Baltimore and Ohio 4500
Baltimore and Ohio 4500 is a 2-8-2 "USRA Light Mikado" steam locomotive built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in July 1918 for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) as a member of the Q-3 class.
Baltimore and Ohio 4500 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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B&O 4500 as it was built in 1918 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The locomotive hauled freight for the B&O until retirement in August 1957 and was donated for display at the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the sole surviving Baltimore and Ohio Mikado type steam locomotive.
History
The locomotive was the very first USRA locomotive built and it was constructed in. It was also finished on July 4th, 1918 and it was decked out with American Flags for the occasion. While is remained as built mechanically, it received some of B&O's distinctive cosmetic changes throughout its service life, but the locomotive retains the original tender and trailing truck. During its service life, the locomotive was in freight service primarily on the Ohio and St. Louis divisions of the railroad.[1] In 1957, the locomotive was renumbered 300 to make room for four-digit diesel locomotives.[2]
Preservation
In August 1957, 4500, still numbered 300, was retired and in 1964, it was put on display at the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, Maryland and was renumbered back to 4500, its original number. In 1990, the locomotive was designated as a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark.[3][4] Today, it still resides there on display.
References
- https://web.archive.org/web/20190418152607/https://www.asme.org/wwwasmeorg/media/ResourceFiles/AboutASME/Who%20We%20Are/Engineering%20History/Landmarks/147-Baltimore-Ohio-4500-Freight-USRA-2-8-2A.pdf
- http://www.borail.org/BO-No-4500.aspx
- http://www.borail.org/BO-No-4500.aspx
- https://web.archive.org/web/20190418152607/https://www.asme.org/wwwasmeorg/media/ResourceFiles/AboutASME/Who%20We%20Are/Engineering%20History/Landmarks/147-Baltimore-Ohio-4500-Freight-USRA-2-8-2A.pdf