This Class B-15 Mogul type (2-6-0) locomotive is one of one hundred and thirty-five acquired by the Boston & Maine Railroad between 1903 and 1910. The locomotive was built at Alco’s Manchester, NH, works. It is the sole survivor of the class and the only steam locomotive in the Danbury Railway Museum’s collection.
Delivered as #100 in 1907, it was renumbered #1455 in 1911 and rebuilt and superheated by the B&M in 1918 when it was re-classed as a B-15b. With 63” drivers, it has 19” x 26” cylinders and a 22’ 9” engine wheelbase and 15’ driver wheelbase. As built, #1455 weighed 145,000 lbs, 127,000 lbs on its drivers. Engine weight increased to 150,000 lbs with the rebuild and weight on the drivers grew to 128,000 lbs and the internal Stephenson valve gear was replaced with Walschaert. The grate area increased slightly from 30.2 sq ft to 30.3 sq ft and the firebox dropped from 159.4 sq ft to 158 sq ft. Total heating surface dropped from 1,893 sq ft to 1,748, but now included 302 sq ft superheating. Tractive effort remained unchanged at 25,327 lbs.
The tender weighs 70,890 lbs light and has a capacity of 5,000 gallons of water and 10 tons of coal.
From the late 1910s, the B&M began superheating the B-15s, which were rebuilt with piston valves, cast tender trucks, steel cabs, cross-compound air pumps and centered headlights, although they kept their inside valve gear. They worked on secondary lines until replaced by diesels in the 1950s.
In 1956, #1455 still ran on commuter trains out of Boston's North Station to Clinton, MA. That year, it was retired and donated to the Edaville Railroad in South Carver, MA. At some point, it was sold to the Cape Cod Railway and then sat in Hyannis and Rochester, MA, before
being bought by the Danbury Railway Museum in 1999.
