Fireless Locomotive at the Ford Motor Company Rouge Plant Steel Mill, 1936

THF704474 / Fireless Locomotive at the Ford Motor Company Rouge Plant Steel Mill, 1936
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Artifact Overview

Ford Motor Company owned locomotives to move railcars around the Rouge plant. This fireless locomotive had no firebox, and it lacked a tender to carry coal and water. Instead, it had a reservoir that was filled with pressurized, superheated water supplied from an external source. Ford's fireless locomotive could operate inside factory buildings without fear of cinders, smoke or fumes.

Artifact Details

Artifact

Photographic print

Date Made

24 February 1936

Subject Date

24 February 1936

Location

By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center

Object ID

84.1.1660.P.833.65291

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Ford Motor Company.

Material

Paper (Fiber product)

Technique

Gelatin silver process

Color

Black-and-white (Colors)

Dimensions

Height: 8.125 in
Width: 10 in

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    Ford Motor Company operated its own industrial railroad at the Rouge factory. Ford-owned locomotives moved incoming railcars filled with raw materials, and outgoing railcars loaded with finished parts and vehicles. Ford employees crewed trains, cared for locomotives, and maintained 100 miles of track within the factory grounds. At its 1930s peak, Ford's Rouge railroad was one of the largest privately owned rail operations in the world.