Erie L-1 class | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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![]() L-1 #2601 at Port Jervis, New York, June 1911. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The three L-1 0-8-8-0 Mallet steam locomotives of the Erie Railroad, built in July 1907 by ALCO, and numbered 2600, 2601 and 2602 (ALCo construction numbers 42269, 42270 and 42271 respectively); were unique in that they were the only articulated camelback locomotives ever built.
When built in 1907, they were the largest steam locomotives in the world, weighing 410,000 pounds (180 long tons; 200 short tons). The L-1 Class was also called the "Angus" Type in homage to Angus Sinclair, who was the publisher of Railway & Locomotive Engineering, a leading trade journal. A rarely seen photograph of #2602 shows his name under the windows on the cab sides.[citation needed]
The use of an intercepting valve allowed the locomotive to be used in simple or single expansion steam capacity. This meant that if desired, high pressure steam could be supplied to the front and rear cylinder groups for additional power at the cost of exhausting the boiler of steam pressure quicker.
These locomotives were built as pushers for the heavy grades of the Erie Railroads' Susquehanna Division over Gulf Summit on the Pennsylvania and New York State border; and these locomotives primarily operated between Port Jervis, NY, and Susquehanna, PA.