Building an American icon described as

"a face only a mother could love."

Usually known as a camelback and sometimes called a Mother Hubbard, it is a very American locomotive. Americans traditionally tend not to do something half-hearted. This, coupled with our traditional rampant optimism, and combined with our love of technological innovation has combined to produced some amazing and wonderful creations over the years. The problem with locomotives from the beginning was giving them more power. As trains grew longer, cars became heavier, and more tonnage was hauled. Many inventors over the years attempted to design their own versions and contraptions to pull heavier trains. Early on, many railroad inventors simply tried making a bigger firebox and boiler. History records that early English and European travelers on American railroads were horrified at the explosive boiler pressures used in American locomotives.

But what does this have to do with the camelback? The camelback is another one of those inventions. And not just a single invention, but multiple trials at the same idea by different inventors and railroads. In the early to mid-1840s, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad tried to solve this ongoing problem. They began designing and building high-powered and, for that time, high-pressured steam locomotives. This would help pull the heavy coal trains in and around Maryland. Called "Mud Diggers" by the Baltimore and Ohio crews, they burned bituminous coal. However, they became popular when Mr. John W. Wootten developed the Wootten firebox to use anthracite coal. This coal was cheap at that time. The Wootten firebox was instrumental in helping save cost for railroads in anthracite coal areas, as it could burn the waste coal known as culm. Anthracite burns cleaner than bituminous coal and saves money on fuel for the railroad. However, to use this waste coal, a super-enlarged firebox had to be created. This meant the locomotive's cab had to be moved. The problem was solved by placing the cab astride the middle of the boiler on the locomotive. These locomotives separated the engine crew because of the large fireboxes. The engineer, isolated by himself sitting in the cab, and the fireman, isolated by himself in the tender, could not communicate. Also, this left the fireman open to the rain, snow, and elements. Causing further problems, if one of the locomotive's side rods broke or snapped on the engineer's side, the thrashing steel beam could fling up through the bottom of the cab, underneath the engineer. The only easy communication with the engineer of the locomotive was through hand signals. Again, because of the isolated locomotive crew positions, the train would become a runaway. Should an engineer become incapacitated for any reason while the train was in motion, nothing really could be done. This is before the advent of automatic braking. This was illustrated in several train wrecks. Unfortunately, There are also several instances of firemen standing on the platform that connected the tender and the face of the firebox (known as "the kitchen" by many of the crews) being thrown off the moving engine or accidentally falling with missed footing. The engineer would not realize this until some time later when steam pressure began to drop. In 1927, the Interstate Commerce Commission banned all future construction of this type of locomotive.

Not having to worry about safety concerns of an live engine crew. Also, just because they look cool (my wife says she can't describe what they look like to her) makes me want to have one. Camelbacks are an American invention to an American problem, which just adds to their historical interest.

It would have to be easy and it would have to not cost a lot of money!

My friend, Mr. O'Shaughnessy, some time ago very kindly gave me a Mantua 4-6-0 Dixie Belle. He had disassembled it, spray painted it brown, and reassembled it. Originally, I wanted to build one of the Civil War era (big for that time) 4-6-0 locomotives. I was so nervous I could not do it or I would mess up the engine. I had detailed and painted boxcars from here to Carlisle. I just had never worked on an engine. However, once I thought of a camelback, it just stuck in my head. I visited the YouTube channel of Anthracite Modeler trying to figure out how to make the firebox. This gave me the idea of using styrene. The smokestack was replaced for a more 1890s version from a stock Mantua part and the cab taken off. After looking at pictures from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Museum and from picture postcards and books, I ordered appropriate Cal Scale parts from Bowser online. The parts came fast in the mail. Bowser's website is great and easy to use. I can't wait to order parts for Pocomtuc Creek No. 4 from them.

The interiors of the cabs were very easy to replicate. I enjoyed this, as the Mantua cabs have large windows. I made a simple open door on the engineer's side of the cab and put in clear plastic for the windows. To fill in the gap between the boiler and the front of the cab, a thin piece of styrene sheet was cut to fit and glued on. This was done by trial and error. The old grab irons were re-bent. Then, they were cut to size. An engineer figure from the scrap box was painted and added. Now, the locomotive was spray painted with Testors flat black from a rattle can. Over top of this, a wash made from mostly 50% Isopropyl alcohol with just a few drops of Model Color Pale Gray Blue was brushed over the Flat Black Tamiya Primer.

I removed the original Mantua wood load. Then easily cut a piece of styrene to fit the top of the tender. I still left the center cavity to add Digital Command Control and sound later. A Cal Scale oil lamp headlight and small chunks of real anthracite coal were added to the tender. A small hole was bored underneath the headlamp through the styrene sheet so a backup light can be inserted.

The hardest part of building the camelback was the Wootten firebox itself. It is not a perfect representation because of the constraints of the model. It uses a Mantua cab as the base. Two cross braces were fitted for strength after the cab top was cut away. This base is where the top was bent (a piece of light styrene) across so it would bend to form the round-topped firebox. Then, the front and back of the firebox were added by simply measuring and cutting out styrene parts to fit. Firebox doors and gauges were added for the firemen. While not being a 100% perfect model, it is very easy to use and maintain. To gain access to the motor, you simply lift off the firebox just like the original Mantua cab. Two firebox doors (some locomotives only had one) were added to the locomotive, and a water tank hatch was added to the tender from Cal Scale.

The only materials used on this locomotive thus far were:

1) A screwdriver

2) An ordinary pair of scissors

3) An X-Acto knife

4) A paintbrush

5) Elmer's White School Glue

6) Krazy Glue

7) Half a can of Testors Flat Black Paint

8) Five tablespoons of Isopropyl alcohol

9) Six drops of Model Color Pale Gray Blue paint.

10) Bendable styrene sheet. Clear for window glass, and white for other parts.

11) Brass detail parts.

Model Railroad Headquarters (from Denver, Colorado) installed DCC and Sound. The TCS Wow Sound also has directional lights. They installed LEDs for the lights. No.3, because of it's age, was also missing a tender step which they fixed. Unfortunately, the new custom tender deck was destroyed in the mail on the way to them. A stock one has been fitted for now. This company does really great work and I have purchased 3 Mantua camelbacks (one 4-4-2, one 0-4-0, and one 0-6-0) from them over the years...notice a pattern?