Released by Eastman Kodak as part of a series of educational short films, “One Hundred Years of Railroad Development” shows scenes from The Fair of the Iron Horse. This was a centenary exhibition and pageant of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad, held September 24-October 8, 1927 in Halethorpe (Baltimore Co., Md.). The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad began operation in 1827, and would soon transport passengers from Mt. Clare, Mt. Royal and Camden Stations in Baltimore to destinations in New York, Washington, Cumberland, Cleveland, Chicago, St. Louis, and points in between.
At :20 the “crude” methods of transportation used by Native Americans are shown — horse drawn travois. At :48 a float is shown with a bateau or barge, simulating the travel of the French explorers, followed by colonial wagon trains at 1:00 and Conestoga type wagons at 1:12. At 1:26 a stagecoach of the Pullman type arrives at an inn. At 1:54 a carriage for the wealthy is shown. At 2:29 a treadmill car is shown with a horse on a treadmill, and then a sail car powered by the wind. At 2:51 a horse car or horse drawn railroad car is shown. At 3:19 the Tom Thumb, the first American steam locomotive, is shown. This is followed by a variety of other locomotives including the “York” (3:37), DeWitt Clinton (3:55), Atlantic (4:00), Thomas Jefferson of 1835 (4:44), Memnon (5:10), William Mason of 1856 (5:27), Thatcher Perkins of the Civil War (5:48), the camelback locomotive (6:02), J.C. Davis of 1876 (6:20), consolidated locomotive (6:40), mallet type (6:53) of 1926 — concluding 100 years of steam powered history. The one shown here #6137 apparently weighed 367 tons!
The Mallet locomotive is a type of articulated steam railway locomotive, invented by the Swiss engineer Anatole Mallet (1837–1919). The articulation was achieved by supporting the front of the locomotive on an extended Bissel truck. The compound steam system fed steam at boiler pressure to high-pressure cylinders driving the main set of wheels. The exhaust steam from these cylinders was fed into a low-pressure receiver and was then sent to low-pressure cylinders that powered the driving wheels on the swiveling bogie.
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