The principal freight handled by the Lehigh Valley Railroad
Company has always been coal and other minerals. The mechanical
officials from the first displayed a leaning toward heavy motive power
that would handle economically heavy freight over the steep grades.
Before discussing particulars of their progress in this line I wish to
allude to a peculiar type of mine locomotives used on some of the
branches. Fig 136 illustrates one of these Grice and Long
locomotives which was at work at Packer No 4 Colliery as late as 1901.
This was a four wheeled locomotive with built up frame.
The boiler which is of the internally fired return tubular type is
placed over the front pair of wheels. The cylinders which
are placed nearly vertical over rear axle are in the rear of the boiler.
The connecting rods drive a cranked shaft on which a gear is placed.
This gear in turn drives a pinion on rear axle. The wheels
are inside the frame and axles are cranked for parallel rods. Only the
rear pair of wheels are equipped with springs. Shifting or
so called Stephenson link motion was used and the lost motion in
parallel rods was taken up on one end by taper key on the other by a set
bolt lock nut.
In spite of very persistent search I have been
unable to find out who designed these extraordinary locomotives but it
certainly was a man with some engineering ideas the leanings being
towards marine practice. They were evidently patterned
somewhat after the Baltimore and Ohio Grasshopper engines being made so
short and compact that they would go round any curve but the boiler was
of a decidedly better form and the engine was likely to do its work on
less steam while it was very convenient for repairing
