Came across this on my Facebook feed today... looks like a kit bashed engine, but it is genuine. Even as an NYC fan, I just can't warm to this one. If it were a sailing ship, they'd call it a hermaphrodite rig!!!
Here's a link to some fascinating info on the engine I found on line:
http://www.railarchive.net/nyccollection/nyc7189.htm
After some reflection, it kinda looks like something from the mind of @m.mitchell.marmel 
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Interesting history. Neat photo site.
It was done as not to scare the horses on the New York City streets where these Shay locomotives ran. I believe that Boston had some Climax locomotives covered the same way.
Stuart
Stuart posted:It was done as not to scare the horses on the New York City streets where these Shay locomotives ran. I believe that Boston had some Climax locomotives covered the same way.
Stuart
What I don't fully understand is how did the covering prevent the horses from being spooked. And I'd love to know how many horses were still plying the streets in the 1930's NYC.
Apples55 posted:Stuart posted:It was done as not to scare the horses on the New York City streets where these Shay locomotives ran. I believe that Boston had some Climax locomotives covered the same way.
Stuart
What I don't fully understand is how did the covering prevent the horses from being spooked. And I'd love to know how many horses were still plying the streets in the 1930's NYC.
The 1789 was built in 1923. The NYC had a total of 5 "Street Shays" (My term, not theirs.) It was a city ordinance that required the covering of the boilers. They also had to be preceded by a horse and rider. It's assumed the boxy shape was something the horses would be accustomed to. They were scrapped in the 1940's.
Rusty
Apples55 posted:And I'd love to know how many horses were still plying the streets in the 1930's NYC.
Most street vendors were still using horse drawn carts, and I'm sure there were a lot of companies using horse drawn wagons for deliveries (ice wagons, etc.). In the early 30's the country was still trying to recover from the depression and gasoline powered trucks/vans were probably too great an expense for a lot of businesses. I'm sure the closer to 1940 you get and the more the economy recovered the horses were slowly being replaced.
Here is a picture I took from Al Staufer's "Steam Power of the New York Central". It is not real clear but you can see what they looked like, inside and out. Hard to tell there was a steam engine under that shell. They had to be brutal to operate in the summer.
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