POST CARDS

Alleganey Mts. in 1853. Built the first successful traction engine
in 1875. In 1876-1877 one hundred traction engines were built. In
1880 five hundred were built. During this time the company built
stationary engines 25-12000 Hp. They specialized in rolling mill
engines as well as complete steam power plants. Bessemer Co.
started building internal combustion engines in 1900 and started to
build diesel engines in 1923. The two company’s merged in 1929
and became the Cooper-Bessemer Co. in Mt. Vernon.

Courtesy of Ernest Sevde, Toledo, Iowa 52342. This Santa Fe
steam engine is a 4-8-4 Northern type # 2913 on permanent display
at Ft. Madison, Iowa. This is one of a group of 30 engines of
‘Heavy Mountain’ jobs bought just prior to the War (World
War II) and were considered the heaviest and most efficient four
axle driven engine. They were1 built by Baldwin in 1944 and would
have, been reordered from the builders except for the advent of the
diesel. They did the work all over the system from Los Angeles to
Chicago pulling freights where mallets had been used and fast
passenger with heavy pullmans. They were truly a breed apart as the
2900’s held a ‘feather’ of steam at their pops over the
division. Shown in picture is the above mentioned engine as it
faces the broad sweep of the Mississippi River. My wife, Nadine,
Craig-now a Senior in H.S., Mark and Susan Sevde.

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