BALDWINS

This will be my first mobile blog update so we will see how it goes. I've always loved Baldwin and Fairbanks morse switchers I guess for aesthetic reasons - their higher hoods and boxy industrial looks. I read somewhere that steel companies liked them too, especially those with heavy grades inside the mill, because of their weight. USS Fairless used them at their open hearths charging side as they had more traction on the approach grade. Since both of these manufacturers stopped building locomotives 50 years or so ago, it's rare to see one of these locos, much less one running Fortunately for Baldwin enthusiasts there is the SMS Railroad here in south jersey. They have a large roster of baldwins, many former steel company units.

I ran into one these baldwins on a Dunkin donuts run this morning. S-12 #308. This unit, built in 1953 is one of SMSs more "modern" locomotives. SMS acquired it in 1998 from the original owner, the Michigan Limestone Company. It was rebuilt and painted in 2006. Except for all the modern items in the photo, the paint scheme and loco would have been home in a 1950s photo