated on log tracks at 60” gauge.
Here’s a pic of Snowy Creek & Cranesville Tramway’s Class A. This is another very early Climax built in 1891 (see the caption). This photo is part of an article that displays the same builder’s rendition shown above. The Climax sits on steel rail, but is tired for the log rails.
Caption reads, “Clear Lake Lumber Co. near Sedro Woolley, WA. Climax locomotive no. 4, a 2-truck locomotive with straight stack facing toward left on left of photo with 4 large, single log loads behind locomotive; 43,462 feet of lumber in the 4 logs; 2 donkey engines on right; 12 men standing in cab and beside train and sitting on 1st log car. ‘Logging train leaving woods bordered landing with four cars of logs, one log on each car’.” Photographer was Darius Kinsey (1869-1945).
We’ll leave this one to the caption, also, “It looks like the train was Climax Locomotive no. 239, which was built in 1900 and ordered by Phoenix Logging Co. in Potlatch, Washington. En route it was diverted to Simpson Logging Co. in Shelton, Washington. It was damaged in a fire c. 1903 and sold to Columbia & Nehalem Valley Railroad No. 1 in Columbia City, Oregon. In 1906 it was in Columbia City at Peninsula Lumber Co. and in 1916 it was at Klamath Logging & Timber Co. in Odessa, Oregon.” So…the American Climaxes jumped around as much as the New Zealand ones!
Here’s another Clark Kinsey photo, 1924. This is Stetson & Post Lumber Company #2, Climax #1527. The company headquarters was in Seattle, but the lumber camp that #2 serviced was in Maple Valley. As the name seems to imply, Maple Valley was known for the abundance of western maples. However, it’s actually named after the Maple family. #2 was built in 1919 for Augusta Wood Products in Virginia. The document I found listed it as a Class C, but here it is in Washington 5 years later with the tender seemingly missing.
The caption with this pic says that this is Dry Fork River RR #3, Dry Fork River, WV. However, the loco and print on the pic says it’s Middle Fork RR #3. #3 was built as Climax #1651 in 1919. Note that there appears to be a coil of fire hose in front of the cab.
Not much info – appears to be a smaller Class B
Finally, this is Hillcrest Lumber Co. Ltd. Mesachie Lake #9 a 50-ton Climax s/n #1359, built in 1915.
As I searched for photos of Climaxes, the pics went on forever! And, the way these locos traveled, often times from lumber camp to lumber camp, I wasn’t sure if sometimes I wasn’t looking at the same loco twice. Literature shows that a little over 1,000 were built. It seemed like well over 1,000 photos that I drifted through! The Climax serial number system came into play several times when verifying what loco I was staring at. If you’re interested in geared steamers, and want to do a little research, I suggest you start with the Climaxes – info is abundant and easy to sift through. And, there’s great stories and lotsa variation in the locos!
Thx,
Kevin
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