When did cross-compound air pumps come into use?

Model Railroader Prototype information for the modeler
1

I am working on backdating a Bachmann 2-8-0 into a Las Vegas and Tonopah engine circa 1910. The only photo of it dates to about 1930 after the UP bought it. I am wondering if I have to remove the cross-compound air pump and put a couple of single air pumps. Any thoughts about how common they were in 1910? - Nevin

2

Hello Nevin,

Locomotives were being built with early forms of cross-compound air compressor by 1895. The Westinghouse 8-1/2-inch cross-compound compressor that became almost a standard of the steam age had been introduced by 1906, as shown by its inclusion in the
Locomotive Dictionary of that year. Still, single-stage compressors were much more common in the first decade of the 20th century, and even as late as the 1912 Locomotive Dictionary.

So long,

Andy

3

Andy: Thank you, that was exactly what I was looking for. - Nevin