Rahway Valley No. 14

Schemes

The Lehigh & New England Railroad (L&NE) was an anthracite coal and cement hauler. The primary source of its traffic emanated from the coal mines owned by its parent company, Lehigh Coal & Navigation Co., throughout northeastern Pennsylvania and the "cement belt" region of Northampton and Lehigh Counties. From a myriad of branch lines and spurs throughout this region, the railroad's mainline stretched northeastward across New Jersey to Maybrook, New York. At its eastern terminus, the L&NE interchanged with the New Haven which permitted the conveyance of coal and cement to New England markets.

On March 24, 1905, the L&NE placed an order for three 2-8-0 "Consolidation"-type locomotives with the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Burnham, Williams & Co. of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The three locomotives (C/N 26354-26356), Nos. 18, 19, and 20, were built in September 1905. The trio was designated the L&NE E-7 Class.

The E-7 class received several modifications while with the L&NE. The tenders lost their original Fox trucks in favor of arch bar trucks. The original headlights were discarded and replaced with large ones center-mounted on the smokebox door. The original air compressors were were replaced. The original pilots, with their large cowcatchers, were modified to include small footboards. The last vestiges of the cowcatchers were eventually discarded entirely.

The L&NE began disposing a quantity of older, smaller locomotives from its roster as tonnages increased over the railroad. In August 1927, Nos. 18, 19, and 20 were placed on the market and succeeded in catching the eye of Roger A. Clark, President and General Manager of the Rahway Valley Railroad.

The RV's tired, worn locomotive roster - consisting of Nos. 8 and 11 - necessitated the acquisition of another piece of motive power. Clark contacted J. R. Bennington, the L&NE's Purchasing Agent, about the E-7 Class's availability in August 1927 but soon came to learn that they had been abruptly taken off the market. Clark eventually purchased a locomotive from the Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad, which became No. 12, but it proved to be too large to operate.

In March 1928, Clark was again searching for another locomotive. The Georgia Car & Locomotive Co. again brought Clark's attention to L&NE Nos. 18, 19, and 20 which had been placed back upon the market. With No. 8 out of service, No. 11 worn out, and No. 12 too impractical to use, Clark looked towards purchasing all three members of the E-7 Class. The locomotive brokerage firm noted that No. 18 was perhaps the best locomotive out of the three. The locomotive had passed through the shop recently and had been fitted with a new firebox, flues, and lagging. However, No. 18 had been involved in a particularly damaging wreck in August 1927. The locomotive had collided with an engine belonging to the New York, Susquehanna & Western Railroad, over which the L&NE had trackage rights across northwest New Jersey. The RV's master mechanic, Carl Nees, had been sent to Pen Argyl, Pennsylvania to look over the locomotives. Nees discovered that No. 18, as a result of its wreck, had a bent frame and ultimately shied away from the locomotive. However, Nos. 19 and 20 were shown to be in perfect working order. Nees gave his approval to purchase the locomotives. Nos. 19 and 20 were purchased in May and August 1928, respectively, becoming Nos. 13 and 14 of the Rahway Valley.

Nos. 13 and 14 arrived in September of that year and were immediately pressed into service. Nos. 13 and 14 proved well-suited to the RV. The locomotives performed reliably in all services asked of them. The locomotives were identical in design but fraternal in practice. No. 14’s tender held 1,000 more gallons of water. No. 13's builder's plates were mounted behind a grab iron on the smokebox. No. 14's builder's plates were mounted higher, above the grab iron. No. 13 had support braces from the cab roof to the top of the boiler, No. 14 did not. In 1938, the RV had No. 14 fitted with a Franklin Power Reverse Gear, Type E, complete with hand lever. No. 13 retained its old manual Johnson bar reverser. Their boiler heads fit differently to the rears of their cabs. The constructions of their running boards differed somewhat. No. 14 was noted to steam better than No. 13, the latter could use five tons of coal in a day if busy. No. 13 was a hard locomotive to keep steam pressure up in and could take a heavy coal load in the firebox, with a heavy heel – coal piled in the sides and front of the firebox, in the center, and under the fire door.

Georgia Car & Locomotive may have made modifications to the locomotives to make them more salable as several changes can be discerned, from photographs, from their time with the L&NE to their arrival on the RV. The air tanks were moved onto the running boards, with the running boards modified accordingly. The wood pilot beams were replaced with steel and steps added behind. Tool boxes were added the pilots. The large, center-mounted kerosene headlights were replaced by smaller, high-mounted electric ones. Dynamos were added near the cab, atop the boiler, to power the headlights. The cabs were modified: the wooden doors replaced with steel, the side windows plated over, and a track added on the roof for visors.

Nos. 13 and 14 initially had very bold serif lettering. This lettering lasted but a short while. Both locomotives received matching Depression-era serif lettering in about 1929. No. 14 lost its spoked pilot wheels very early on. No. 13 retained those until 1944.

No. 14 was overhauled by the DL&W at their shops in Kingsland, New Jersey (now Lyndhurst) in October 1936. The locomotive's tender was re-lettered with a sans-serif Lackawanna stencil while the numerals were serif. The locomotive also received pin-striping, along the top and bottom of the tender lettering, the top of the tender, the running board, and the left and bottom outline of the cab.

Around Christmastime 1940, No. 14 figured in a serious smash at Branch Junction. During a switching move, Caboose No. 102 leapt up onto No. 14's pilot which succeeded in smashing the engine's smokebox braces and headlight. No. 14's headlight was replaced with No. 12's.

The locomotive was overhauled by the CNJ at their Elizabethport shops in October 1941. The tender was re-lettered with a Jersey Central shop serif stencil. The tender was outlined with pin-stripes, as was the panel under the locomotive. Around late-1942 or early-1943, No. 14's headlight was replaced. The new headlight featured winged number boards. The tender light was either replaced or received a visor.

The CNJ again overhauled No. 14 at their Elizabethport shops in November 1945. The locomotive was again re-lettered, this time with a slightly different, lighter serif stencil. The number on the sand dome disappeared. No. 14 received a new smokebox door and lost its marker light holders.

The valves for Nos. 13 and 14's original L&NE whistles wore out in September 1945. Carl Nees was unsuccessful in acquiring new ones as the manufacturer was no longer in the whistle business. In January 1946, No. 14 was fitted with No. 12's old whistle.

In March 1946, No. 14's number plate received its red field. The locomotive's final paint scheme had it wearing black paint, red trimmed windows, and gold lettering.

The locomotive was retired on May 31, 1950 due to expired flue time and a bad boiler. George A. Clark resigned No. 14 to the scrap heap, stating ". . . it will never be fired up and used again. In fact, this engine will be cut up for scrap metal." However, when Nos. 13 and 15 were both out of service, No. 14 was fired up for several hours on June 26, 1950 before leaking staybolts and a cracked flue sheet were discovered. The locomotive was stored in Kenilworth. A number of parts were pilfered off of it after No. 13 suffered damage on February 26, 1951. No. 14 was sold for scrap to J. Kerzman & Sons of Elizabeth, New Jersey who cut it up at Kenilworth, loaded it into two gondola cars, and shipped it to Bethlehem Steel Co. in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on December 15, 1951.