Geared Steam Locomotive Works ©

  "Yankee"
800 x 506 view                            964 x 610 view

The Cuyahoga Steam Furnace Company of Cleveland, Ohio, began in 1827 as an iron furnace company.   The company built iron equipment for saw mills, steamboats and iron furnaces.  It began an endeavor into steam locomotive building in March of 1850 with the completion of its first locomotive, named the "Cleveland".    In all, it built approximately 100 locomotives. ^200d   It is unclear when the company's last locomotive was built.  One textual account notes the date as being during or just after the "Panic of 1857".  Another has it building the particular locomotive in the drawing above (named the "Yankee") sometime between 1862-1868.       

The "Yankee" was built  as an industrial type engine.  Centrally mounted in an open frame was a disproportionately large vertical boiler.  The boiler extended considerably below the frame to a point that seems just above the ties in the roadbed.  At one end of the frame was a large rectangular water tank.  At the other end were the rudimentary controls for the locomotive's operation.   Centrally located  next  to the boiler were two vertically mounted marine type steam cylinders.   These powered the gearing system directly attached to one of the locomotive's two axles.  Power was transmitted from this axle to the the other with side-rods attached to the outboard side of each driver.   The wheelbase or distance between the center of both drivers is noted as 6 feet 3 inches.   The gauge is standard.   It appears no provision was made to protect the locomotive or its engineer from the elements with a cab or canopy roof. 

The Jackson Iron Company  purchased the locomotive new between 1862 -1868 for use at their iron ore mine, the "Jackson Mine",  at Negaunee in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.    In about 1889, after 20 years of shunting ore cars and other bulk material cars, the locomotive was  retired to a scrap dump.   Fortunately it survived there almost 40 years until 1938 when it was cosmetically restored for display by  Jackson's successor, The Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company.   In 1986, Cleveland-Cliffs donated it to the Michigan Iron Industry Museum  at Negaunee, where it is currently on permanent display.  

Except as noted, the images and information for these "Yankee" pages were contributed by David Krause of Ann Arbor, Michigan.

This page changed October 11, 2013 11:35:37 PM