Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad Heisler No. 91 in 1986.

(Roger Puta, courtesy Marty Bernard from U.S.A., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

HEISLER LOCOMOTIVE

The Heisler locomotive is one of the three major types of geared steam locomotives and the last to be patented.

Charles L. Heisler received a patent for the design in 1892, following the construction of a prototype in 1891. Somewhat similar to a Climax locomotive, Heisler's design featured two cylinders canted inwards at a 45-degree angle to form a 'V-twin' arrangement. Power then went to a longitudinal drive shaft in the center of the frame that drove the outboard axle on each powered truck through bevel gears in an enclosed gearcase riding on the axle between the truck frames. The inboard axle on each truck was then driven from the outboard one by external side (connecting) rods.

In 1897, Heisler received a patent on a three-truck locomotive. As with Class C Shay locomotives, the tender rode on the third truck. Unlike the Shay, Heisler's design did not have a continuous string of line shafting running the length of the engine. Instead, the tender truck was driven by a line shaft above the shaft driving the main engine trucks, connected to it through spur gears. This patent also covered use of a 4-cylinder 'V4' cylinder configuration.

The Heisler was the fastest of the geared steam locomotive designs, and yet was still claimed by its manufacturer to have the same low-speed hauling ability.

Ohio Match Company No. 1 Builders Photo, 1923.

(Builders Photo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Builders

The first Heislers were built by the Dunkirk Engineering Company of Dunkirk, New York, at the time producer of their own design of geared locomotive (called the Dunkirk), of which the Heisler could be considered an improvement. They did not adopt the Heisler design, but in 1894 the Stearns Manufacturing Company of Erie, Pennsylvania started to produce Heislers, and did so until 1904. Reorganized as the Heisler Locomotive Works in 1907, it produced locomotives of the Heisler design until 1941.

A & G Price of Thames, New Zealand received an order for a Heisler locomotive in 1943 from Ogilvie and Co, sawmillers of Hokitika, who wanted to purchase a Heisler locomotive but were unable to do so as production of Heisler locomotives had ceased in 1941. The resulting locomotive, maker's No. 148 of 1944, was the last Heisler-design steam locomotive to be built, and closely followed Heisler practice but with the addition of a Belpaire firebox and front-mounted water tanks that featured a unique curved leading edge.

Borate & Daggett Railroad in Mule Canyon on way to Borate, pre-1914.

(Unknown photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Variants

Heislers were produced mostly in two- and three-truck variants in sizes ranging from 17 to 95 tons (15.2 to 84.8 long tons; 15.4 to 86.2 t). There was one single-truck, narrow gauge Heisler built, Lake Shore Stone Products Co. No. 7 for the Lake Shore Stone Products Co.Lake Shore Stone Co., Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Heisler technical view.

(The original uploader was Leonard G. at English Wikipedia., CC SA 1.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/sa/1.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons)

Notable survivors

Roughly 625 Heislers were produced, of which some 35 still exist. Approximately eight of these survivors are currently operational.

Works No.	Year	No. of Trucks	Weight	Preserved as	Location	Notes
1930	1929	3	90 tons	West Fork Logging Co No. 91	Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad in Elbe, Washington.	Awaiting boiler work.
1594	1929	2	32 tons	White Mountain Central Railroad 4	Clark's Trading Post in Lincoln, New Hampshire.
1591	1929	3	90 tons	Cass Scenic Railroad 6	Cass Scenic Railroad State Park in Cass, West Virginia.	Operational.
1565	1928	3	80 tons	4	El Salto, Mexico, along the Durango-Mazatlan highway.
1502	1924	3	90 tons	Potlatch 92	Locomotive Park in Lewiston, Idaho.	Unrestored state on static display.
1494	1924	2	24 tons		Shantytown, near Greymouth, New Zealand.	Statically restored in 2011 for display within the park's environs.
1479	1923	2	55 tons	9	Southeastern Railway Museum in Duluth, Georgia.	Static display.
1450	1921	2	26 tons		Ferrymead Railway, Christchurch, New Zealand.	Stored in the locomotive shed.
1446	1920	2	36 tons	Pacific Lumber Co. 9	Scotia, California.	Static display.
1401	1899	2	37 tons	Roaring Camp & Big Trees Narrow Gauge RR 2	Roaring Camp and Big Trees Narrow Gauge Railroad in Felton, California.	Oldest known operational Heisler.
1375	1918	2	53 tons	Chicago Mill and Lumber Company 4	Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania	Displayed with a Climax and a Shay.
1369	1918	3	75 tons	Pickering Lumber Company 2	Travel Town open-air museum in Los Angeles.
1351	1916	2	47 tons	Bluestone Mining & Smelting 1.	Roots of Motive Power in Willits, California.
1306	1915	2	40 tons	W. H. Eccles Lumber Company 3	Sumpter Valley Railway in Baker County, Oregon.
1260	1912	2	36 tons	2	Silver Creek and Stephenson historical railroad in Freeport, Illinois.
1198	1910	2	60 tons	Curtiss Lumber Company 2	Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad in Garibaldi, Oregon.	Awaiting boiler work.
1082	1904	2	20 tons		Bush Tramway Club at Pukemiro, New Zealand.	Static display.
	1917	2		CRAIG MT. LBR. CO. No. 3 (Craig Mountain Lumber Company, Idaho)	Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad in Garibaldi, Oregon.	Operational.
		3	78 tons		Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad in Elbe, Washington.	Static display.
	1923	2		Ohio Match Company No. 4	Northwest Railway Museum in Snoqualmie, WA	Static display. Last operated in 1958.
A & G Price 148	1943	2		Ogilvie and Company "Gladstone"	Steam Scene, Christchurch, New Zealand,	Last Heisler design locomotive built; in full working order; boiler ticket expired 2022.

Advantages and disadvantages

The Heisler locomotive's gearing was inside the frame and thus protected, unlike that of a Shay locomotive. However, the Heisler's drive shaft, which was located in the center of the frame, limited firebox space. For this reason, when A & G Price built their Heisler, in 1943, they used a Belpaire firebox, to mitigate problems with burning wood and accommodating the drive shaft.

Cass Scenic Railroad's Western Maryland No. 6, July 2013.

(Mark Levisay, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

Conversions

Similar to the Climax, some Heislers, especially two-truck ones, were converted to diesel or gasoline power, retaining their gearing and drive shafts, but their steam boiler is replaced by an internal combustion engine.

Heisler Locomotive Works also built this Pennsylvania Power & Light Fireless 0-8-0F in 1940.

It is the largest fireless locomotive ever built, originally for the Hammermill Paper Company.

Unfortunately, it turned out to be too heavy for their tracks.