Product Description
Baldwin Locomotive Works of Eddystone, Pennsylvania built more steam locomotives than any other U.S. manufacturer, and its boilers allegedly relied on layered asbestos block insulation between the pressure vessel and the outer sheet-metal jacket. According to publicly filed asbestos litigation records, the hot-side surfaces of the boiler barrel, firebox wrapper sheets, steam dome, and smokebox were allegedly covered with amosite and chrysotile block, then finished with asbestos cement mud and canvas cloth lagging before the Russia-iron or steel jacket was buttoned down. This construction allegedly persisted on Baldwin locomotives sold to every Class I railroad in North America and remained in service on excursion, industrial, and short-line equipment for decades after the last new-build in 1956.
Workers Exposed
Roundhouse boilermakers who cut open jackets to caulk staybolts, patch flues, or replace crown sheets allegedly disturbed friable asbestos block every time a Baldwin boiler came in for washout or Federal 1472-day inspection. Railroad machinists, shop laborers, and hostlers working alongside them allegedly breathed the same dust. Steam-era firemen and engineers allegedly encountered airborne fibers from deteriorating cab-side lagging during service, and modern-era restoration crews at tourist railroads and museums allegedly continue to face the same exposure profile when original Baldwin insulation is disturbed.