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The Leviathan
The "Leviathan" was an 0-6-6T type Mason-Bogie locomotive. Built by the Mason Machine Works in Taunton, Massachusetts in 1875. She was originally owned by The Utica, Ithaca & Elmira Railroad of New York State. The
Utica, Ithaca & Elmira Railroad was completed from Cortland to Ithaca
in 1872, and to Elmira in 1875.
The "Leviathan" was returned to the manufacturer after only one year on the U.I. & E., in 1876, so it never passed to the Lehigh Valley - although the other U.I.& E. Mason Bogie, the "Shoo Fly" did in fact make it to the LV roster. This was of the 0-4-4T wheel arrangement. The "Leviathan" was built with an unusual center gear that was intended to help it climb up and down the very steep grade from downtown Ithaca up to Cornell University. The line would have been a cog railway with a 9% grade, built up Cascadilla Gorge, but the proposed line was never built. The main supporter of the cog railroad proposal was Ezra Cornell, who had a large financial investment in local railroads. His idea was to link downtown Ithaca with the university campus without having to make the long tedious walk up the hill. The idea was not enthusiastically supported by the trustees of Cornell University or the community, and after Ezra Cornell's death on Dec. 9, 1874, the project was abandoned - but not before the "Leviathan" was delivered. At one point it was used on the Auburn branch of the New York & Oswego Midland which the U.I.& E. had leased for a short time. But it was eventually returned to the builder, after only a year or so of operation in Central New York. After
being returned to Mason in 1876, the Leviathan was then sold to the Galveston,
Harrisburg & San Antonio Railroad of Texas, and became their #24,
and retained the name "Leviathan."
When
the Leviathan went to Texas in 1876, two of her Mason Bogie sisters went
with her,
GH&SA
#22 - Dixie Crosby
(see
here
for more info on the Dixie Crosby and the Commodore Garrison.)
I am
still looking for *any* info regarding her career in Texas..so far I have
nothing.
When
I started this project, I put out pleas for information on various relevant
websites on the internet, several people replied with information about
the Leviathan. If anyone reading this has any other data, information or
Photographs of this Locomotive, please e-mail me at sscotsman@yahoo.com!
Right now this page contains all the known information in existence. If
there is more out there, I would love to add it to this page!
Here is some more Data, sent to me by Frank Evans of Sayre, PA.
Aric Peery, of the Leatherstocking Railway Historical Society, had this to say: "The information I have on the "Leviathan" comes from a book I own, "A History of Railroads in Tompkins County" published in 1977 by DeWitt Historical Society of Ithaca. "Leviathan" was not owned by the Lehigh Valley, at least not directly. As the article on the Norwich excursion states, she was returned to Mason. This was in 1876, just one year after being built. UI&E became the Elmira, Cortland & Northern in 1884; EC&N became LV property in 1905. So "Leviathan" was not transferred to LV through purchase of EC&N. The book doesn't mention what became of "Leviathan" after it was returned to Mason; maybe LV acquired it later in the locomotive's life, although I would think the book would state if this were so. This could explain the clipping that you have that says LV had "Leviathan". Or maybe the clipping was just assuming (incorrectly) that any locomotive owned by a LV predecessor was therefore owned by Lehigh Valley as well. "History of Railroads in Tompkins County" has a picture of "Leviathan", but it appears to be the same one that you have." And
the "Norwich excursion" article mentioned above is this:
Update!
July 23, 2002
From the book "the Fairlie Locomotive" by Rowland Abbot. Leviathan:
Check
out this Beauty!
I know of three builders photographs of The Leviathan, here is the second:
This
builder's photo was obviously taken on the same day as the photograph
The
third Mason builders photo shows the other side of the engine, and appears
in the book
again,
any other information on this Locomotive is very welcome!
Update!!
August 2002.
This
photo is Fantastic! shows the wooden beams on the pilot.
This
make four known photos of the Leviathan, three different Mason builder's
photos, and the one
The exact color scheme worn by the Leviathan is still unknown, but based on much color research by the Mason Bogie crew over on mylargescale.com, a likely scheme has been worked out:
Green was a very popular locomotive color of the day, and it is known Mason used green. The brass and striping can be easily seen in the B&W photos..what is not 100% confirmed is the exact overall color used..it was likely green, as seen above, but it could have also been blue, a dark red called "Lake", brown, or a few other color choices. Unless actual color data can be found, I will probably paint my model of the Leviathan in green. I'm
still hoping a newspaper article of the day will come to light that says
something like: "The new "Hill Climber" locomotive was dropped off in Ithaca
today, resplendent in (the real color), that will soon go to work on.."
etc.
Special
thanks to all the fine Gentlemen who helped with this page.
I have
gathered all this information together because I am going to build a model
And
because I am very interested in local railroad history, especially the
history of the
and
speaking of "The Model of The Leviathan"... To
the Model Page! Thoughts?
Comments? please e-mail me at: sscotsman@yahoo.com
Scot
Lawrence
For more information on Mason Bogie Locomotives, check out these great resources: MasterClass 2002 - Build a Mason Bogie - Where it all began. Mason
Bogie Resource Archive - The photo collection
to go with MasterClass 2002.
Masterclass 2002 Mason Bogie Color Archive - The Color data to go with the above Archive. Mason
Steam Locomotives - By Arthur W. Wallace. - An
excellent book covering all of Mason's locomotives,
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