The
steeplecab style was developed in America. The first ever built steeple cab was a 30-ton model built by
General Electric (GE) in 1894. It was used in a textile mill in
Taftville, Connecticut till the mill closed in 1964. This was only the second electric locomotive built by GE and it is preserved as a static display in the
Connecticut Trolley Museum. GE received the contract to electrify the Howard Street Tunnel of the
Baltimore Belt Line, what became the first main line electrification in the world. Operation of the system started 1895. The three locomotives used are sometimes referred to as steeple cabs, but they had a different design compared to the ordinary
steeplecabs. Each locomotive consisted of two permanently coupled sections each riding on two axles. The overall silhouette was similar to a
steeplecab. line in Paris, France Following to the concept in Baltimore, the French
Compagnie du chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans (PO) built a tunnel from its
Gare d'Austerlitz to the new built
Gare d'Orsay. This brought the railway terminus in
Paris 2.5 miles closer to the city center. The tunnel was electrified with
third rail power to avoid the nuisance of smoke from the steam locomotives. The system used at the beginning
eight steeplecabs numbered E1 to E8 for traction. They were built by GE and the French
Ateliers de Construction du Nord de la France (ANF), also known under its brand name
Blanc-Misseron representing the rolling stock factory of the company. The locomotives remained with the successor company of PO, the SNCF, even the Gare d'Orsay closed for long-distance services in 1939. The SNCF used them as
shunters till the end of the 1960s. One is preserved in the
Cité du Train in
Mulhouse. in Italy Initially, nine locomotives were foreseen for the Paris operation of PO, but one of the ordered locomotives was given to
Rete Mediterranea for freight service on the
Porto Ceresio–Milan railway, which was also known as
Varesina. The locomotive was built 1901 by Thomson-Houston and General Electric as 650 V DC 3rd rail locomotive like the ones in Paris. Originally classified as RM01, it became under
FS the E420.001 and was transferred to
Naples, where it was used for freight service on the
Naples Subway. This line was later electrified with 3000 V and the locomotive was sold to the nearby
Cumana railway, where it remained in service till 1963. In 1902, the British
North Eastern Railway placed an order for two
steeplecab locomotives of virtually identical design, the
ES1 (although they had a dual collection system, using both 3rd rail and pantograph) . These were for the
Tyneside Electrics system in North East
England, where their job was to haul very heavy mineral trains relatively short distances but over a route that included gradients as steep as 1 in 27. These locomotives started work in 1905 and were only retired in 1964. The North Shore Railroad in California built a standard gauge,
steeplecab locomotive in its own shops in 1902-1903 which was used until 1906 when it was apparently sold to the United Railroads of San Francisco.
Steeplecabs are more often used for DC electrification, not AC. The first electric railways used DC supplies which could be fed directly to their
traction motors, without needing much electrical equipment on board. AC electrification required either large frame-mounted motors, or rectifiers. AC locomotives thus used the
boxcab or
centercab layout, where their high bodywork provided space for the additional transformer, rectifiers and control equipment. A centercab, such as the
PRR GG1, is similar to a
steeplecab and has the same single central control cab with a view in both directions, but there is only vision to one side of the locomotive from each side of the cab, as the hoods are too high to see over. The
steeplecab locomotive was the most common design for freight locomotives used on
interurbans. In North America, the market was dominated by General Electric and the consortium of
Baldwin (BLW) and
Westinghouse. ==Advantages and disadvantages==