The Steam Turbine Locomotive.
The late 1940s were a transition period for American railways, moving from steam power to diesel. It was clear this was the future. Around the same time the steam turbine was born and appeared as if it might challenge the diesel.
While other railroads switched from coal to diesel, the Chesapeake & Ohio railroad refused to take this step for a while. Given their huge coal business, attempts were made to modernize the fleet while retaining coal as fuel.
Baldwin Steam Works completed a total of three M-1 coal-fired steam turbine locomotives in 1947-48, which became the longest and the biggest single-unit locomotives in the world.
Baldwin Steam Turbine M-1 was nicknamed "Holy Cow". Its lines were streamlined and looked like nothing else on the rails. The steamer happened to be 32 meters long and weighed 388 tones.
The giant steamer had conventional fire-tube boilers mounted backward to regular practice. In the front part of the locomotive located the coal bunker. The water came from an additional tender. Boilers fed the 6000hp turbine in the rear part of the locomotive. This turbine generated electricity to power 8 traction motors, which together delivered 4960hp.
With this system it was hoped that maintenance would be easier than with piston steam locomotives. The aim was to complete round trips of 1600 kilometers without servicing stops.
The big disadvantage of the steamer’s unconventional layout were the coal dust fouled the forward traction motors and water dripping from the boiler. They often short circuited electric traction motors.
The intended area of operation was the luxury "Chessie" streamlined train to travel between Washington and Cincinnati from 1944. With a top speed of 161km/h, "Chessie" would reach a cruising speed of 113km/h.
A fleet of cars was ordered, including extra-roomy 36-seat coaches, twin-unit dining cars equipped with a movie theater and dome coaches. "Chessie" also featured a large warm water aquarium with tropical fish. Yet, this train never made its debut. There were strikes and testing was not going well.
In total, Baldwin made three steam turbine M-1 locomotives in 1947 and in early 1948. All together locomotives cost US$1.6 million, which is an equivalent of US$22.5 million today.
The Chesapeake and Ohio was never able to get the Baldwin Steam Turbine M-1 to go all the way from Washington to Cincinnati in a single day, it always broke down.
The M-1's fate finally ended in 1949 when locomotives turned out to be very unreliable and the "Chessie" luxury train did not come into being. Baldwin Steam Turbine M-1s were eventually used in other areas for only a short time.
Soon all Baldwin Steam Turbine M-1 locomotives were quietly scrapped in 1950. The nation's leading hauler of coal began to rapidly dieselize.