Product Description
The American Locomotive Company (Alco) built steam power at Schenectady, New York, along with plants at Brooks (Dunkirk NY), Cooke (Paterson NJ), Pittsburgh, Richmond, Rhode Island, Manchester NH, and Rogers (Paterson NJ). According to publicly filed asbestos litigation records, Alco steam boilers — including the Big Boy 4-8-8-4 for Union Pacific, the Berkshire 2-8-4, the Hudson 4-6-4 for the New York Central, and the Northern 4-8-4 — were allegedly finished with a multi-layer asbestos insulation package under the jacket. That package allegedly consisted of block insulation cut and wired to the barrel and firebox wrapper, asbestos cement mud troweled into seams and around staybolts, and asbestos canvas cover cloth pulled tight before the sheet-metal jacket was installed. The construction allegedly matched industry practice through the end of Alco steam production in 1948.
Workers Exposed
Roundhouse boilermakers, machinists, and shop laborers assigned to Alco-built power allegedly removed and reapplied block lagging every washout and every heavy-repair cycle. Steam-era railroad car maintainers and hostlers allegedly worked in shop bays where fiber-laden dust circulated. Modern excursion and museum crews restoring Alco 4-6-4s, 4-8-4s, and articulated power allegedly continue to disturb original insulation.