7156 is a small, light 0-4-0 switching engine that appears to have run on oil. The serial number of 7156 indicates that it was built in the late 1920s. Light locomotives were the specialty of the H. K. Porter Company. The company changed names several times with "
" coming into being in 1899.
, which is just north off Somers Road, leading east into Somers from Highway 93.
H. K. Porter & Co. ––Truly “A New Train of Thought”
The history of Porter of Pittsburgh as a locomotive builder spans a period of 83 years, from construction number 1 in 1867 (a 42-inch-gauge 0-4-0T for New Castle R.R. & Mining Co., New Castle, Pa.) to number 8275 in 1950 (recorded, appropriately enough, as steam—a meter-gauge 0-4-0 for a plantation in Brazil). In the years between—allowing for missing numbers—Porter delivered at least 7807 locomotives, of which most were steam, 284 were internal-combustion designs and at least 274 were compressed-air locomotives. Outside the main series of construction numbers, Porter either built or contracted for the building of electric mine locomotives.
Porter began as Smith & Porter in 1866. Smith & Porter and the lesser-known Pittsburgh firm of David Bell & Co. (of whose locomotive production, if any, there seems to be no record) preceded Porter, Bell & Co., which was organized in 1871. Porter, Bell was succeeded by H. K. Porter & Co. in 1878. The name was changed in 1899 to H. K. Porter Co., a new incorporation with a capital stock of $1.6 million. After President H. K. Porter himself, Hobart B. Ayers, the single-minded works manager in charge of Porter's quality production for many years, is best remembered as a major figure in company affairs.
Porter locomotives had some notable general characteristics besides the famous medallion plate and cylinders cast with the Porter name. Dome cover rings were discontinued at an early date in favor of smooth domes which resembled nothing so much as beehives. During the same era—and before the time of steel cabs—most cabs were built of wood, with vertical tongue-and-groove bottom panels like those of another Smoky City builder, the Pittsburgh Works. Later the beehive steam dome covers and sandboxes gave way to more prosaic designs.
Except in early years Porter seldom used alligator crossheads, preferring the Laird and single-guide designs even for most of its largest engines. In the absence of customer specifications, a frequent Porter hallmark was the painting of the engine cab number within a small circle. Porter probably built more locomotives speculatively, for stock, than any other independent builder. It stressed standardized parts and availability of stock engines as selling points.
Although it originally offered no product but the light locomotive (crane capacity and general shop facilities restricted engine size to about 100 tons), the Porter works diversified after 1900. The industrial products for which H. K. Porter Co. is known today—rubber belting and hose, high voltage electrical equipment, air brake parts, springs, valves and oil field equipment among them-finally overshadowed the declining locomotive business.
After Heisler Locomotive Works of Erie, Pa., built its last geared engine in 1941, the Heisler patterns were acquired by Porter. But Porter sold its entire locomotive business to Davenport-Besler Corp. of Davenport, Iowa, after ceasing production in 1950. Davenport later conveyed its locomotive interests to Canadian Locomotive Co. of Kingston, Ont.
From the Catskill Archive