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This page last revised 8/13/2026
This page last generated 8/28/2026 2:27:10 PM
| Number: USS 21 | Name: Dumbo (informal) | |
|---|---|---|
| Date Built: | Date Purchased: 1992 | Date Sold: none |
| Line Built for: US Steel | Disposition: Unserviceable | |
| Builder: Davenport | Model: | Serial Number: |
| Style: diesel-hydraulic | Type: Switcher | Wheel Arrangement: B |
| Track Gauge: 3' | Tractive Effort: | Pressure/Power: |
| Valve Gear/Transmission: Hydraulic | Driver Size: | Cylinder Bore: |
| Weight: ~50 ton | Engine Weight: ~50 ton | Adhesive Weight: ~50 ton |
| Grate: n/a | Fuel Capy.: | Water Capy.: n/a |
This unit is identified as being US Steel Clairton Works #21. The US Steel Clairton Works is a coke plant in southwestern Pennsylvania about 20 miles south of Pittsburgh. Coke is coal burned with limited air to burn off everything but the carbon content. Coke is then used in iron furnaces. The Clairton Works supplies coke to furnaces at US Steel's steel plants.
The unit has a very short cab about 3' high, the window of which is currently covered with corragated steel. It is a dual engine unit with only two axles and has two short buffer cars or coupler adapter cars on either end.
This double-ended diesel-hydraulic locomotive is reported to have arrived at the EBT around 1978, at about the same time as the M-4 and the "Ghost" G1. It came with two shoving platforms, one coupled to each end. As of 1986 it was stored in the Locomotive Shop. At some point, likely when the M-7 and sisters arrived in 1996, this unit was moved to the dead end track in the Car Shop. It resided there until 2020 when the railroad was purchased by the EBT Foundaiton. In April of 2020 the Davenport was moved outside at the sout end of the yard (ca. 2023) to free up indoor space. It is believed the unit is currently inside the Car Barn.
This unit has never operated at the EBT. Due to that heavy weight on only two axles and the resulting high axle load as well as the tiny cab, this unit is highly unlikely to ever run at the EBT.
A sister Clairton Works locomotive to this one was featured in an H. K. Porter catalog of 1943. It describes #14 as such: "50-ton 36" gauge DIESEL-ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE powered with two 160 H. P. Diesel engines, for use at a steel plant." Although from a different manufacturer than #21, it has the same peculiar cab arrangement.
Photo from Robert E. Rathke collection.
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