NEB&W Guide to Port Henry, NY - Lake Champlain & Moriah Locos

Last Update: 2009-08-12

Port Henry Table of Contents
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• The Alpha and Beta apparently were contractor's locos which the LC&M purchased right after construction was completed in 1869, and both were gone within a few years.
  The Alpha was an 0-6-0T tank engine, gone by 1872. The Beta was an 0-4-0T tank engine, gone by 1871.
  It is speculated both locos were used for road service, as the next loco, the Witherbee, is remembered to have been used for switching at Mineville for years. However, I question this "proof" as the Witherbee didn't replace the horses used to switch cars at Mineville until 1874.

• The Witherbee, another 0-6-0T engine, was built by Baldwin in 1869, and rode on 44 inch drivers (that's pretty tiny).

• The Geo. Sherman was also built by Baldwin the following year, 1870, but it was a 2-6-0 and not a tank engine. However, it also rode on 44 inch drivers.

• Some more early named locos:
  • Little Giant, built by Balwin in 1871, unknown wheel arrangement.
  • J.B. Brinsmade, a.k.a. no. 6, was a 2-6-0 with 44 inch drivers, built by Baldwin in 1872.
    • [Brinsmade in service. Photo courtesy the Bridge Line Society. Looks like that could be a 6-wheel tender, very rare.]
  • Cedar Point was another 2-6-0 with 44 inch drivers, built by Baldwin in 1873.
  • Mountaineer was a 2-4-0 with even smaller 40 inch drivers, built by Baldwin in 1873.
  • Champlain was an 0-4-4T tank engine built by Baldwin in 1879. Driver size is unknown.
  • Albert Tower, a.k.a no. 7 was another 2-6-0 with 44-1/2 inch drivers (a real high-drivered speedster), built by Baldwin in 1880. It was sold in 1920.
  • Adirondack, a.k.a no. 10, was another 2-6-0 but with 50 inch drivers, built by Baldwin in 1891.

• The LC&M favored 2-6-0's. Besides the named locos above that had this wheel arrangement, nos. 11, 14, and 18 were also Moguls, a total of 8 out of 19 total LC&M steam locos. And this wheel arrangement represented the LC&M's last steamer purchased, no. 18.
  • [Unknown 2-6-0, unknown date.]

• No. 11 was a 2-6-0, built by Alco in 1904. It had 50 inch drivers.
  • [No. 11, 1904 Alco builder's photo.]

• No. 12 was a 4-6-0 built by Pittsburgh (who?) in 1896, with 52 inch drivers. I understand it was scrapped in 1929.
  • [No. 12 courtesy Moriah Town Historical Society. (Note the old ore car on the left.).]
  This was the only LC&M steamer with a four-wheel lead truck, typically the sign of a speedier loco.

• No no. 13 - guess it was considered too unlucky a number.

• No. 14, a 2-4-0 with 51 drivers, was built by Alco in 1905 and went to the Morristown & Erie in 1917 as their no. 7 or perhaps no. 17 first. (Doubt it is still in existence.) As built, it had what was called a "swallow-tail" tender - guess they mean slope-back. On the M&E, it later got a rectangular tender.
  • [No. 14, 1905 Alco builder's photo.]
  • [As M&E no. 7, unknown date, photographer.]

• No. 15 was another 2-6-0, with 51 inch drivers, built by Baldwin in 1910, out of order (nos. 16 and 17 were built a few years earlier). No. 15 was the second to last steamer the LC&M got, and survived until dieselization in '41.

• Locos nos. 6, 16, and 17 were pint-sized Mikados. No. 16 was built by Baldwin in '06, no. 17 by Baldwin the following year, '07. No. 16 had 50 inch drivers, no. 17, 51 inch. Both lasted until dieselization in '41.
  • [No. 6 c. 1937. Actually, I'm pretty sure somewhere the "1" was dropped and this was no. 16. Only no. 6 I know of was a 2-6-0 built in 1872 and the LC&M numbered their locos pretty much in chronological order and no known case of where they reused a number.]
  • [No. 16, 1906 Baldwin builder's photo.]
  • [No. 16 at the roundhouse.]

• No. 18 was a 2-6-0 with 48 inch drivers, built by Baldwin in 1916, the last steamer the road got. This loco also had a "swallow-tail" tender.
  • [No. 18, 1916 Baldwin builder's photo.]
  No. 18 was scrapped in '41, right after Republic Steel took over and purchased the LC&M's first diesel.

• No locos were purchased in the 24 year period after 1916 until the 1940 dieselization.

• Republic Steel dieselized when they took over the operations in 1938. Apparently what happened was that the concentrating mill at Mineville was replaced by a new one down at lakeside, and the LC&M wound up having to carry both the ore and impurties down, instead of just the concentrated ore, so more powerful locos were needed. The LC&M purchased a 1,000 hp EMD NW-2 in 1940, no. 19. All steam (nos. 15, 16, 17 and 18) were retired the following year, '41. In '42, another NW-2 was purchased, numbered D815. This loco was also lettered for Republic Steel and also for the Defense Plant Corp.
  • [No. 19. Builder's photo, 1940.]
  • [Two engines c. 1950's. Photo by Jim Shaughnessy.]
  • [LC&M 19, c. 1950's by Gerrit Bruins.]
  The two diesels lasted up until the end of the LC&M. In 1977, Republic Steel shipped the two to one of their other plants, most likely in Chicago, although the exact disposition is unknown.

See our Layout Guide for Port Henry and the history of Port Henry iron making.

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