America's most impressive banking engine - Reuben Wells

[@TrainFactGuy]

"Push it good- (Ah, push it) Push it *real* good" -Salt 'N' Pepa, 1987

[@yeoldeseawitch]

There's a typo in the title. its called the "Reuben Wells" with an E in Reuben

[@TheSudrianTerrier653]

That sounds more inappropriate than it should be

[@jimmypetrock]

Hi

[@KelniusTV]

This is fascinating, and I consider myself a fan, and I had a thought... I've see trains with big, chunky steam funnels, and I've also seen trains with short funnels. The Reuben has the biggest funnel I've ever seen - why do some trains need big funnels, and others not?

[@kiwitrainguy]

@@KelniusTV The large part on top of the funnel is to arrest sparks. After about the 1890s the spark arresting function moved to inside the smokebox.

[@DoubleX8620]

Fascinating that such an odd locomotive survived to this day. The British bankers I can think of, the LNER U1, LMS Garratt and Big Bertha are sadly history, but this one is still around today which I find quite amazing. I remember seeing the locomotive in the game Trainstation ages ago. I never knew the history of it. It looks quite odd, but it has some character and for an 0-10-0 it may be the first of this wheel configuration. Great first video for 2024 👌

[@smyset1112]

I can confirm, she still exists. I've heard her bell ring.

[@dustin_4501]

​@@smyset1112British steam engines don't have bells...

[@Froggyman145]

​​@@dustin_4501I believe they were referring to the engine in the video. The three British engines mentioned in the original comment, as OP said, have all been scrapped

[@dustin_4501]

@@Froggyman145 Yeah maybe that what he is referring to.

[@mikefaulkner5306]

Was the LMS Garrett designed as a banker? Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm sure it was designed for pulling coal trains not banking them. The U1 however and Big Bertha were definitely bankers for specific hills (Wosborough Bank and Lickey Incline respectively)

[@TankEngineMedia]

Ruben Wells is the American equivalent of Big Bertha but the loco survives into present day which is nice!

[@templar_1138]

Steam history is one of the only areas that I can feel some national pride as an American. I mean, the Shay, Big Boy, and Reuben Wells demonstrate a common attitude of, "Okay, the circumstances suck... so let's make an engine that overcomes the circumstances!" If only I could figure out how to do that with my life...

[@flintfredstone228]

There aren''t many in recent American history, but there are plenty of areas to feel pride in from the past. Bridge building, architecture, film, painting, music, constitutional government, public education, technology, and conservancy

[@mrmoviemanic1]

Glad you found that Templar. American History is truly amazing and I do think you have a lot to have pride in, but the Steam Engines are very much what people think of when they think of America as the classic Wild West world, so it's witthout a doubt one of the most important factors in American history.

[@ConstantlyDamaged]

All too often I watch these and feel the sadness as you describe the engines being sent for scrap. Love that this old UNIT not only was saved, but rebuilt.

[@ROBERTN-ut2il]

The PRR operated Madison Hill with specially ballasted Model 1500 horsepower Model SD7's (Extra thick frames plus extra weight where it could be fitted in) weighing 370,000 pounds and with EMD's lowest gear ratio of 65:12 , there was also a unique rail washer system installed in the short hood, to get rid of slippery debris such as leaves, I would guess. Trains could not exceed 15 cars, or 350 tons. The engine had to be placed on the downgrade side of the train and speed could not exceed 8MPH. The units had to be inspected by the assigned crew every time prior to being used on the hill to assure all the special appliances (railwashers, etc) were functional. The "book" states that they were rated at 90K worth of TE., which is likely rather conservative. They were rated at 4.5 mile per hour minimum continuous speed.

[@justinmeeks1868]

Rail washers on locomotives are for generally for washing sand off the rails they have applied. The sand helps the locomotives traction but dragging the rest of the train through sand is exceptionally harder.

[@joedaylight]

The Reuben wells holds a special place in my heart as it was the first ever steam locomotive i seen as a child and seen it many times as a kid. Last time i seen the locomotive it had a little show that was played and its bell rang along side the story. It was an awesome experience.

[@blasterblaster1221]

Im so happy my suggestion got used, i live in indianapolis so ive seen reuben wells at the childrens museum most my life, glad she gets her story shared a bit more here

[@doomslayer5490]

Live 20 Minutes away from the Indianapolis Children’s museum. Seen Ruby about every time I’ve visited there since I was a kid. She’s gorgeous. Really neat locomotive.

[@Paradox-vu9ro]

They really oughta put some rollers beneath her wheels like they did up at the superior railroad museum in Duluth.

[@lukechristmas3951]

It's very fortunate that Reuben Wells (the engine) was preserved and at the request of the man who designed and built him. How often has that happened in the rail preservation world? Reuben Wells (again, the engine) has appeared in a few of the railroad books that I own and he really did deserve a video of his own on this channel! Merry Christmas!

[@JangoF12b]

I've been to see this engine a lot, I love trains and the history of this engine really helped push that when I was young. Glad to see this cool video from a cool channel about my home state's famous engine.

[@Retro_Husky]

Same here.

[@JohnDavies-cn3ro]

Thanks for this - I learned of the Reuben Wells only last year, and was amazed by such a wonderful machine being built so early, and stil being with us. Its a lovely engine indeed. Sadly, Big Emma (aka Bertha?), the big pusher on the Lickey Incline was so totally worn out on retirement there wasn't much hope of preserving her - behind her trailing wheels, her main frames, I'm told, were worn away to half or less of their original thickness due to flange wear. The little Norris engines (as you show on the Lickey in its early days) were imported from the US specifically to work the Lickey. Stephensons didn't think they could build an engine capable of the work, and a Bury 0-4-0 they tried simply lay down and died, so having heard about the Norris engines, particularly 'Washington County Farmer' and 'Gowan & Marx', the directors bought some. They took a while to figure that (a) there was something special about the tender drawbar which helped and (b) American boiler pressure pounds weren't quite the same as British ones, but they were good little engines none the less. Some of them, rebuilt as saddle tanks, went to the infant Taff Vale Railway towards the end of their careers - and yes, like Big Emma and Reuben Wells, they are great favourites of mine!

[@motorwayt-s628]

This is one of the first steam engines I’ve ever seen irl. I used to come visit Ruben Wells at the children’s museum a lot as a kid, it was a big part of my childhood

[@clyde3013]

Yooo someone finally did a video on the only steam locomotive I've ever seen in real life!

[@matthewpowell2429]

I love this engine! I got to see her so many times in my life!

[@LMK-Gaming]

The little engine that could 😊

[@Arkay315]

Yay, my suggestion finally became a video.

[@jetseekers]

Some kinda running model of the Reuben Wells has long been a holy Grail of mine I grew up going to the Indianapolis Children's Museum and always loved seeing it as a full size steam Locomotive in their All Aboard exhibit

[@Retro_Husky]

I agree. We should have a model of the engine. I love going to the museum for a long time.

[@jetseekers]

@@Retro_Husky the museum itself has had a couple in my times there, but I suspect those were custom commissioned back when the exhibit was opened

[@Retro_Husky]

@@jetseekers Oh yeah. I forgot about them. I did see them in my time too. But even still, it would be cool for some company to make an actual model of the locomotive.

[@jetseekers]

@@Retro_Husky I've heard rumor there may be custom or small batch brass models about, but not much else. I've been toying with the idea of making a custom myself in kitbash somehow But it is a very unique and somewhat unusual design

[@Retro_Husky]

Very interesting!

[@Retro_Husky]

I love it! Thank you. I love seeing Reuben Wells in the Indianapolis Children's Museum and it has such an interesting history. It has been part of my childhood for so long. One of many factors that drove me to railroads/railways. Proud to call this engine as my home state's engine.

[@Jayhsia1215]

Cool

[@joedaylight]

Indeed!

[@carlboda3725]

I have seen the Reuben Wells locomotive multiple times at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis, it is quite the sight to see and it comes alive inside its giant room, used to scare the crap out of me when I was a kid!

[@trentsteamengine5771]

Thank you so much for this. This loco means a lot from me and is the one that got me into trains and with it being so close to my birthday this has really made my day, so thanks m8 for this.

[@jerrysgardentractorsengine2243]

To think that parts of this route are still operating today is insane. Not to mention the incline is still there, tracks still in place

[@C.A.A93]

These sorts of videos about unique engines and their stories are consistently my favorite. Keep up the good work and cheers to you and yours for 2024 🥂

[@kolldee3006]

absolutely wonderful video, and a lovely little banker.

[@kartertheguy712]

by far my favourite engine - ruben wells

[@thesjlawshow759]

Little Engines CAN Do Big Things

[@AB00_2]

Eyy he's back

[@sketchman7392]

I live in the exact state in the US where this engine is now located in the Indianapolis Children's Museum. 🚂🚃🚃 Having such a relic of the past in our possession really brings out the wonder of how an engine like Ruben Wells was operating back in the day. 😊

[@Retro_Husky]

I agree, I also live in the same state.

[@GeneralLeeStudiosBrian]

this loco is in my home state :) I am wanting to go visit it

[@kkobayashi1]

Very interesting. The Usui Pass in Japan has a similar history. The 1 in 15 grade was originally operated with rack rail but switched to adhesion using specially designed banking engines. The EF63 electric locomotives were used there for banking until 1997. I've been on it many times and it was always fun to watch the engines being coupled and decoupled. Also the station became famous for the kamameshi (clay pot rice) - because it took a few minutes to attach the banking engines, passengers could get off and buy it on the platform.

[@solarionsolarix]

It's fun to visit it at the children's museum of Indianapolis as well as to have gotten to tour that rail route before the rockslide closed it recently.

[@Slushiebop]

Eyyy I live next to the Madison Incline! It's also unique because the fact that the walls are at a perfect 90° angle meaning rocks tend to hang over everything. There has also been instances of derailments and such on the line and runaways, one being the time a diesel with a scrap truck was going up the incline not knowing the truck was leaking water and caused the train to slip and roll down the incline

[@genevarailfan3909]

The tracks are still in place on Madison Hill, though they're out of service. Madison Railroad, a shortline, still operates at the top of the hill though. I believe I heard that they considered making the hill line into a tourist attraction, at least for hiking, but rockslide issues in the cut make it unsafe.

[@justincole1510]

I actually did go to Madison when I was younger. Never saw the incline. But the riverside of the town was definitely in a hilly area. Also, most amazing vid I heard. Knew about the grade but never knew about what they used to get cars up it. But seeing an American tank engine with 10 drivers? Amazing m, and the fact it’s been preserved makes me want I go see it and it’s in Indy.

[@Jpwfranks]

I got to see this in person a few weeks ago, and also many times as a kid. It’s work car that it normally went up and down the hill with is also there and you can go inside it. It’s a really neat piece of history.

[@Straswa]

Great video ToT! Fascinating engine.

[@iaingarbison6986]

Can be seen in my home state of Indiana babyyy I remember seeing her so much as a child just to be in awe by the size

[@kenharris5390]

The little engine that could.

[@IAmMisterTterevel]

America's Big Bertha.

[@JohnDavies-cn3ro]

So what about 'El Gobernador' on the Central Pacific, or a camel 0-8-0 on the B&O? The CP engine was a magnificent brute, much bigger than anything else in the US of its time. OK, they were road engines, whereas Reuben Wells and Big Emma were bankers pure and simple, but America has a long, honourable tradition of steam 'superpower' .

[@johncamp2567]

Great story….excellent research!

[@wondermenel2811]

2:12 Look at these hips dawg Sweet damn

[@mod2966]

Ain’t no way bruh

[@calebc.2290]

god i feel so dumb. I read the title and thinking. “ what does a bank need a steam engine?” as in a financial bank and not a gradient bank.

[@420sakura1]

You aren't the only one

[@jacoblyman9441]

They wouldn't have called it a "banking" engine in the US though, they're known as "helpers" here. Nobody would mistake a helper as the term for a financial institution. 😂

[@justandy333]

🤣🤣

[@MrDgwphotos]

Or more recently, distributed power, though that is sometimes used even when there is not a steep grade to climb.

[@jacoblyman9441]

@@MrDgwphotos I wouldn't really count distributed power units as quite the same thing personally, although they do serve a similar function. A key aspect of a banker/helper unit is they have a specific district they serve, I.E. when a train arrives at that spot they hook the extra power to it then shove it up a hill. Once at the end of the district the spare engine cuts off then returns back to the base of the hill to get ready to help the next train. DPU's tend to stay with the train for long distances. A DPU put on in Chicago might ride a freight train all the way to Los Angeles, never being cut out of it and just part of the power until it reaches the terminal. Sure they can throttle a DPU down if not needed, but it is just always part of the train. DPU's have killed a lot of old helper districts though, it is getting harder to find places where helper service is frequent these days.

[@micahh9351]

Nice that she got a good ending. At least for reuben wells. Hope to visit this magnificent iron horse one day

[@harrisonallen651]

Ruben is easily one the most greatest banking engines of all time

[@the_god_abandinus]

I've seen this engine!

[@dustin_4501]

How to climb a big hill UK: Big Bertha/Big Emma US: Reuben Wells

[@muhammadizzdanish2562]

Island of Sodor: Edward

[@Shipwright1918]

Hooo boy, 5.8% grade..! Makes the Lickey (2.65%) sound like a speedbump.

[@JohnDavies-cn3ro]

Try walking it, from Bromsgrove to Blackwell, and you might think differently. It still needed pushers, bankers or helper engines (delete to taste) into the 1970's until the new genration of HST trains came in. I helped one year at a scout camp at Blackwell Court, opposite the top of the grade, where the class 47 bankers cast off, and would wait for a road back down to Bromsgrove. Having grown up beside a main line railway, I was the only person who got any sleep that week!

[@Shipwright1918]

Some jobs still require banking over the Lickey, still a stiff grade by any measure. We just have some steeper and longer ones is all I'm saying, personally would be sweating bullets trying to go down a 5.8% with a long freight drag, nevermind climbing it, before dynamics you'd be smoking the brake shoes like crazy.

[@michaelharrison1172]

Seen both the Madison incline and the steam locomotive. It is wild how steep the Madison incline is in person let alone having a steam engine go up without any sorta cog system.

[@joshuaW5621]

I’m visiting London today.

[@roberthuron9160]

The other steep gradient was/is Saluda,on the Norfork Southern,ex-Southern(?)! That is also out of service! Thank you! Thank you 😇 😊!

[@justandy333]

I have another suggestion for your great channel. The LMS 6202 'Turbomotive'. As far as I'm aware there isn't an awful lot of videos kicking about on youtube about this experimental engine. I'd love to hear your take on the class.

[@TheOriginalJphyper]

5.89%? FIVE POINT EIGHT NINE PERCENT?! Even today's locomotives often struggle with grades of only 2%.

[@420sakura1]

Google banking engines. They aren't normal expresses.

[@alexanderdeburdegala4609]

It's no Shay, but a really cool looking loco. Would make a great model

[@falconheavy809]

I've (double-u)aited so long for the day (double-u)hen someone (double-u) cover this locomotive. It's my favorite part of the Indy Children's Museum by far, and The Reuben (double-u)ells is displayed along PRR Tool Car 60.

[@JintySteam1]

I think if I was there back then I would have suggested to have a stationary engine at the top and winched them up and down.

[@John900C]

Yes, my thought too. Cable inclines were commonplace at the time.

[@robnewman6101]

Wow.

[@justandy333]

I have a suggestion for a future video. (Apologies if its already been done) How about doing a video about the "60532, Blue Peter" incident, which took place on 01/10/94 near Durham. That would be a very interesting video to see!

[@alicehodges9964]

I Like The Steam Engine It Looks Amazing

[@nightlightabcd]

I have seen it at the Indianapolis Children's Museum. It was one of the exhibits I always looked forward to seeing, but then it was gone. I was never able to found out where it went. I still don't know.

[@garryferrington811]

Pretty amazing that this oddball was completely successful. Evidently Mr. Wells knew what he was doing.

[@justandy333]

Bloody Nora that's steep! 1 in 17!! For comparison the revered Lickey Incline in the UK which has been covered (indirectly) on this channel before, has a gradient of 1 in 37.7! And that is considered very steep by railway standards.

[@JohnDavies-cn3ro]

And don't forget, by the time of the Civil War American freight cars and coaches were bigger and heavier, even then, than British ones. Reuben Wells, shoving (say) six box cars up that bank would be shifting roughly the equivalent of ten British ones. And makes her achievement all the greater for the mid 1860s. We didn't build a ten-coupled until the early 1900's.

[@wclulow1272]

Could you consider the Reuben Wells a camel type locomotive?

[@stijnVDA1994]

Uh how come you haven't used an image of reuben wells in the museum? Since i just looked up that it has a color image of it on it's wiki page..

[@phroogo...]

0:03 the D&RGW: i don't think so **proceeds to pull 5000 tons up a 2.5% grade**

[@bbgamer3340]

I like trains

[@Challenger3985Productions]

i have seen that locomotive

[@QuintonMurdock]

I wonder if shays would be good banking engines

[@robertbalazslorincz8218]

Wait this isn't Saluda-

[@crocowithaglocko5876]

No Saluda was 4.7% This grade was over 5.6%

[@ЛЬВИНИ]

Great video. Like me!!!

[@PeterSamGaming4]

The Pennsylvania Railroad strikes again

[@TopHatTyson]

You know you should do a video on the saluda grade

[@donovanwilliams6856]

Have you hear of the self balancing Have you heard of the self-balancing monorail might be worth the look

[@jimmypetrock]

Bertha’s brother

[@sebastianthomsen2225]

😊🚂👍

[@michaelblum4968]

Found a video of the locomotive in the Children's Museum: kzbin.info/www/bejne/o6XNkGV3eNyCfcUsi=ufK4xgJYgbaQWVAA

[@Grenadier_]

i you misspelt "Reuben" There are 2 e's it is literally on the locomotive

[@Dudeface167]

The Uintah Railroad had 7% grades.

[@thatonecaledonian812]

American big Bertha?

[@FeralDayASMR]

your intro still has audio that is clipping this is easily fixed

[@HMSHOOD1920]

RAAAAAH HOOSIER STATE.

[@patriciolei9193]

First, nice to see you again btw

[@bayseersLJW]

anyone here from the TOT discord?

[@robertbalazslorincz8218]

Oh I.

[@dappermachine2032]

Eeeeeey 4th commenter

[@seankaiser2505]

The Madison Railroad was one of the more stupid railroads built in the US