The Engine more Powerful than a Big Boy? - DM&IR "Yellowstone"

the Union Pacific big boys were pretty big clues in the name and by most are often referred to as the world's largest steam locomotives myself and Google included but what if I told you both myself and Google may be wrong because there existed another 18 engines that could easily go toe-to-toe with the big boys formed in 1938 the dth massabi and Iron Range Railway came about after the douth massabi and Northern Spirit Lake Transfer Railway douth and Iron Range and the interstate transfer Railway were merged into one company iron or was the main traffic of the railroad taking it from mines in Minnesota and Wisconsin to ports in the Great Lakes the existing Rolling Stock of the lines was able to keep up with the work until 1940 where thanks to the outbreak of the second world war the volume of ir or the line transported practically quadrupled longer trains required more Motive Power but rather than double head their trains the dmir simply decided to build bigger engines needing something that could tackle steep gradients while pulling a heavy load the dmir ordered eight engines from the Baldwin locomotive Works basing their design on the 2882 engines used at the time on the Western Pacific Railroad already some of the biggest and most powerful engines in the world these new engines however would be fitted with an even bigger Firebox coal fired and a bigger allseason cab for the foot plate crew necessitating an extra pair of trailing Wheels be fitted under the cab giving them a 2884 Yellowstone wheel Arrangement the first engine arrived in 1941 boasting 5' 3 in driving Wheels four cylinders a total wheel base of 113 ft F feet weight of 315 tons attractive effort of 140,000 lb ft and a top speed of 45 mph as a comparison while not as large heavy or as fast as a big boy these new engines could certainly overpower them its tender alone was capable of holding 26 tons of coal and 25,000 Gall of water with the engine itself consuming 10 tons of coal and around 12 ,000 gallons of water an hour making the engine not only powerful but hungry too to put it into perspective a report stated that the amount of coal the engine burned in 1 hour would have been enough to heat a house for two Winters compared to the previous class M1 and M2 engines used on the line these new locomotives were able to pull load 25% heavier than their predecessors classified as M3s the engines were found to to easily handle the work they were given exceeding the railway's expectations and as a result the dmir ended up ordering 10 more locomotives which were to be classified as m4s most Railway men however referred to them as yellow Stones due to their wheel Arrangement as much of the iron or traffic was seasonal the engines saw less use in Winter and so when the new batch of M4 engines were completed in January of 194 3 some of them ended up helping out on the Denver and Rio Grand Western railroad until they were needed back on the dmir the Rio Grand seem to adore these locomotives with the railroad stating that they were some of the finest engines to ever run on their line as such the Rio Grand went as far as to lease the engines for use on their line again the following year along with the Northern Pacific railroad and the Great Northern Railway though the Rio Grand quickly returned them after an air braak failure caused engine number 224 to wreck the yellow Stones continued to work the line and proved to be invaluable to the railroad each hauling millions of tons of iron during their lifetimes but their strength wasn't enough to keep them running forever after the war many United States railroads prioritized dieselization of their lines and the dmir was no different steam engines were getting more and more expensive to operate and so by 1958 after less than 20 years of service the line began to withdraw their Yellowstone locomotives with the last engine running in 1963 luckily out of the 18 built three have survived into preservation on display at the Lake Superior Railroad Museum and Two Harbors it's still somewhat of a debate as to which engine is truly bigger while the big boys had the lead in both weight and total length the yellow Stones more than made up for it with their sheer power it's a bit like Mike Tyson versus Muhammad Ali will'll never truly have a solid answer but the fun is in guessing isn't it that is until someone gets fed up and decides to restore a DMI Yellowstone to find out he is hoping for a railroad Rumble in the Jungle subscribe for more [Music]

Channel: Train of Thought

Views: 44,417

Keywords: Train, Trains, Locomotives, Steam, Steam Train, Steam Trains, Fact, Fun, Fun Facts, Informal, Railway, Railroad, Educational, Train of Thought, ToT, of, Thought, Trainofthought, Union Pacific

Id: J3vOl18piTc

Length: 5min 34sec (334 seconds)

Published: Fri May 31 2024