Talk:Steam dummy

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Comment[edit]

These seem similar to the British tramway locomotive, which were generally enclosed locomotives with side skirts to hide the motion and cowcatchers front and rear to prevent people/livestock going under the wheels. They were used on unfenced street trackage. See this page and this page] for some pictures. —Morven 19:00, Dec 9, 2004 (UTC)

Post Civil War use[edit]

The intro text says: "Steam dummies had some popularity in the first decades of railroading in the U.S., from the 1830s but passed from favor after the Civil War." In looking through the Baldwin and Porter catalogs from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it is clear that Porter was pushing steam dummies in competition with early electric trams for street railways, and it is clear that they continued to be sold into the 20th century. The impression I get is that it was the advent of internal combustion power the ended the use of dummies on urban lines that did not sustain enough traffic to electrify. Douglas W. Jones (talk) 01:30, 1 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]