Severn Lamb, a leader in the manufacture and supply of leisure, resort and amusement transport, is celebrating the completion of a project to design, manufacture and deliver a new railroad to Carillon Historical Park, a 65-acre park and museum in Dayton, Ohio.
Speaking at the installation event, Patrick Lamb, managing director of Severn Lamb, said: “We are a third-generation family business that specialises in realising projects such as this. For over 70 years we have been delivering similar projects, and me personally for nearly 20 years, but I have to say, none quite as special as this one. It’s been quite a journey, the results of which are fabulous.”
Making the vision a reality
The project dates back to 2013 when Severn Lamb was introduced to Brady Kress, president & CEO at Dayton History. Kress shared his vision with the firm, which then began looking at the best way to make it a reality.
In 2016, Patrick Lamb visited Dayton to walk the site and get a feel for what Dayton is about, and to get a first-hand insight into Kress’ vision. This is when he first saw a model of the Cincinnati, the locomotive that would become the design foundation for Dayton’s new railroad.
After several years of on/off discussions, in 2020 it was decided that it had to be a 3ft gauge, as any smaller scale would not be in keeping with the vision, and the rest of the site. Severn Lamb began work on transforming its Jupiter locomotive into a close representation of the original Cincinnati that first ran in Dayton in 1851.
The firm’s designers and engineers worked closely with Kress, including scaling aspects from the model, to customise the locomotive and make modifications which included the pilot, front trucks, drive wheels, imitation valve gear, smoke stack, sand and steam domes, whistle, safety valve, cab, tender theming, sign writing and steps.
As well as focussing on the cosmetic aspect, Severn Lamb also designed and packaged the latest ev drive train technology. This included four large 30kw motors, a 220kw battery pack and control gear. The ev power train had to be designed to haul 150,000lbs of train at 6mph around the 1.8m loop including 3% grades for a full day’s operation.
A blend of tradition and electric train technology
In 2021, the firm began the detailed design and manufacturing process. This saw the projects team mobilise, the detailed design engineers complete and procurement and production kick in. Parts of the production included making new patterns for the drive wheels, having the wheels cast and machined, and having tyres fitted, a process which would not have been too far away from the original.
Over the subsequent 18 months, the team put in 10,000 hours of design and production to create Jane Ellen, which Partick Lamb calls “A true blend of tradition and today’s latest electric power train technology”.
Towards the end of 2022 and early in 2023, the train went through Factory Acceptance Testing before being wrapped and shipped over to Dayton. Travelling on a flat rack container, the journey across the pond took 10 days on the ocean. Once it arrived at Dayton and unloaded, Severn Lamb’s team of engineers commissioned the train and handed it over to the team at Carillon Historical Park.
During this time, in addition to creating the rolling stock, Severn Lamb’s team, led by Chris Freed, also designed, supplied, and installed the track for the 1.8-mile journey through the historical park, using the world’s only 3ft gauge rail tamper.
A special project
Speaking on his return to Dayton for the first time since 2016, Patrick Lamb said: “It’s a struggle to put into words the completed project, yes the train and the track but also, and absolutely key, the civils infrastructure, the train barn, and the remaining civils. It’s difficult to put into perspective what Brady and his team have achieved.”
“We have been involved with all of Disney’s modern-day railroads, we recently delivered three fully custom battery-electric trains, themed as 1950s oil trucks, to Qatar, which were pretty amazing. We’ve delivered railroads to Europe, Asia, Africa, and Central & South America, and we’ve put railways underground, and supplied ones powered by diesel, LPG, live steam, and electricity, but out of all that, what we have done here with Brady tops them all.
“The combination of the site and setting, the infrastructure, buildings, civils, track, and the train, is what makes this railroad quite so incredible and something that we are so grateful to have been involved with.”
At the end of 2022, Severn Lamb announced the acquisition of Trams International, a US and international supplier of trams with over three decades of experience.
