Marcellus & Otisco Lake 2-4-0 "Porter" Locomotives in the USA

Class 1 (Locobase 9647)

Data from 1908 Locomotive Cyclopedia, fig 24 and from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Volume 27, p. 13. Works number was 24369 in June 1904.

The website for New York State history that covers this small railway -- [], last accessed 12 November 2008 -- says that this railway was originally formed as an electric rail line. By 1903, the original backers were out and William Barrows of Philadelphia. He determined that the nine-mile M & OL should be a steam-powered short line and bought the little 2-4-0 shown in this entry.

Its profile offered challenges that the Baldwin spec flagged by advising the builder to "Give especial attention to curving." The curves measured more than 20 degrees and grades inclined at 1 1/2-2 1/2 percent.

A mixed-traffic engine, the #1's main passenger function disappeared when that service was cut in 1914. Freight service continued to the mills in Marcellus and Marietta for decades, but the #1 was scrapped in 1918.