The four-cylinder 4-2-2-0 James Toleman, designed by the English civil engineer F.C.Winby, was
built for him as a private venture by Hawthorn Leslie of Newcastle, works number 2226. His
idea was that after display at the 1893 Chicago Columbian Exposition, it would run the
home-grown American product off the rails. In fact, it was a total failure, to the extent it
could scarcely move itself. The two sets of drivers were uncoupled, each driven by two
cylinders, and there was never enough steam to turn more than one pair of wheels at a time,
while Winby's patent 'duplo-cylindrical' boiler bulged alarmingly at the seams. The Chicago,
Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad granted facilities and loaned a tender, but it need not have
bothered, and the unfortunate machine went subsequently to the engineering department at
Purdue University, where it remained until scrapped about 1912, no doubt held up to students
as an object lesson in how not to design a steam railway locomotive. Looks pretty, though.
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All railway art is for viewing only and is copyrighted to Robin Barnes 2002.
The railway art may not be reproduced in any way without written permission from the
artist.
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