. Bulletin - United States National Museum. Science. n -^^ V/-T-. Figure —The Philadelphia, built in 1844 by Norris Brothers for the Philadel]jhia and Reading Railroad. Shown as rebuilt 1848-1849 bv MillhoUand. (From American Locomotives. 1849, by E. Reuter.) delphia to the coal fields near Pottsville, the line was built as an anthracite carrier. In 1835, tliree years before it began to operate, the board of managers had decided it was "of the utmost importance that the locomotive engines to be constructed for this company be built with a view to the exclusive use of anthracite as fuel
. Bulletin - United States National Museum. Science. n -^^ V/-T-. Figure —The Philadelphia, built in 1844 by Norris Brothers for the Philadel]jhia and Reading Railroad. Shown as rebuilt 1848-1849 bv MillhoUand. (From American Locomotives. 1849, by E. Reuter.) delphia to the coal fields near Pottsville, the line was built as an anthracite carrier. In 1835, tliree years before it began to operate, the board of managers had decided it was "of the utmost importance that the locomotive engines to be constructed for this company be built with a view to the exclusive use of anthracite as fuel . . ." '^ This plan was frustrated when experience showed that anthracite was all but im- possible to burn in locomotives, and the line had to resort to wood. Millholland's major problem was not simply to build a coal-burning locomotive—diflicult enough in itself—but one that \\ould burn anthracite. This " Minute Books, April 13, 1835. dense, slow-burning fuel—sometmies called "stone coal"—was singularly inappropriate for use in the narrow and deep wood-burning fireboxes of the early 19th century. Anthracite burned best when spread thin over a large area. Wood, on the other hand, being highly combustible, was stacked thick and deep for best results in firing. Because the Reading's primary traffic was anthra- cite, MillhoUand \sas expected to develop a practical plan for using this fuel in the company's locomotives. He labored ten years with the problem, and in the end, despite many failures, he achieved a remarkably successful design. Boiler and firebox improvement was Millholland's chief occupation, and he pioneered in this field. Most American motive-power oflicials of the period were content with wood burners, con- 10 BULLETIN 25 2: CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY .AND TECHNOLOGY. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of the
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