Poems and Thoughts    by Frank Maurer

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The 'Big Boy' Mallet. When I was quite small, about 10 or so, My father took us three children from Massachusetts To Pennsylvania, where my paternal grandfather, Albert, lived. He had worked all his life on the Baltimore and Ohio (B and O) railroad. He rose to 'conductor,' the person in charge of the whole train. I always remember his missing right index finger, Lost, while coupling cars of a freight train one winter's night. Well, on our visit, Albert took us all down to the 'yard,' Where there stood the largest steam locomotive ever built-- The 'Big Boy,' or Mallet (French, pronounced 'Malley'), Having a wheel configuration of 2-6-6-2 (versus just 2-6-2). It was built to be twice as long by having a continuous boiler, With two separate sets of driving wheels, the rear set is attached To the boiler, while the front engine set is attached by a hinge, Allowing it to swing (like a trailer), thus navigating tight curves. This solved the problem of large engines navigating on original rails. The Mallet was originally designed in France to solve this problem, Where tight curves made navigation impossible for more powerful engines. Anatole Mallet designed the first model in 1884. He was a French-speaking Swiss mechanical engineer. The debut was in 1888, and in 1889, they were used To carry passengers around the Paris Exposition. In the US, the Baldwin Locomotive Works Built them to giant proportions starting in 1904. There were many accidents where the high-pressure boilers blew up. We innocent child visitors had no idea of all this history, And were spared an actual trip where an explosion could have occurred! We just innocently gawked at this huge, magnificent machine. As a result, I had my own American Flyer train set. My son, Pierre, caught the bug, resulting in his having HO models, And now he participates in a Bay Area train club with his 5-year-old son, Rowan, who delights in his miniature train excursions! Frank Maurer 23 August 2026 1440 Hours.