Which railroad?

A quick Google for "SC de M" turns up "Sociedad Comercial de Montevideo - Montevideo United Tramways"

Try Google again.

The "S C" would have been the initials of the railway. "De", means "of", and the "M" would have been the road's geographical location. Alas, that could have been any place-name that begins with an "M" and where the spoken language is Spanish.

I model a couple of the Mexican railroads and "SC de M" doesn't ring any bells; but that doesn't mean a lot as there were all sorts of industrial and short-line railroads scattered across Mexico over the years, and the "M" might indeed stand for Mexico.

But it might also stand for "Madrid", or "Mazatlan", or any number of other locations.

Sorry.

~Pete

The "S C" would have been the initials of the railway. "De", means "of", and the "M" would have been the road's geographical location. Alas, that could have been any place-name that begins with an "M" and where the spoken language is Spanish.

I model a couple of the Mexican railroads and "SC de M" doesn't ring any bells; but that doesn't mean a lot as there were all sorts of industrial and short-line railroads scattered across Mexico over the years, and the "M" might indeed stand for Mexico.

But it might also stand for "Madrid", or "Mazatlan", or any number of other locations.

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I've already posted the answer.

And it's not "Madrid" nor "Mazatlan" :-)

Could have been a Fairlie.

You posted one possible answer. And somehow thought that everyone else was supposed to forget about trying to help after that.

BTW: Google doesn't show that result when I type in SC de M.

~Pete

Scan the picture and post the picture here using Photo Bucket. If no scanner, use a digital camera and take a picture.

I thank Roger Traviss for one possible answer: "Sociedad Comercial de Montevideo - Montevideo United Tramways". This is a reasonable result, but not a certainty. A Google on that answer results in only: .

This railroad started as a horse-drawn operation, and later typically turned to electric cars. The site doesn't have any info on possible steam locomotives, though many tram operations did use small steam locos on occasion.

I've not see the photo, but it is described as a 2-4-4 ... which is typical of many small Forneys and Fairlies, and often used in commuter service.

I also got NO useable hits when entering "SC de M" into Google, or other search engines. I also tried adding periods, and "Mexico" for the "M". Still no useable results, just garbage or unrelated Mexican railways. Adding variations of "Mason", "Fairlie" or "Forney" got me nowhere either.

It's odd, but search engines don't always give similar results using the SAME search criteria. It varies even day-by-day on the same computer.

Thanks, All! At least I can report a possibility.

Dan Mitchell ============

Were there ever any (single) Fairlies with leading trucks? AFAIK I've never come across any.

Regards, Greg.P.

As another poster pointed out, a photo posted on Photobucket or similar would be very helpful.

At the moment we are just blind as we're not even 100% sure it was a Fairlie.

The question might just as well have been "What railroad did this steam loco operate on?" or "How long is a piece of string?"

Well, no. There was a reasonable amount of info to start with.

Scan the picture and post the picture here using Photo Bucket. If no scanner, use a digital camera and take a picture.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Don't post the picture Here! This is a text only newsgroup. Post the picture to one of the photo sites such as

Yeah, I realized after he might not be aware of photo editing services like Flicker and Photo Bucket.

Yeah, I realized after he might not be aware of photo editing services like Flickr and Photo Bucket.

See:

Quoting from Wiki: "The Mason Bogie is a type of articulated steam locomotive suited for sharp curves and uneven track, once commonly used on narrow gauge lines in the United States. The design is a development of the single Fairlie, and is sometimes, and perhaps more properly known as the Mason Fairlie." (lots more ont he site)

A number of Mason-Bogie Fairlies had lead trucks ... at least one is illustrated on the Wiki site, a 2-4-4, same as the loco in question.

The only surviving Mason-Bogie is only about 60 miles from my location, at Greenfield Village in Michigan. This is an 0-6-4, and is named "Torch Lake", it was originally from the C&H RR in Michigan's upper penninsula. It is fully operational, and I've seen it run many times. This too is shown on the Wiki site.

As for the photo that started this thread, I don't have it, and I've not see it. The issue was (originally) the railraod that owned the loco, "SC de M". If I can get access to the photo, I may be able to scan it and post it.

Dan Mitchell ============

I guess I'll justify my "anti-American" label as I don't consider Masons as Fairlies. Fairlies were a patented concept and the Mason a design intended to utilize the advantages of the Fairlie while avoiding royalties.